Kenya: Igathe’s ‘Ghost’ Returns to Haunt Sonko

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko is expected to appear before the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations on Wednesday over the composition of the County Executive.

The committee, led by Senator Nderitu John Kinyua, is seeking an explanation on why Governor Sonko has been operating without a deputy governor

15 months after Polycarp Igathe resigned.

Igathe quit in January 2018, citing his failure to win Sonko’s trust.

MINI-RESHUFFLE

Sonko will also be required to explain why the county is operating without a number of County Executive Committee Members after previous holders of the positions either resigned or were sent home.

For more than six months, the county government has been operating with only five substantive executives against the required 10.

Last month, the governor made a mini-reshuffle in his administration, a move viewed as a way of fixing the gaps in his cabinet.

SONKO’S CABINET

Sonko was to appear before the committee last week but he was out of the country.

He was invited by the committee after the Nairobi Senator Johnstone Sakaja sought a statement from the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution, Intergovernmental and Inter-county Relations on the composition of the county government.

Sakaja said the county administration is not properly constituted. He wants Sonko to explain why he is operating an incomplete government in violation of Article 179 (1) and (2) of the Constitution.