NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 29 – Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director Major General Mohammed Badi are on a war path, this time over resources meant for city-funded health facilities.
The two who buried the hatchet in July in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta seem to have reverted to their supremacy wars over who is the designate sheriff in the city.
The feud pitting the two was ignited when the Badi-led agency accused Governor Sonko of withholding up to Sh253 million meant for health facilities across the city.
When she appeared before the Senate Health Committee on Monday, NMS Director for Health Services Dr Josephine Kibaru accused the county government of holding funds meant to benefit Level II and III hospitals in the county and failing to change signatories of bank accounts holding health monies to NMS.
But in a quick rejoinder on Tuesday, a bullish Sonko was categorical that NMS was being “escapist and insensitive” in accusing him of being a stumbling block in their pursuit to offer services to the city residents.
He in particular wondered why the NMS would accuse his administration of being responsible for the Pumwani Hospital incident where a pregnant woman delivered by the roadside after security guards denied her entry to the facility.
Dr. Kibaru told the Michael Mbito-led committee that the incident was a culmination of their inability to access the county payroll.
“It is indeed unfortunate that the NMS has resorted to providing the public with petty excuses to cover up for their gross incompetence and ineptitude since they assumed delegated responsibility over four transferred functions,” Nairobi Governor fired back.
Governor Sonko who surrendered four key functions to NMS, claimed that Badi and team were “emerging as the new face of cartels in Nairobi, determined to not only restore ghost workers into the County Payroll, but also pay ghost suppliers in the Pending Bills that I reduced from Sh64 billion to Sh11 billion”.
Governor Sonko reiterated that there is no law that allows a county government to finance the operations of the Office of the President where they are domiciled, he has asked NMS not to resort to “cheap blackmail”.
“I therefore urge the NMS to desist from the sideshows and blame games, and focus on delivering on their mandate within the law, as we were tasked by the President a few weeks ago,” he said.
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