CNN international correspondent Larry Madowo has responded to Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen over his latest remarks regarding the state of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Madowo has called out the transport CS and accused him of gaslighting and trivialising the JKIA issues.
This followed Murkomen’s remarks during a Citizen TV Interview on Monday, April 15 where he called out the journalist for suddenly realising this because he is now living abroad.
“I saw Larry taking videos at the airport. I was laughing because Larry had been 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 realises that there is no shade when you exit JKIA. It happens to all of us when we travel,” he said.
In a quick rebuttal, Madowo castigated the CS insisting that he was misleading the public. Madowo described it as ” premium gaslighting, deflecting and trivialising the issues”.
Madowo noted that the airport is 66 years old, which is 30 years older than he is. To prove his point, he shared a series of social media statements from 2014 where he had exposed the state of affairs at JKIA.
“Fun fact: JKIA is the only major airport where passengers wander on the airside looking for their aircraft like it’s a treasure hunt,” one of his old social media statements read in part.
“Flying into or out of JKIA in the rain is an extreme sport. The pick-up and drop-off points are so far from the terminals that you have to get drenched. Do better, Kenya Airports Authority,” it added.
Further, Madowo poked holes in Murkomen’s promise that the country will have a high-standard airport by 2027, insisting that the construction of a canopy should not be linked to pre-election issues.
“You don’t need a pre-election terminal to build canopies for the existing ones,” Madowo added.
