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Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on Wednesday told the Senate that he would not name a governor under the existing law, saying it does not compel him to have a number two.
Sonko was appearing before the Senate Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations which had summoned him to explain why he had continued to operate without a fully constituted Cabinet.
He told the committee that he had failed to name a Deputy Governor as he was in wide consultations with various political leaders including President Uhuru Kenyatta, ODM Leader Raila Odinga, and Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka.
The flamboyant Governor dismissed the Supreme Court’s advisory that indicated that governors should nominate replacements within 14 days when their deputies resign, die in office or are impeached.
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“The Supreme Court advisory was just that, an advisory, it was not a decree or a ruling, so it is not binding. There is no law compelling me or giving me a timeline for naming a deputy governor.”
“You are asking me which steps am taking to have a DG, I will not take any steps and I will not tell you of any steps until you have made a law compelling me to do so. If the Senate and Parliament in general make such a law, I swear I will comply,” Sonko said.
In the heated session, senators differed with the Nairobi county boss, saying the Supreme Court advisory was binding as it is the trend across various jurisdictions.
Sonko had earlier indicated that it had taken him fifteen months to settle on his principal assistant to avoid the case of another DG resignation.
In January 2018, then Nairobi Deputy Governor Polycarp Igathe resigned, saying he had failed to earn the trust of the county boss.