Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko angrily read the riot act to his executives before reshuffling his cabinet for a record 6th time since assuming office in August 2017.
Lands and Housing Executive Charles Kerich was moved to the Finance and Economic Planning docket, swapping places with Winfred Gathagu.
The swap follows Sonko’s Monday impromptu visit to all his executive offices, where he found Ms. Gathagu absent without leave. The Governor instructed his officers to take note of such situations which easily lead to dismissal.
“Whenever I hire some of my executives, they are always humble. They, however, change as soon as they join the cartels. I want to tell them today, I will not hesitate to fire them because some think they are untouchable,” Sonko warned.
Mr. Kerich now returns to a familiar docket which he briefly held in an acting capacity in 2018. He has formerly held ICT and Health dockets in an acting capacity. Ms. Gathagu is also a former Economic Planning chief officer.
Sonko had earlier on accused his executives of being involved in corrupt dealings and threatened to bring officers from both the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the said officials.
“I am being blamed for constantly reshuffling or firing my executives but I will not stop because some are just playing golf instead of coming to work, while others are hiding documents from investigators who come here to investigate corrupt dealings,” Sonko lamented during the launch of a biometric registration and identification system for the county workers on Wednesday.
Sonko made his first changes on February 26, 2018, followed by another one in April, then August 2018. In 2019, he made two reshuffles, in January and April, preceding this latest one.
In previous reshuffles, Sonko sacked former Finance Executive Danvas Makori, former County Secretary Peter Kariuki and did not renew contracts for two executives Emmah Muthoni and Peter Wachira.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on phone, Nairobi County Communication Officer Jacob Elkana Teddy, lauded Sonko for the bold move and reiterated that the governor was fiery on matters corruption and will take all measures to ensure that his administration adheres to legal ethics and standards.
“Yes. It is true that the Governor has reshuffled his cabinet. That is a brave move and he will always do it again and again, weeding out the corrupt fellows. His administration is forefront in fighting against corruption,” Teddy explained.
