Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko used a full-page advertisement feature on September 27, to respond to a story published by The Star and People Daily newspapers on Wednesday, September 25, 2019.
Sonko's statement appeared on The Standard and insider told Kenyans.co.ke that full-page advertisement cost as much as Ksh 500, 000.
The local newspaper which angered the county boss had reported that there was a crisis at City Hall, after Sonko suspended a number of officials from his administration, including Finance CEC Charles Kerich, who was an editor and the head of content at Radio Africa Group (that owns The Star publication).
Governor Sonko blasted Kerich, accusing him of reaching out to his former colleagues to publish falsehoods.
"Its is public knowledge that Charles Kerich was an editor with the newspaper, prior to my appointing him as a CECM in my administration and it would not be far-fetched for him to reach out to his former colleagues, to help him cover-up for his failures while in office," read the statement published in the form of a full-page ad on The Standard by the governor.
He went on to state that it amounted to them dancing on the graves of the eight innocent children who died in the Precious Talent School tragedy.
Nairobi County director of communications, Jacob Elkanah, told Kenyans.co.ke that Sonko was furious with his executive over the skewed construction approval process that Kerich oversaw when he was in charge of the Lands docket.
Sonko attributed the loss of many lives in collapsed buildings in Nairobi to rogue officials in the concerned departments.
"Leadership entails responsibilities and I have never been afraid of leading from the front. I do wish to give much attention to quack analysis that purports to understand my leadership or political strategy.
"At the very least, I expect responsible reporting and journalism devoid of wild imaginations to ensure that Nairobians and Kenyans at large get the factual, true and accurate picture of issues," Sonko added.
The fallout between the governor and former journalist was a case of love gone sour as at one time Kerich was the trusted go-to person whenever the county boss wanted a fix in the most important areas of his administration. He has held 4 different positions in Sonko's cabinet after starting out at the ICT docket.
The Finance CEC was also in charge of Lands, and Health in an acting capacity.
