Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr, on Wednesday night, September 11, surprisingly showered Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko with compliments.
This was to the awe of Nairobi Senator Johnstone Sakaja who was also present in Citizen TV's JKL show hosted by renowned journalist Jeff Koinange.
According to Mutula, Sonko deserved to be applauded for the apparent integrity he had shown after being summoned by the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) to answer to questions concerning multimillion garbage collection and disposal tenders awarded to 13 firms by City Hall.
"To the credit of the governor, he's on record saying if he's to be charged for whatever crime, he'll step aside. I think we must credit Sonko for being as forthright, unlike his Kiambu counterpart who wanted to open an office in Thika or someplace," stated Mutua.
This was after Sakaja, who felt it was early to judge whether Sonko was guilty or not, stating that he did not know the details of the county head's case.
Mutula further laid blame on former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero as the origin of Nairobi county's woes that Sonko was currently on the spot for.
"Secondly, a lot of governors are in trouble for non-remission of statutory deductions and in the case of Nairobi, in the last regime of Kidero, there was a similar problem. The new regime in Nairobi inherited the mess created by the old regime, that we must admit," Kilonzo Jr admitted.
Sonko visited EACC offices at Integrity Centre on Tuesday, September 3, to respond to questions concerning over Ksh160 million paid to contracted garbage collectors that could not be accounted for.
The county could not submit payment vouchers made to the companies, the list of the 11 firms and their contractual documents to support the payment.
Sonko who spent 9 hours at the EACC, later addressed the media assuring residents that he was not under probe.
“I’m not under investigation, but I was summoned as the boss of the county to come and shed light."
Sonko's predicament however took a new twist after damning details emerged that suggest his culpability in the county's financial improprety.
It was established that the firms accused of irregularly wiring millions to the tune of Ksh20 million to his private accounts began doing business with him before he became governor.
Reports by The Star diclosed that the governor was willing to step aside if he was to be charged with any crime by the commission.
According to Mutula, the crisis in Nairobi would be the governor stepping aside, because he has no deputy.
