Wednesday, June 23, 2021 – Details have emerged on how former Nairobi County Governor Mike Sonko squandered the county’s resources to finance his extravagant lifestyle during his tenure as the county boss.
Reports indicate that Sonko splashed Sh4.09 Million from the county government coffers to hire a contingent of 33 police officers to provide him with security during his three-week trip to Mombasa in 2018.
Fine details from the Auditor General for the 2018-2019 fiscal year show that Sonko took a trip down to the Coastal stretching between July 22, 2018, and August 12, 2018.
The auditor general revealed that payment documents show that the amount of Sh4.09 million was paid as allowances to the officers, who were on guard during the governor’s 22-day stay at an undisclosed place.
The purpose of the over three weeks Coast trip could also not be established, leading to the conclusion that it was a calculated move to blatantly plunder the County resource owing to the fact he did not disclose the purpose of the trip or who authorized the hiring of the officers in question.
This was in contravention of the constitutional provision allowing for not more than five security officers including his bodyguards and those manning his residence.
Also unearthed during the process were the suspicious payments made in the form of fees totaling Sh595 million to various firms that offered legal services to the county during his leadership without proper documentation provided.
Nancy Gichugu also flagged some Sh66.97 million that were generated from approval of development plans as part of own generated revenue.
The Audit report also indicated that during the year under question, examinations of records maintained by the building plans department showed that 2,582 building plans were approved in the County bringing revenue amounting to Sh950 million.
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