CS John Mbadi denies ‘abandoning’ cars for private choppers
Mbadi teased that he could not be left in Kisumu which is near Suna yet he had already been traveling by helicopter and would not make sense if he went home by road.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has denied reports that he has abandoned traveling by car and that he only flies.
This is after recent media reports indicated that he and his Energy and Petroleum counterpart Opiyo Wandayi now traverse the Nyanza region with choppers.
Mbadi said that he only used a helicopter three times in January and that it was not true of his abandoned road usage.
He cited that after leaving a meeting in Tana River where he went by helicopter the next day, he went to Kakamega and then Kisumu before being taken to his village in Suba South by the same chopper.
He said that he could not be left in Kisumu which is near Suba yet he had already been traveling by helicopter and it would not make sense if he went home by road.
“I left Nairobi for Tana River after a meeting in State House the back to Nairobi. I do not know if I would have made it using my car. Second is when I went to Kakamega to see for myself the issues about its FLLOCA (Financing Locally Led Climate Action) programme. From there I went to Kisumu and finished the day,” he explained.
“Once I’m in Kisumu and I want to go to my village; does the copper leave me there and return to Nairobi? I could not be dropped in Kisumu to walk to Suba, I was dropped in Suba before the chopper came back,” Mbadi added.
Mbadi said he has to go on the ground and interact with citizens to break the monotony of Treasury CSs being in the office and only appearing when reading the budget.
“Gone are the days National Treasury CS would be on the 14th floor from January 1 to December 31 without engaging with Kenyans. You can go with your car but if it is not practical you can go with the fastest means,” he stated.
Last month, reports in a section of the print media indicated that there was helicopter traffic over the weekend in mid-last Month as the two Cabinet Secretaries dominated the airspace with private choppers.
It was reported that Wandayi and Mbadi were not only using the choppers to execute official duties but also attend burials and other events in their villages.
Before Mbadi and Wandayi, the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Performance and Delivery Management in the executive office of President Eliud Owalo was a notable government official known for flying around the lake region in choppers.
Unlike Owallo who was criticised for using the private helicopters, the reports said the two CSs received an endorsement from some members of the public.