Mike Sonko’s first statement after a double blow at the High Court over impeachment

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko broke his silence after he was dealt a blow, following a court ruling that declared his impeachment constitutional and lawful.

In a tweet, Sonko threw in the towel, stating that he lives to fight another day.

“Allutta continua. We will live to fight another day” reacted Sonko.

On Thursday, a three judge bench comprising Justices Said Chitembwe, Wilfrida Okwany and Weldon Korir ruled that the nomination, vetting and swearing in of Ms Kananu was all conducted procedurally. The High Court judges also ruled that his impeachment was constitutional and lawful.

In delivering its ruling, the bench noted that former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko nominated Ms Kananu voluntarily, adding that his mandate ended there.

The former governor had moved to court on the matter claiming that Kananu's appointment was done contrary to the law.

Seeking to have the court overturn her swearing-in, Sonko further claimed that he had revoked his appointment of Ms Kananu in December 2020.

Justice Okwany, however, noted that the court had established that Ms Kananu's appointment was still in effect when Sonko was impeached.

Former Governor Sonko had also claimed that Nairobi Speaker Benson Mutura who was acting Governor during Kananu's vetting and swearing-in had no jurisdiction to conduct the process.

On this claim, the court noted that even though the Constitution does not confer DG appointment powers to an acting Governor, Speaker Muturi did not err in facilitating the process.

"The speaker was allowed by law to bring that process of Kananu's nomination to fruition. Although a speaker acting as governor has no power to appoint a DG, this case was different because there was already a nominated DG in place," Justice Okwany stated.