Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has shifted the blame of Nairobi's failures to President Uhuru Kenyatta's sister, Margaret Kenyatta.
Taking to his social media page on January 18, Sonko dismissed the Head of State's allegation that the county's development was stunted under his leadership.
President Kenyatta, while on an interview with vernacular radio station, Coro FM on January 18, accused Sonko of orchestrating sluggish development in the city, adding that it was him that endeared Sonko to the people.
Sonko was, however, quick to rubbish the allegations, claiming that the city was run to the ground by poor leadership dating back to the days of Margaret Kenyatta, Uhuru's sister.
"When I assumed office in 2017, I inherited a badly run-down city that held an endemic culture of stealing public resources at the expense of services delivery, a culture that was initiated by the President’s half-sister Margaret Kenyatta when she was the Mayor of Nairobi in 1970-1976," Sonko alleged.
"It is from that time that public lands and utilities were stolen with wanton abandon, zoning laws and policies disregarded with impunity, and many other vices became the hallmark of the operations of City Hall," he added.
He argued that it is within this period that cartels took hold of key sectors within the city. Sonko stated that it is his fight against these cartels that earned him international recognition and applause for the work he was doing.
He argued that within a few days after assuming office, he cracked down on the cartels that had held Nairobi hostage for decades, sealed all the looting avenues by digitizing revenue collection, and Nairobians began to enjoy services once again without having to offer or pay a bribe.
"It is the result of these stringent measures that International Agencies and Partners like the World Bank, UNEP, UNDP, DANIDA and many others regained confidence in Nairobi, and provided support that saw my administration build over 140km of roads in under two years, compared to less than 20km done by my predecessor in 5 years," Sonko stated, further listing a number of development milestones achieved by his administration.
Sonko claimed that it was ridiculous for President Kenyatta to allude to failure of any administration, yet he has presided over the worst administration in the history of the country.
He pointed fingers at President Kenyatta for the challenges faced in the city, accusing him of fostering selfish interests at the expense of suffering and hardworking Kenyans.
"What the President will never tell Kenyans is that his selfish family agenda was the motivation behind my illegal and hurried removal from office.
"The Kenyatta family has set out on an elaborate plan to misuse Nairobi County resources to build infrastructure for their Northlands City project, hence the illegal demolitions and evictions we saw in Ruai Kariobangi and Korogocho in the guise of expanding the Nairobi's sewerage infrastructure," Sonko alleged.
He accused the Head of State of employing stated resources to salvage the careers of other governors in support of the Building Bridges Initiative, despite being impeached by members of the county assembly.
Sonko argued that President Kenyatta could not account for the Ksh8 trillion loans he had borrowed in the course of his reign.
"What does the President have to show apart from unprecedented unemployment, poverty and hopelessness in millions of Kenyans? The millions of jobs promised to our youth remain a mirage with the head of state now resorting to selling false hope in the name of Handshake and BBI.
"In conclusion, I wish to urge the President to own up to Kenyans that he has been incompetent and incapable of running a country from the first day, and holding independent institutions at ransom while harassing and tormenting leaders who tell him the truth will not save him from the wrath of hungry and angry Kenyans," Sonko stated.
The former Nairobi governor echoed former Chief Justice David Maraga's sentiments that the Head of State should have been impeached.
