- Hitting back at the Transport boss for the statement, Madowo described it as " premium gaslighting, deflecting and trivializing the issues".
- Correcting the CS, he noted that the airport is 66 years old, which is 30 years older than he is.
Image: LARRY MADOWO/X
In a series of tweets, CNN international correspondent Larry Madowo has replied to Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen over his statement regarding the state of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
During an interview with Citizen TV on Monday night, Murkomen hit out at Madowo for the videos he has been posting exposing and complaining about the state of the airport.
Despite acknowledging that the infrastructure has been "massively dilapidated" for a long period, the CS faulted Madowo 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.
Hitting back at the Transport boss for the statement, 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.
JKIA was constructed on March 9, 1958.
"You don't need a pre-election terminal to build canopies for the existing ones," Madowo added.
Then, in a series of tweets, he showed that "I didn't "suddenly" discover how bad JKIA is, I’ve complained about it for 10 years, Madowo said.
Madowo then highlighted a couple of tweets he posted years back, including a tweet from May 28, 2014.
"Fun fact: JKIA is the only major airport where passengers wander on the airside looking for their aircraft like it's a treasure hunt," it read.
"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, @KenyaAirports," a tweet by Madowo from December 14, 2018 read.
The CS went on to say it is not news that the airport does not have a canopy for shielding passengers.
Murkomen, however, revealed of plan to construct a new terminal before the 2027 elections.