Details of Sonko’s war with State House after Igathe’s resignation

janet ndila

January 14, 2018 6:54 AM

Has governor Sonko crossed the red line?

Credible sources have revealed that Nairobi governor Mike Sonko is at war with State House operatives frustrating his administration.

This latest development comes in the wake of the sudden resignation of his deputy Polycarp Igathe on allegations of frustrations by Sonko.

Sonko’s failure to accommodate former State House employee and County Secretary nominee Peter Kariuki is believed to have triggered a fallout between the governor and State House operatives keen on having a say on Nairobi county affairs.

Although the governor reportedly had reservations on Kariuki, his senior political advisor Onchari Oyieyo admitted to a local newspaper that Sonko “agreed because he is close to the President and would not have wanted to undermine a recommendation from State House”.

Shortly after this, things were never the same at City hall. The governor reportedly felt that he was being undermined.

Igathe is believed to have had the blessings of high ranking Jubilee party leaders on the understanding that he would run the county government like a manager while Sonko would attend to the political component.

His fallout with Sonko clearly puts the governor on a collision path with fears that his resignation could split Jubilee party leadership in Nairobi as it did during the Jubilee party nominations in Nairobi.

As the unstoppable Sonko wave swept across Nairobi, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, Denis Waweru, Millicent Omanga, Maina Kamanda and Simon Mbugua lost in the nominations.

Earlier on, media reports questioned if the county was being managed by powerful forces linked to the State House after president Kenyatta chaired a meeting dubbed ‘regeneration’ of Nairobi.