The battle between Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and Woman Rep Esther Passaris has taken another turn after the latter published a letter vindicating her over swindling claims by the county head.
Sonko had, earlier in June, gone on TV and stated that Passaris claimed her per diems twice, once from the national assembly and the other from the county government.
Appearing on JKLive, Sonko alleged, "There is this per diem for my Woman Rep Esther Muthoni Passaris for Ksh400,000 of which I have not paid and I will not pay. Why, because this per diem was paid by the National Assembly.
"She was sponsored by the National Assembly to go to New York. However, the National Assembly issued her with tickets. She refused to use those tickets and kept them for her own private use."
"She wrote to the county secretary and these are the British Airways tickets sponsored/paid by the Nairobi County Government. It is a return ticket. Nairobi JKIA to London Heathrow, and then New York. I've done my investigations. She never used those tickets (issued by National Assembly). She came and swindled the county, got another ticket," he noted.
In a bid to discredit his remarks and prove her version of events, Passaris, on Wednesday, published a letter from the National Assembly to prove that she was not part of its delegation to CSW Conference in New York and was never paid any per diem.
A letter written by the Clerk of the National Assembly Michael Sialai stated, "This is to confirm that you were not part of the National Assembly's delegation to the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March 2, 2018.
"As such, neither return air ticket was procured for you, nor per diem paid for the seven days you attended the Conference in New York, USA."
Here is the letter:
