Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on Monday, November 18, claimed that a powerful group of cartels who own several boreholes across Nairobi were behind his recent woes with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
Speaking during an interview on Radio Maisha, the governor claimed that ousted Nairobi Majority Leader Abdi Guyo and some of the County Executive Committee members he had dismissed, had been pulled in to the dark underworld of Nairobi's cartels.
"Unapata Matopeni maji haiingii. Anafunga maji kwa sababu ako na borehole zake sita. Na hizi borehole ziko contaminated na sewage na tumezifunga. Hii power yake alikuwa anatumia vibaya, loosely translating to,
Residents in Matopeni estate have been undergoing serious exploitation. These goon has been cutting off the water supply to the area because he owns six boreholes, going on to sell his sewage-infested water to the people, resulting in several deaths. We have since shut his operation down," he stated.
He went on to read out the statement recorded at an unidentified police station following the closure of the boreholes under OB number 144/15/11/2019.
The embattled governor went on to explain why he fired his close friend, Charles Kerich, from his cabinet, going on to claim that his close ally was recruited by the cartels with an interest on several prime properties in Nairobi.
Kerich had served as Lands and Urban Planning Executive, and Sonko alleged that it was his close friend's dance with the so-called 'untouchables' that led to the construction of a hotel next to the US embassy -which was against physical planning policies.
"Buildings are not supposed to overlook protected areas such as embassies, we cannot just overlook physical planning policies, the UN wrote a letter to us expressing their security concerns and their intentions to relocate to another country. I brought the hotel down," the vocal governor disclosed.
He went on to reveal that he had constructed the Kangundo Fire Station on a piece of land that had been grabbed by a former head of investigations at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
He added that Muthurwa Market had been leased out by former Mayor George Aladwa and the Town Clerk at the time Philip Kisia in 2016 - yet Nairobi didn't have a mayor at the time.
"These people have been operating with impunity and I will not back down," Sonko vowed.
Sonko wrapped up his fiery interview by thanking President Uhuru Kenyatta for his support in the fight against Nairobi cartels.
