Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has been ordered to appear before a Senate committee on Monday to discuss outstanding issues relating to the transfer of the health function to Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
The governor courted the wrath of the Senate Health Committee after he kept them waiting for close to an hour, having sent an advance team with a promise that he would join them, only to fail to turn up.
After waiting for him beyond the 30 minutes stipulated by the Standing Orders, the senators resolved to adjourn, but with an agreement that they give the governor one last chance to appear on Monday morning without fail.
Chairman of the committee, Turkana Senator Michael Mbito warned the governor that failure to appear would force the team to adopt the position submitted by NMS over the war between the two entities for control of health function.
“It appears there is no interest from the governor to appear before this committee. Which means that if he fails to show up on Monday, we will be forced to go with the position as submitted by NMS,” Dr Mbito said.
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Sonko’s advance team that included Public Service Executive Veska Kangogo, County Secretary Justus Kathenge, Ben Mulwa (private secretary) and Daniel Ochor (adviser) had pleaded with the House to give the governor time, revealing that he had promised to join them before the sessions began.
NMS Director General Mohamed Badi has accused Sonko of withholding up to Sh253 million meant for health facilities across the city.
Senators noted that the differences between the two had seriously affected the health sector, with many facilities in dire state.
