Since the handover of Nairobi City County took place amid shoe bumping at State House, Governor Mike Sonko’s behaviour has gone from bizarre to the ridiculous. His rants and antics have hit headlines across the globe.
We all watched with dropped jaws as he sat in front of the camera in his yellow jacket and carried a weird look of a visor on top of sunglasses.
He informed us of the number of food items he planned to distribute through his infamous Sonko Rescue Team. He announced to the world that the items for the poorest in the slums would include small bottles of Hennessy.
For those still dazed by the Frenchness of these bottles, they were meant to carry high-class whisky, al a Parisian style, that the poor could use to disinfect, sanitise and hydrate their throats to keep them — allegedly — safe from Covid-19.
I would have gone for chang’aa (Nubian gin) — if to help local economy in Kibera. It has higher efficacy, I am reliably informed, given its uber-strong blinding ‘alcohol’ content.
I hasten to warn that the WHO and the Cognac, France-based makers of Hennessy, Jas Hennessy & Co., have strongly rubbished claims that alcohol can either prevent or treat coronavirus.
MAD POLITICS
At the handover of Nairobi to the national government, we were informed that Sonko was still the governor but most of his duties will henceforth be managed by Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS), under Major-General Mohamed Badi.
However, Sonko has since soured from the deal and ranted for all who care to listen. It must have dawned on him, finally, that he is now a governor only in name — either after the Hennessy wore off or upon being misadvised by greedy lawyers long after the train had left the station.
His recent comments that he was unaware of the contents of the agreement and only signed under duress is very telling of a man who ran Nairobi on the hoof, unilaterally and managed it through crisis.
And he, indeed, is a master of contradiction. After the signing ceremony he informed us — himself — that it was his decision.
Sonko’s change of tune after realising he had been hung out to dry is a testament to the fact that we have mad politics, run by mad systems that give us mad individuals as leaders.
“Mad” being euphemism for the chaos our politics embodies. Where common decency gives way to anarchy, dialogue to violence and orderliness to indecisiveness.
UNETHICAL LEADER
Despite what Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa insisted during the handover, on Mike Sonko’s governorship, the courts saw it differently.
That he was a man — like many others charged with corruption — with an impaired sense of judgement, of questionable character and could not be relied upon.
A man who can dip his hands in the public purse could not legally be trusted with fiduciary duties.
Since the court ruling, Sonko’s duties as a governor were all but diminished. He could only qualify as one through conduct and, by not being able to function as one, he ceases to be one.
There was no need, therefore, for the Executive to give Sonko false hope. That creates an unnecessary political juggernaut and undermines due process.
The courts have pronounced themselves, without having to spell out rulings on billboards, that politicians charged with serious crimes and based on prima facie evidence do, by and large, cease to be governors, MPs and so forth.
For political parties or, indeed, the Executive to choose to wait for final court ruling before expelling such politicians, even in cases where evidence is stacked against them, shows tolerance for corruption and disregard for the law.
CLEAN BREAK
Sonko’s recent behaviour, on the face of it, is that of a man whose mental health has deeply been injured by the decision to retain him as a governor and at the same time strip him of his functions and powers — with the latter, the Executive vicariously echoing the sentiments of the court.
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He has made attempts at recouping his ego by vitiating the transfer of funds and personnel to NMS in the recent past. He has been vindictive thus far, which will not auger well for smooth running of NMS.
We must be clear on how we deal with the likes of Sonko. They are either in or out. But a clean break, which is desperately demanded, would create a path for smooth transfer of powers so that service delivery is not hampered.
Instinctively, I am concerned that the Sonko debacle might not end well. The alleged withdrawal of his security detail has Sonko telling us he ‘fears for his life’.
It is hard to tell whether he is just a cowardly boy crying wolf. What I know is that allegations of assassination, whether real or imagined, should not have a place in democratic societies.
Ugly scenes in our politics can be pre-emptied by going for a clean break with those charged with serious crimes.
Ms Guyo is a legal researcher. [email protected] @kdiguyo
