This archive report was first published on 1 July 2019.
July 1, 2019, marked the beginning of a heated exchange between governors Mike Sonko of Nairobi and Alfred Mutua of Machakos, with the name of Kalonzo Musyoka being dragged into the fiasco.
On Tuesday, Mutua visited Nairobi and vowed to repair and maintain the statues of Tom Mboya and Dedan Kimathi, stating that they had been neglected.
However, the visit sparked a verbal war, with Kalembe Ndile, now an ally of Sonko, defending the Nairobi governor.
On Wednesday, Ndile hosted a media conference in his Machakos Beach hotel, attacking Mutua for abandoning his county and focusing on projects in Nairobi.
But Mutua was quick to respond, dispatching public health officers to the hotel who conducted an impromptu inspection.
The inspection team found that Kalembe had constructed the hotel without approval from the county department of planning and had interfered with the area ecosystem by converting a river into a manmade lake.
As a result, five workers were arrested and locked up at Machakos Police Station.
Sonko, bitter with Mutua for fighting him in Nairobi, mobilized anti-governor leaders who stormed Machakos town on Thursday in solidarity with the detained workers.
The team that accompanied Sonko included MPs Patrick Makau, Daniel Maanzo, Simon Mbugua, Reuben Ndolo, and Stanley Livondo.
It is worth noting that Kalembe had previously worked closely with Mutua, whom he backed during the 2013 and 2017 general elections.
Additionally, it is alleged that the money used to build the hotel came from Mutua.
