A city lawyer who wants Nairobi governor Mike Sonko declared unfit to hold public office says he has been unable to serve him with court papers.
Boniface Nyamu wants the court to allow him to serve Sonko via WhatsApp or by affixing the pleadings in a conspicuous place at City Hall where the office of the governor is located.
He says in an affidavit it has become increasingly difficult or impossible to serve Sonko in person because he is rarely in his office.
The governor has given stringent instructions to his security personnel and senior county staff at City Hall to prevent Nyamu or any of his process servers from accessing his office, he says.
On December 6, Nyamu filed the case in which he wants the governor declared unfit to serve.
He seeks to have him barred from transacting any county business until the case is heard and determined.
The court directed Nyamu to serve Sonko with the pleadings within 14 days from December 6, last year, for inter-parties hearing on March 4.
“I have persistently tried to serve Sonko at his office within City Hall but my efforts have been rendered futile,” the lawyer says.
But in a separate affidavit, Vision 2030 CEO Edward Githaiga says Nyamu should not be allowed to initiate another election when he understands the predicament facing city residents.
Githaiga argues that Nyamu’s petition will jeopardise and complicate the life of most residents of Nairobi city county and neighbouring counties.
“Nyamu has not followed the law of impeaching a sitting governor, but is circumventing the law to suit him and impeach Sonko through the window. His action will slow and adversely affect the economy of the county of Nairobi and economy of the members of Vision 2030 Youth Enterprise Association,” he says.
Nyamu further wants the court to declare that Sonko has engaged in different acts of gross misconduct that are insulting to the people of Nairobi.
He argues that the county boss has violated the obligations conferred on him under the Constitution, “which is against the constitutional rights of the people of Nairobi county.”
“The governor is, therefore, unfit to hold any public office, paving way for fresh a gubernatorial election in Nairobi,” the petition reads.
He has listed over 10 grounds which he claims show that Sonko is unfit to hold the office of governor.
They include verbally assaulting an MCA, recording private phone calls and refusing to nominate a deputy governor.
Last September, Jubilee MCAs backed down on plans to impeach Sonko. They debated the state of the county and set out conditions for Sonko to avoid removal from office.
Among them was for the governor to relocate from his Mua home in Machakos county to Nairobi.