By Patricia Mollyne Mataga
War of words between Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and journalist Lary Madowo continues to intensify.
The two have been exchanging bitter words on X, formerly Twitter over the state of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
It all started when the CNN Journalist shared a video of the JKIA terminal that had no shelter for passengers.
The post did not go down well with the CS who accused the Kenyan journalist of only picking the negatives to highlight.
And on Monday night during an interview on Citizen TV, Murkomen accused Madowo of never pointing out issues with the airport previously
“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,” the CS said.
But in response, the former BBC and NTV news anchor said, “I didn’t “suddenly” discover how bad JKIA is, I’ve complained about it for 10 yrs.”
However, Murkomen responded later on Tuesday, challenging the journalist not to always use his global influence to focus on the bad side of the airport.
He admitted that JKIA was not at the best, but pointed out that previous governments had done the best they could to improve it to its current standards.
A few weeks earlier, Larry Madowo had also shared videos of a flooded Nairobi Expressway, which Murkomen also took issue with.
“Do you want to tell me that there is nothing good in JKIA? Do you want to say that the only good thing you saw with the expressway is the few minutes of blocked drainage? Stop amplifying negatives and have a balanced attitude towards life and progress,” the CS said.
“You and I already know we have our areas of improvement and that’s why people like me occupy such offices. But Bro, don’t use your global amazing voice to amplify negativity. Your colleagues working for CNN don’t do that when they visit their home countries,” he added.