Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has refuted Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen’s claim that the third blackout in four months at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was caused by saboteurs.
Cherargei, who recently had a public spat with Murkomen, spoke with Radio Citizen on Wednesday.
He claimed that the problems that continue to plague Kenya’s busiest airport, JKIA, are partly the result of CS Murkomen’s failure to understand his ministry and the challenges it faced.
“NI uvivu tu, nafikiria kwamba hakuketi kwa wizara yake na angalie zile changamoto wizara yake ya uchukuzi na barabara inapitia,” Cherargei said.
According to the Nandi senator, some of the issues at JKIA, such as the stand-by generator mystery and the leaking roof, do not necessitate the formation of a special committee to investigate and resolve.
“It is not rocket science, there are maintenance people at JKIA na wanalipwa mshahara, wewe unachukua pesa unaunda kamati na hiyo pesa ungetumia kufix roof,” Cherargei said.
He argued that it was strange that one of Kenya’s most important logistical installations, the JKIA, was left in the dark during the power outages, while nearby entertainment venues with working backup generators continued to operate normally.
“Sehemu za burudani zilikuwa zinapata ile automatic generator, watu hawakunotice hakuna stima, but JKIA, a national security asset haikuwa na stima na jambo hili lilitatiza watu wengi sana,” he continued.
He also saw dishonesty in Murkomen’s claim that the JKIA blackout on Sunday, in which generators failed to start immediately after the power outage, was caused by internal sabotage.
According to Cherargei, while the Transport CS blamed the power outage at JKIA on sabotage, his Energy and Petroleum counterpart, Davis Chirchir, blamed the outage on overloaded power supply lines in the country.
It was up to Murkomen, the Transport Ministry’s boss, in his opinion, to keep his end of the bargain, especially after promising in August that such an incident would not happen again.
“Hata akitwambia kuna maneno ya sabotage, kwani nani anasimamia generators huko JKIA? The buck stops with him sababu yeye ndio waziri husika ya hiyo wizara,” he added.
Cherargei also detailed his disagreements with Murkomen, claiming that they began at a funeral in Chesumei when he inquired as to why Nandi had yet to benefit from tarmacked roads.
He also demanded that Nandi youth be given non-technical jobs during road construction instead of relying solely on Chinese labour.
“Niliposimama, nikamuuliza waziri, mwaka moja imeenda kupita mbona tusipate hata barabara moja ya lami kwa sababu huko Nandi mvua ni mingi na barabara ni mbovu,” Cherargei said.
He claimed that when Murkomen took the stage, he berated him and accused him of having a small brain.
“Angesimama kama kiongozi aelezee hizi barabra zimesimama juu ya hili ama lile, mimi nilikuwa naonge kwa niaba ya raia,” he said.
Cherargei claims that his relationship with Murkomen deteriorated after the latter began discussing 2032 succession politics.
“Mimi mwenyewe alikuwa ameniita kwa ofisi yake mara mingi kwa sababu alikuwa amebadilisha ofisi yake ikuwe mahali ya kuenda ku pledge ile loyalty ndio mpate barabara,” Senator Cherargei claimed.
“Nikamuuliza sababu barabara zote za Nandi zimechorwa kama lami hiko tayari si zifanyiwe maintenance barabara zipitike?”
According to Cherargei, he had a falling out with Transport CS because he refused to go to his office to ‘kneel for favours.’
“Wabunge wanaenda kupledge loyalty, kusema tutakaa nyuma yako…kama tokenism na mimi nikamwambia mimi siwezi kuja kupiga magoti sababu mimi niko ofis kupigia mungu magoti,” he said.
“Baada ya kuona ni kama simuungi mkono akatumia yale maswali yangu kuwa ile sasa personal attacks. ”
