Madowo and CS Murkomen in fierce debate

CNN international correspondent Larry Madowo has responded to Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen's comments about the condition of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in a series of tweets.

During an interview with Citizen TV on Monday night, Murkomen criticized Madowo for his videos exposing and complaining about the state of the airport.

While acknowledging that the infrastructure has long been "massively dilapidated," the CS blamed Madowo for "suddenly" realizing this now that he lives 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 realizes that there is no shade when you exit JKIA. It happens to all of us when we travel," he said.

In response to the Transport boss's statement, Madowo criticized it as "premium gaslighting, deflecting, and trivializing the issues."

Madowo pointed out 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.

He then showed in a series of tweets that "I didn't "suddenly" discover how bad JKIA is, I’ve complained about it for 10 years," Madowo said.

Madowo 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 reiterated that it is not news that the airport lacks a canopy for shielding passengers.

However, Murkomen revealed plans to construct a new terminal before the 2027 elections.