Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has been a man under fire over the state of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The CS on Tuesday, April 16 had a heated exchange on social media with CNN journalist Larry Madowo.
Murkomen appeared on Citizen TV where he blasted Madowo for always exposing the poor state of the airport, instead of highlighting the positives.
“I saw Larry taking videos at the airport. I was laughing because Larry was with us in the country for the last 50 years when that airport was like that. Suddenly because he lives in ‘majuu’ his eyes are open and realizes that there is no shade when you exit JKIA. It is not news that JKIA does not have a canopy for shielding passengers,”
“It is a fact. I want to tell Kenyans that by the time we go to the next elections, we will have a new terminal at least complete or almost complete that will make JKIA a more competitive airport with facilities that are enviable and make us an aviation hub,” Murkomen said.
Larry would later respond to Murkomen and this triggered netizens to dig into the past with some sharing a tweet from 2014 of Murkomen then a senator, complaining about the airport.
In the tweet, Murkomen ridiculed JKIA’s International status.
Larry Madowo also shared the tweet reminding Murkomen of his criticism of the state of JKIA.
“The traffic jam at JKIA gate is terrible. The Airport aint looking international,” Murkomen had tweeted.
Netizens urged the CS to stop the back-and-forth exchange with the journalist and improve the sad state of the airport instead of making excuses.
“Kipchumba Kipchumba is lecturing Larry Madowo ati he is tarnishing Kenya’s image. Why is the CS afraid of the truth? Instead of being defensive, he should appreciate Larry Madowo for opening his eyes. The fact is, JKIA is in a pathetic condition,” Cornelius Rono tweeted.
