Mutua Vs Sonko: Of monuments, county invasions and petty governors

Watching two governors invade each other’s territories to help solve outstanding issues in those counties, you would be forgiven to think that the politicians have solved all the problems that bedevil Nairobi and Machakos.

It all started on Tuesday when Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua offered to rehabilitate Kenyan hero Tom Mboya’s statue in the Capital’s Central Business District after complaints that it had been abandoned and was in a bad state.

A day after Mutua offered to personally repair and maintain the statues of Mboya and Dedan Kimathi until “those concerned wake up from their slumber”, Sonko dispatched a team to the site and they started work to return it to its former glory.

“I am disgusted by the shameful state of neglect and disrepair of the statues. I am actually affected by their state because I participated actively in the policy for their construction, with Ambassador Francis Muthaura, when I served as government spokesperson,” said Dr. Mutua.

But if you know Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, you knew he would “revenge” as he must always have the last word. True to his nature, Mr. Sonko was in Machakos County to help bail out staff of Macha Beach Club that were arrested by Machakos County government officers on Wednesday.

“During a public baraza in Machakos County, while heading to area Law Courts to attend a court case involving locals and area County Gov’t. I promised to continue championing for rights of the less fortunate members of the society to ensure they get justice and equal rights,” tweeted Sonko.

“The enforcement of public health and environmental laws will continue for the benefit of wananchi; no more impunity,” said Dr. Mutua.

But unlike Mutua who did not draw attention to himself while he toured the Mboya statue in Nairobi, Sonko made sure everyone knew he was there and managed to draw quite a crowd who turned up to listen to him.

Kenyans online were quick to point out that the two governors are playing populist politics while real issues remain untouched and affecting millions of people.

Speaking of monuments, the netizens pointed out that there are statues of Kenyan heroes in Machakos that are in just as bad situation like the Mboya one and Governor Mutua would have fixed them before he invaded Nairobi.

While Sonko was attending a court case involving locals and area county government, there are such issues so for the governor to go help “foreigners” and leave his people wallowing, many saw that as being unfair.

But, it looks like it’s politics over development and there is really nothing citizens can do about it.