Acting Nairobi county secretary Justus Kathenge is now a man of interest in the raging war between the leadership of Nairobi county and the government. State House is said to have put Kathenge under their radar after it emerged that the officer who doubles as the head of county public service is one of the brains encouraging besieged governor Mike Sonko to pull out of a deal where he ceded key functions to the Nairobi Metropolitan Service. Kathenge boasts of a strong legal background and pointedly, he was among the few behind the certain faces who accompanied Sonko to State House recently on the day the controversial arrangement was inked. After the historic signing of the agreement, details quickly emerged how Kathenge received a high profile phone call which ordered him to a petrol station in Nairobi where he was reportedly driven to State House.
Justus Kathenge
This was just moments after Sonko had been ambushed by a similar call from State House Comptroller, Kinuthia Mbugua, with a clear message that Uhuru Kenyatta wanted to see him in 15 minutes. Surprisingly, he turned out to be the main player in scuttling the arrangement when by virtue of his position; he was used in authoring a stunningly bold letter, communicating intention to have the government pull out of the official deal. The letter which triggered a looming showdown read in part: “Be informed that that His Excellency the Governor has initiated the process of pulling out of the arrangement, and revert the functions to the Nairobi City County.’’ However, Weekly Citizen has established that Kathenge is well aware that is days are numbered at the City Hall as the military takes over operations in a cleanup exercise orchestrated by the system.
Kinuthia Mbugua
Already, some his disgruntled colleagues are working on a combined force to have the officer kicked out under the new arrangement followed by a complete overhaul at his former office, planning and development docket dominated by his corrupt cronies. Planning and development is one of the functions taken over by the government under the new arrangement. Kathenge is said to have amassed a fortune while serving in the urban planning department, seen to be the bedrock of corruption. He was appointed as county secretary by Sonko to replace Leboo Morintat. Insiders are baffled how Kathenge has been top priority in lucrative county job positions despite his questionable background tainted with corruption and uncontrolled antagonism against his fellow colleagues. He is one of the suspects linked to a case traced back to 2016 in which a building collapsed in Huruma Estate killing over 50 people and the matter has been silently dragging in court after he was released on a Sh1 million bond alongside other suspects.
Leboo Morintat
According to inside sources, Kathenge made millions of shillings at the planning docket prompting his brief suspension following the tragic accident at Precious Talent School in Dagorretti that left eight pupils dead when a classroom collapsed. But even during his suspension, he was still running some vital county operations including signing of documents through a network including his office secretary Peninah Dwero. Kathenge has strategically displaced professional engineers with quacks who can hardly read and interpret architectural plans, one of the main causes of frequent collapse of buildings in the city. Weekly Citizen is reliably informed that a network of cartels are the ones running the show at the lucrative planning docket and are used by Kathenge to frustrate and intimidate director of planning, compliance and enforcement
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