Governor Mike Sonko has openly criticised the Nairobi MCAs who approved a ‘confidential budget’, and later used it to try and paint the county boss as condoning corruption even before the money was used.
It has now emerged without being requested by the governor, the MCAs decided to allocate Sh4 million and another Sh46 million as a confidential budget for Sonko to use in addressing operational matters, such as the inspectorate, legal services, disaster management and coordination, investigative services and cooperation.
But Sonko has said he does not need a secretive budget, since he keeps all receipts for all expenditures.
He has since released more than 50 receipts for one of the key projects he has been conducting. He has not spent any amount from the so-called confidential budget.
“I don’t see the reason why I should be given another confidential budget when I have not touched the previous one — even a coin,” he said, when first asked about the allocation.
While addressing MCAs during the launch of bursaries fund, Sonko said the county representatives were too quick to call the press over the budget to wrongly expose him even before they understood the facts.
“I will not sit when you are calling (reporters) from newspapers and TVs for a budget you yourselves have allocated and then I fail to defend myself, and I am known as a fighter against corruption,” Governor Sonko said.
“If you (MCAs) try to link me to corruption, I must tell the world that you are playing games and I will not be part of it."
He added: “If you don’t understand this (confidential) budget, if you did not authorise this budget, how did it go through to the (county) budget."
A bank statement released by the county showed that money had not been spent, and Sonko now says it was God who helped him not to touch it.
The members of county assembly, led by Kilimani MCA Moses Ogeto, who was recently on the spot for being adversely mentioned in the cold blood assassination of former student leader ‘OCS’ Samuel Ragira, had questioned how the governor got the budget.