NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 19 – Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has hit at the national executive in a Saturday morning tweet rant, following his impeachment by the Senate on Thursday over among other things graft and abuse of office.
The Governor first released a short video of him driving, saying he was happy to connect with the common man again, following his removal from City Hall, after 3 years at the helm of East Africa’s largest city.
“To all my people and supporters who’ve believed and stood with me throughout my 10 year political journey, no matter how hard it gets, don’t give up on your dreams, no matter what happened or happens to me, I’ll stand with you and I’ll continue supporting you whenever you’re in need,” Sonko said in a tweet.
The Governor accused the Senators who upheld the Nairobi County Assembly decision to remove from power of being compromised by the national executive.
He also made an unverified claim that Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka was arm-twisted to bend the rules over an alleged graft case during his tenure as Governor for Bungoma.
Sonko, known for his love for gold chains, has since edited his Twitter biography to read a politician and video editor on Facebook, signaling he might not move to court to appeal the ruling after all.
Majority of the Senators voted overwhelmingly in favour of all the four charges brought against Sonko which included gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, misconduct and crimes against national law, effectively ending Sonko’s reign at the City Hall.
The charges were supported by 27 Senators against 16. Senators Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) and Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni) abstained.
“The effect of the vote, is that pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution section 33 of the County Government Act and Standing order number 75 of the Senate Standing Orders, Mike Mbuvi Sonko, the Governor of Nairobi County stands impeached,” Lusaka declared at 11.30pm on Thursday, at the end of the vote.
Senators who voted against the impeachment motion said the required process was not followed and the accusers were not able to substantiate their allegations.
Following Sonko’s impeachment, the Speaker of the Nairobi County Assembly Benson Mutura will be sworn in to take over in an acting capacity for a period not exceeding 60 days before a by-election is held.
This is because Nairobi County does not have a Deputy Governor since the resignation of Polycarp Igathe in January 2018.
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