Sonko renews war with Badi, accuses him of paying deceased staff, retirees

Embattled Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has accused the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director-General Major-General Mohammed Badi of paying dead and retired staff.

Governor Sonko said Maj-Gen Badi has returned the city to the culture of paying ghost workers.

“Out of their pursuit to perpetuate impunity, as it has become their trade, the NMS made illicit arrangements to pay the staff seconded to them a few days ago. It has since emerged that they paid salaries to dead people and retirees, returning Nairobi to the culture of paying ghost workers that I had eliminated since I assumed office,” said Sonko on Tuesday, September 29.

Sonko said the NMS is domiciled in the Office of the President and there is no law that allows a county to finance operations at the highest office in the land.

He accused the NMS of “lazing around with no tangible work” but with garbage piling all over the city.

Saying that he had “eliminated incompetence” at all healthcare facilities within the city, Sonko added that NMS “laziness” led to the Pumwani incident where an expectant mother delivered her baby outside the hospital after being denied access.

Sonko said there is no legal mechanism for Nairobi to transfer cash to the NMS and it is ,therefore, a mystery how they receive, withdraw and account for funds.

Further, Sonko lamented that Nairobi County is under pressure from the Auditor-General to account for over Sh294 million Covid-19 funds.