Ondieki further pointed out that at one point, he told the Governor to work hard on his re-election strategy and this caused him to grow cold toward him/FILE
Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday morning, Ondieki described his firing as unfair, revealing that on many occasions he disagreed with Governor Evans Kidero causing a rift between the two of them, giving an example of a confrontation during a meeting of the county Cabinet.
“He fired me because I speak my mind. He asked a question and I disagreed with him. He banged the table because he thought I was rude to him in the Cabinet and the Chief Officers were there. So he banged the table, rose up and said that it will be a conversation for another time,” he stated.
“I went to the Lands Commission to represent the county in the cases that have been going on. The next thing is I get a phone call from a journalist who is a friend of mine telling me that I have been fired.”
Ondieki further pointed out that at one point, he told the Governor to work hard on his re-election strategy and this caused him to grow cold toward him.
“I attended a church service on Sunday and then after the meeting, he raised the issue about his re-election strategy. I told him that if you want to be re-elected work hard, serve Nairobi residents well and you will be re-elected,” he explained. “He then said that I am not with him because I am with his opponents. Then I told him that I thought there is freedom of expression and association and that is it. The next thing I saw was the dismissal letter.”
He described himself as an honest person who would always work hard at whatever he was doing.
“We are honest people, we have led an honest life and we will continue to live an honest life because there is no condition that is permanent,” he stated.
Kidero on Tuesday sacked Ondieki who was his staunch ally for what he described as non performance in the Environment and Transport dockets.
In a letter signed by County Secretary Robert Ayisi, the dismissal from position of County Executive Committee Member in charge of Environment, Water, Energy and Natural Resources was immediate.
Read : Kidero sacks Environment CEC Evans Ondieki
Ondieki had in July last year been put on the spot after allegations emerged that he was cavorting with Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru who is rumoured to be eyeing the governor’s seat in the next elections.
The CEC vehemently denied those allegations, pledging loyalty to his boss while at the same time blaming cartels at City Hall for undermining him because of his hard work.
Ondieki was appointed to the Environment docket in October 2014 after the exit of John Gakuo who fell out with Kidero. Prior to this, Ondieki had served as the county minister in charge of transport.
While in the transport docket, the lawyer by profession had numerous run-ins with different stakeholders, culminating in an impeachment motion in the County Assembly.
Kidero had however defended his CEC, decrying a vendetta against his worker.
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