By Jacob Teddy in Machakos County.
There was high drama on Thursday afternoon when Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and his team stormed Machakos Police Station to demand the release of seven detainees working at the hotel of former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile.
The workers were arrested following a suspected cholera outbreak at Ndile’s Macha Beach Hotel, which has since been closed down by the County Government of Machakos.
Sonko and his team, comprising Mavoko MP Patrick Makau, his Makueni counterpart Daniel Maanzo, Kenya’s representative to the East African Assembly Simon Mbugua among other former lawmakers, arrived at the station with much pomp and razzmatazz iced by patronizing display by the Sonko Rescue Team.
The rescue team, complete with paramedics, helped an ailing woman in the streets of Machakos Town in what observers say was Sonko’s makeshift style of hitting back at Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua, who recently called out the city chief for neglecting Nairobi’s iconic statues.
Sonko and his cronies met Machakos police bosses, brokering a deal to release the seven detainees.
The capital city’s lead-politician condemned Governor Mutua for ordering the arrest of Kalembe Ndile’s employees, saying the person who ought to have been apprehended was the ex-Kibwezi legislator.
“I have learnt that they don’t have a serious charge. They’re now saying the hotel management did not spray a mosquito repellant,” Sonko alleged while addressing a crowd in Machakos.
Ndile accuses Mutua of retaliating after he [Ndile] branded the governor as an “attention-seeker” for pledging to repair “dilapidated” Tom Mboya and Dedan Kimathi statues in Nairobi.
“I urged Mutua to fulfill the promises he had made to Machakos constituents instead of spending money to repaint statues in Nairobi. Later Wednesday evening, he ordered the closure of my hotel; and arrested seven of my employees,” Ndile said while addressing a gathering outside Machakos Police Station on Thursday.
Mavoko MP, Patrick Makau, termed Mutua’s actions as “dictatorial”.
On June 25, Governor Mutua addressed journalists at the Tom Mboya monument in Nairobi, where he pledged to refurbish the statue, which, he said, had been neglected by the city’s top leadership.
Mutua said on Twitter Thursday that he won’t be distracted
by the Sonko and Kalembe “sideshows” — and, would, instead focus on the “enforcement
of public health and environmental laws”.
