Since President Uhuru Kenyatta created the office of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services(NMS) a little over 100 days ago, there is a growing consensus that NMS Director-General Maj. General Mohammed Badi has done more for Nairobi than Governors Sonko and Kidero combined.
Just this week, the mere presence of the no-nonsense army man at a construction site on grabbed public land in Parklands sent workers scampering as DG Badi reclaimed the Ksh2 billion property that Sonko had failed to wrestle from land cartels.
Badi’s efficacy is perhaps why Governor Mike Sonko is crying foul that the NMS Director-General is hell-bent on portraying him as a failure.
During a sitting of the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee on Wednesday, Sonko told Senators that the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) is undermining his leadership and role as an elected leader.
Sonko alleged that Mohammed Badi has been blackmailing him with impeachment threats and even blocking him from attending any NMS functions.
“We are operating under a lot of blackmail because of NMS which has been declared as an illegal entity by the court,” he said.
The governor said even though he supports the President’s agenda of transforming Nairobi County, he will not go out without a fight and allow Badi to tarnish his name.
“I am not a failure as Badi and team want to portray me. I have done a lot for this county and I don’t want to be portrayed as a failure… I know Nairobi might not be a County after constitutional changes, I might want to vie in Machakos, Mombasa Kilifi or even Kwale, what will I tell the people if they think that I couldn’t perform in Nairobi?” Sonko posed, adding: “I will not allow people to tell me that I failed Nairobi.”
Sonko, who had been summoned to respond to audit queries for 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 Financial Years, appeared without any documents or evidence required to back the agenda’s session. He said he has no access to the county office after he was barred by the courts.
“I was charged in court and barred from accessing office or interacting with staff. This ruling has really affected my work.”
“NMS has been seconding staff illegally, interrupting my operations and therefore I have been unable to get the documents to table before this committee,” he said.
The meeting was adjourned until when Sonko will be able to access financial records from City Hall.
