Sonko seeks help from unlikely quarters, contacts Raila
Despite the highest level of lobbying to remove Mike Sonko as Nairobi Governor, the beleaguered politician appears to be fighting back by reaching out to Opposition chief Raila Odinga for help as a last resort.
Sonko is confronted by a nightmare of sorts over plans to impeach him and faces a test of time after Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) drawn from both Jubilee and ODM lobbied to have him ejected from office over incompetence.
The flamboyant governor is accused of abuse of office, gross violation of the law, committing crimes under national and international laws and lacking the physical and mental capability to run the county government.
He is further accused of crippling operations of the Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) and the County Executive through failure to assent to an Sh37 billion budget.
Other grounds on the impeachment motion is a violation of protocols in the procurement of goods and services, irregular procurement in projects including the Dandora Stadium, inability to constitute a working cabinet with almost all CECs working in acting capacity.
Sign Budget
Though details of the Capitol Hill meeting last week remain scanty, sources who attended the meeting intimated that Sonko impeachment debate was tabled out where he was ordered to sign the budget to survive.
The mover of the motion, Embakasi MCA Michael Ogada has been optimistic that Sonko’s fate was sealed.
“We will not wait anymore, this time we are devoted to ensuring Sonko has gone home,” he said.
Assembly Majority Leader Abdi Guyo echoed Ogada’s sentiments saying that Sonko’s survival chances are slim because the motion enjoys support from members across the political divide — support that is borne of wider consultations at the apex of the major parties.
“Last time things were quite easy but this time things are quite tight for the Governor.
Every MCA is following what the top leadership of their parties will decide. Failure to which they may lose key positions in the assembly,” he said.
But speaking to People Daily yesterday, Sonko’s spokesperson Ben Mulwa maintained that the Governor’s was also working behind scenes on a strategy that will see him sail through and the impeachment motion trashed.
“We are working behind scenes to ensure this motion will not see the light. And as a matter of fact, most of the allegations raised in the impeachment motion hold no ground,” said Mulwa.
Mulwa added, “Ninety percent of the issues the MCAs are raising are before a competent court of law.
To proceed with the impeachment motion would be to purport to start a parallel prosecution of the governor.”
Though optimistic, another Sonko ally in the person of Roysambu MCA Peter Warutere, said Sonko’s chances of survival are very minimal as the Governor appears to be facing off with the President.
“The truth of the matter is that we are dealing with the President and on such a high level you don’t expect the Governor to survive,” he said.
The MCA who still maintains to be solidly behind Sonko said that matter was just the budget which he said was being fought by senior people in the Government who he referred to as big boys.
“Were it not for intimidation, Sonko still has the numbers, and even if the motion will pass, at the Senate it won’t pass as the issues raised are flimsy and they don’t hold any ground,’ he said.
But Nominated MCA Mary Njambi alias “mapipiri” remained that adamant that the Governor will not be impeached saying that the motion is dead on arrival.
Njambi said as it stands, most ward reps are still with the Governor as the party has not issued its official position on the impeachment motion.
Highrise MCA Kennedy Oyugi was also optimistic that the impeachment plan would backfire. He said it was improper for ward reps to introduce an ouster motion to ‘arm-twist’ the governor into giving in to their demands.
But on his part, Kitisuru MCA, Alvin Ipalapala said the Governor was going to be impeached for his inability to run and manage the county.
