• The county boss appears comfortable with his one-man-show style of leadership and has told off critics to keep off the affairs of his administration.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Can’t do. Won’t do.
Could this be the message Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko is sending to those calling on him to appoint a deputy?
The flashy governor continues to run the county – the country’s capital – without a deputy despite the enactment of a law compelling him to appoint one.
Sonko has stonewalled all calls to fill the position that fell vacant nearly two years ago following the dramatic resignation of Polycarp Igathe on January 30, 2018.
Not even a five-hour intense grilling by a Senate oversight committee and the Supreme Court advisory could beat him into submission.
The county boss appears comfortable with his one-man-show style of leadership and has told off critics to keep off the affairs of his administration.
In fact, when he appeared before the Laikipia Senator John Kinyua’s – led Devolution committee to explain why he has apparently refused to appoint a deputy, he termed the matter a non-issue.
"The senator would have summoned me to ask me these issued instead of petitioning the Senate. So this is a non-issue,” he told the legislators on April 24.
Sonko, instead, turned the heat on the Senators, accusing them of failing to pass legislation to guide governors in appointing deputies in case of a vacancy in the office.
He promised to nominate a person to the position immediately such a law is enacted.
“There is no law that compels me to appoint a deputy. But I want to assure that I will appoint a deputy and forward the name to the county assembly the following day after the law is passed,” he said.
In March last year, the Supreme Court gave governors the nod to refill vacant deputy governor positions.
The highest court on the land, in an advisory opinion, said the governor shall nominate a person to the position within 14 days of the position falling vacant.
The name shall then be forwarded to the County Assembly, which will vote to either reject or allow the individual to assume office.
Sonko turned a deaf ear to the apex court’s declaration, arguing that the advisory is not binding. He’s defended himself, saying he’s shown goodwill when he nominated deported lawyer Miguna Miguna.
But critics say the governor was ‘clearly out context’ when he appointed Miguna, which the state had deported to Canada twice.
In fact, during a radio interview last August, Sonko apologized for appointing the controversial lawyer, saying that he did so out of anger.
“I apologise for having appointed Miguna. I did so out of anger, bitterness. There was a lot of pressure, intimidation and blackmail and so I decided to give them Miguna,” he said.
Miguna was rejected by the MCAs in May last year on account that ‘he had issues with his citizenship.’
Since then, the governor has maintained that only binding legislation would compel him to nominate a principal assistant.
But now, three weeks after the law he passionately appealed to the Senators to pass was signed into law, the county boss is yet to act.
He has remained tight-lipped on the matter and is not showing any signs of nominating a person to the office of the county’s second in command anytime soon
People close to him say that he ‘hates’ the conversation and easily picks up quarrels whenever the issue is raised.
“He never talks about it that is why he took issue with Senator [Johnson] Sakaja when he petitioned the Senate to inquire about it,” his close confidant told the Star.
His communication officer Elkana Jacob says that the Governor is ‘not in a hurry’ to nominate a deputy.
“Nairobi does not belong to Sonko. It belongs to many people and now that we are embracing the handshake, there are so many interests,” he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi sponsored Assumption of the Office of County Governor Bill into law on May 13.
The new Act gives the governors a 14-day window to nominate a deputy if a vacancy arises in the office and forward the name to the county assembly for approval or otherwise within another 14 days.
Constitutional lawyer Nelson Havi says that Sonko has committed a grave transgression of the Constitution as well as good governance.
“From the 2010 Constitution, we have a two-tier government –the National and the devolved governments. At National, we have the President and his deputy, and Governor and his deputy in the counties,” he says.
“This was not an accident. It was intended to ensure there is good governance with the governor supervising the executive control over the county and somebody to assist him, not as a matter of help, but as a matter of constitutional requirement,” he adds.
Havi explains that good governance requires that there must be continuity, not just in the event of the death of the governor, but on account on anything that may make it impossible for the governor to work.
“The scenario that we have right now in Nairobi, is one that portrays itself as if he is running the county like it is his home, in that we don’t need to contemplate what will happen if he is not there on account of infamy, indisposition, or God forbid, death,” he says.
The county assembly Minority Chief Whip Peter Imwatok says that Sonko is abdicating his moral obligation to the electorate.
“This is now about morality, it has gone past the legality. What moral obligation does the governor have for the people of Nairobi?” Imwatok posed.
Long-serving Kariobangi South MCA Robert Mbatia, however, defended him, saying the county boss has worked well and initiated several development projects without a deputy.
“I don’t think the governor is overwhelmed or overworked because he doesn’t have a deputy. I even see it better for him to work alone,” he said.
Mbatia went ahead to call for the scrapping of the position of the deputy governor, saying it adds no value to the electorate.
“The office of the deputy governor is one of the positions that should be recalled, because most of the deputy governors, even in other counties, rarely do you find a governor working very well with a deputy and that affects service provision,” he explains.
He proposed the establishment of the office of a principle county executive member to replace the governor in case of a vacancy in the office.