•Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has cried foul at his impeachment by the senate but says his ‘victory is soon coming back.’
•The flamboyant ex-county chief alleged bribery claims, breach of law and politics in his ouster on Thursday night.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has cried foul at his impeachment by the Senate but says his ‘victory is soon coming back.’
The flamboyant ex-county chief alleged bribery claims, breach of law, coercion and politics in his ouster on Thursday night.
Sonko appeared to be blaming President Uhuru Kenyatta (Jubilee party leader) and ODM boss Raila Odinga, whose troops voted to impeach him, for ostensibly instructing them to do so.
“Some of my former colleagues in the Senate had to sacrifice me coz (sic) of the party political pressure from their party bosses who personally called them one by one to impeach me,” Sonko claimed in a post on his Facebook page, hours after his removal from office.
"During the voting exercise Sh 2 Million was offered by state for Christmas so that the law can be breached. " These are unsubstantiated claims.
Sonko posted a video of himself driving, indicating that he has left the office and no longer enjoys the trappings of power that comes with the governor’s office.
Swearing-in of Nairobi Assembly speaker Benson Mutura to take over in an acting capacity for 60 days failed to happen on Friday due to technicalities.
The event is now scheduled for early next week.
At 11pm on Thursday, majority of the senators – 27 - voted to uphold each of the four charges Sonko faces, surpassing the threshold of 24 votes required to remove him from the plum job.
“Today I have been allegedly impeached by a few Senators, but I have not been impeached by the people of Nairobi and Kenyans at large, God has not impeached me as well and I know He has better plans for me,” Sonko said, hinting at a comeback to politics.
He added, “Everything happens for a reason. I Have faith in God. I will walk with him to the end of this journey.”
Sonko described his wife Primrose and daughter Saumu who were adversely mention in the case against the governor for allegedly splurging millions of taxpayers to fly to the US, strong women who have never done any business with the county government.
“To my beautiful wife Primrose and daughter Saumu whose names were dragged into this mess while the trip was state approved continue to be strong women,” he said.
Sonko asked his supporters not to give up on their dreams, saying he would continue standing with them.
“To all my people and supporters who have been believing and standing with me throughout my 10 years political journey, I encourage you to promise yourself, no matter how hard it gets, do not give up on your dreams, no matter what happened or happens to me, I will stand with you and I will continue supporting you whenever you are in need,” he said.
“The greatest tragedy in life is not getting knocked down. The greatest tragedy in life is refusing to get up after being knocked down. Today I may appear down but I'm not because I know my victory is soon coming back,” he posted.
He concluded by wishing his supporters a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.