‘He Made Me Sonko’s Deputy’ – LitKenya

Behind the scenes, business mogul Chris Kirubi was a political strategist, it is now emerging.

The billionaire’s mentee, Polycarp Igathe, has revealed how the late tycoon sort-of micromanaged Nairobi politics.

He disclosed that Kirubi was behind the Mike Sonko-Igathe ticket for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat under Jubilee Party.

“Polycarp Igathe: This country is indebted to Dr. Kirubi in many ways. When it was impossible to do business in Nairobi, it was Kirubi’s idea to make sure Nairobi is back to national government. Kirubi designed the Sonko-Igathe ticket. Chris Kirubi was a genius by birth,” he said.

The Equity Bank Managing Director alluded that the plan by the prominent businessman was to use him as proxy control the city.

The scheme succeeded to some extent after the Sonko-Igathe duo floored ODM’s Evans Kidero.

However, Sonko was unable to work with Kirubi’s blue-eyed boy, who resigned in January 2018 out of frustrations.

According to Igathe, the billionaire did not give up. He hatched a new plan that saw creation of Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) by President Uhuru Kenyatta in March 2020.

Sonko, who had not appointed a deputy following Igathe’s resignation, handed key county functions to the agency.

Barely a year later, Sonko was unable to work with NMS, triggering the State to orchestrate his impeachment. The plot worked.

The former Nairobi deputy governor said his mentor wanted the city under the management of the national government to create a friendly business environment.

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