Transport and Roads CS Kipchumba Murkomen on Monday evening blasted CNN journalist Larry Madowo over his recent remarks about Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
During an Interview at Citizen TV, Murkomen said that Larry was now criticizing JKIA because he was now living abroad.
The CS however shared that JKIA will be transformed by the time the copuntry heads for the next general elections.
“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 are going 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,” he said.
Unpleased by the remarks, Larry told off Murkomen, sharing his evidence of experience at JKIA for the last 10 years.
“This premium gas lighting, deflecting and trivializing the issue:1. JKIA is 66 – almost 30 years older than me, 2. You don’t need a new pre-election terminal to build canopies for the existing ones, 3. I didn’t “suddenly” discover how bad it is, I’ve been complaining about JKIA for 10 years. Thread of receipts in the comments,” Larry Madowo said.
In his evidence, he pulled a tweet he shared in 2018, saying, “Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport can be an extreme sport when it rains.”
“News Singapore, right?” he captioned the tweet.
Premium gaslighting, deflecting & trivializing the issues:
1. JKIA is 66 – 30yrs older than me
2. You don’t need a pre-election terminal to build canopies for the existing ones
3. I didn’t “suddenly” discover how bad JKIA is, I’ve complained about it for 10 yrs. Receipts thread👇🏾 https://t.co/g9OKTlxvAx— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) April 16, 2024