Is this the end of Sonko’s political career?

By the time Gideon Mbuvi Kioko officially changed his name to Mike Sonko in 2013, the then MP had managed to turn the political scene on its head, and all pointers indicated that the novice would certainly be a force to reckon with over the coming years.

In just three years, Mr Sonko had sent two juggernauts — Dick Wathika and Reuben Ndolo — to the political cold room while garnering a cult following that pointed towards an unprecedented stab at future vacancies in State House.

During the 2017 General Election, more Nairobians supported his gubernatorial bid than they did President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election, the strongest indicator that Mr Sonko had transcended ordinary politics and was speeding towards becoming a one-man revolution.

But a series of legally questionable dealings at City Hall and his falling out with President Kenyatta have not only prematurely ended Mr Sonko’s term as governor, but opened the door for a permanent exit from holding any public office as a result of his impeachment in December, 2020.

While the Supreme Court’s Monday judgment dismissed a last-ditch attempt to return to office, the judicial decision could have driven the final nail in the coffin of, not only Mr Sonko’s term as Nairobi governor, but also any hopes of sitting in an office funded by taxpayer.

Mr Sonko’s impeachment on grounds of gross misconduct means that Chapter Six of the Constitution, which deals with ethics and integrity of public officers, could lock out the flamboyant politician from any duties that require funding by taxpayers.

In the social sphere, political world and court corridors, Mr Sonko had made one thing clear – that the Mombasa-born “king of bling” will fight to the death with no compromise, even when the odds are stacked against him.

And because a day in politics is a long time, the one year and nine months that Mr Sonko has tried to avert his inevitable walk of shame from Nairobi County’s most powerful office has been an eternity.

The dominos started falling when Makongeni MCA Peter Anyule Imwatok filed a motion for Mr Sonko’s impeachment on February 20, 2020 citing several constitutional violations.

Mr Sonko was accused of leaving more than half of the County Executive Committee operating in an acting capacity, irregular payment of legal fees totalling nearly Sh1 billion without proper verification, procurement irregularities in projects like the Dandora stadium, skewed contract awards totalling more than Sh400 million and unaccounted for cash withdrawals from government coffers.

Embattled politician

He was also accused of using ghost workers to drain the county coffers, while getting kickbacks from an insurance company for providing cover for the non-existent employees.

Two months before the impeachment motion was filed, Mr Sonko had been charged with irregularly receiving Sh357 million through kickbacks from county contractors.

On February 25, 2020, Mr Sonko was invited to State House, where he was to sign off key devolved functions such as health, transport, planning and public works to the national government.

The sign-off would turn out to be the beginning of the General Mohamed Badi-led Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), and the end of the road for Mr Sonko’s gubernatorial stint.

Initially, Mr Sonko’s publicly claimed that the move was aimed at weeding out cartels that had taken over procurement within City Hall.

But two months later, the embattled politician realised that he may have been tricked into green-lighting a back-up plan in the event that his impeachment hit a brick wall.

The fighter in him awoke almost immediately, as Mr Sonko claimed that he was duped into signing the agreement.

“I was not given sufficient time to even read the draft. I was just told it is a good thing on service delivery to the great people of Nairobi (sic) as I deal with my court cases,” Mr Sonko told the media in April 2020.

More than 6,000 county workers were transferred to the NMS, which had already eclipsed the difficult-to-ignore Mr Sonko.

He threatened to block the transfer of functions to the NMS, a move that exposed him, as he claimed that he did not know what he signed, but only agreed to the deal after being promised that it would aid in development of the city and improve living conditions for its residents.

To avert the embarrassing fate that had befallen his Kiambu counterpart, Mr Sonko rallied funds for an all-expenses-paid trip for at least 38 MCAs to Mombasa, where a plot to ensure his survival was hatched.

But on December 3, 2020, Mr Sonko was impeached by a near unanimous vote. Only two out of 90 MCAs voted against his impeachment, a sharp turnaround for the man who had grown to control, not only City Hall, but also opinions of a good chunk of the city’s residents.

Even the MCAs that enjoyed the extravagant Mombasa trip had betrayed Mr Sonko.

Two weeks later, the Senate ratified the impeachment through a vote, but Mr Sonko did not want to become the first person to suffer a humiliating exit from City Hall.

Quash the impeachment

He challenged the impeachment at the High Court, arguing that MCAs did not follow due process in the impeachment. Activist Okiya Omtatah also filed a petition challenging plans for a by-election in Nairobi.

As the cases were proceeding, a move Mr Sonko had made on the political chessboard in 2019 would come back to haunt him and render irrelevant court orders barring a by-election in Nairobi.

He had nominated former City Hall disaster management and coordination chief officer Anne Kananu Mwenda in 2019 as deputy governor. Ms Mwenda’s nomination had, however, stalled owing to a petition filed in court by Mr Peter Agoro, who described himself as a Nairobi resident.

In January, Mr Agoro withdrew the petition he had filed, which paved way for Ms Kananu’s vetting by the County Assembly.

Speaker Benson Mutura, who had been acting as governor since Mr Sonko’s impeachment, handed over Nairobi’s most powerful seat to Ms Mwenda on January 17, 2021.

On June 24, the High Court dismissed Mr Sonko’s petition seeking to quash the impeachment.

Dissatisfied, Mr Sonko moved to the Court of Appeal, which refused to stop Ms Mwenda’s swearing-in for the duration of determining the case.

Mr Sonko still did not give up, he asked for time to let the Supreme Court have the final word on whether to stop Ms Mwenda’s substantive power assumption.

Daring to fight fate, he told the Supreme Court that allowing the swearing-in would render his appeal nugatory.

On Monday, Justices Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u, Isaac Lenaola and William Ouko held that there is no constitutional question raised in Mr Sonko’s application.

The Supreme Court strictly deals with Presidential election petitions and cases seeking an interpretation of the Constitution.

The judges noted that Mr Sonko’s main case before the Court of Appeal is yet to be heard.

But in declining to stop Ms Mwenda’s swearing-in, the Supreme Court all but blocked any chances of Mr Sonko returning to City Hall, the institution that could go down in history for tackling one of the most popular, yet divisive, politicians in recent times.