Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and Kirinyaga Women Representative Purity Ngirichi have been given five days to settle a Ksh6.4 million helicopter charter debt or risk legal action.
Capital FM reports that the two politicians acquired the services of FlexiAir, a local helicopter charter linked to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family, on numerous occasions in 2016.
Ngirici’s debt is understood to have been incurred between May 8 and August 17, 2016, when she leased a FlexiAir helicopter for use on numerous occasions, at a cost of Ksh5.9 million.
She managed to pay Ksh2.9 million remaining with a balance of Ksh3.9 million.
On the other hand, Joho is said to have hired a FlexiAir helicopter on numerous occasions between October 7 and 17, 2016, at a cost of Ksh4.4 million.
He reportedly owes the firm Ksh2.5 million after having paid Ksh1.9 million.
City lawyer Donald Kipkorir on Thursday wrote a debt recovery letter addressed to Ngirici warning that failure to pay the sums could resort in dire consequences.
“Note that if the said sums are not paid as demanded aforesaid, we have instructions to file at your risk as to incurred costs and incidentals thereto,” Kipkorir stated in the letter.
FlexiAir boasts of a fleet of mainly Eurocopter AS 350 B3 helicopters and fixed-wing Grand Caravan C208B planes.
In other news, two of three police helicopters bought at a combined cost of Ksh 4.6 billion have never left the ground, since the National Police Service has been unable to get insurance to allow them to fly within Kenya’s airspace.
On June 29, 2018, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i launched the three brand new police helicopters, two AW139s and one A12 at Wilson Airport, which were supposed to help beat back a surging crime wave.
