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King of drama: Governor Sonko and his bloopers in 2018


Governor Mike Sonko had an eventful year as he adopted to the rigors of his office.

But there were moments last year when complaints by Nairobians fell on deaf ears as Sonko continued undeterred with his dramatic rule.

Here are some of his bloopers in 2018.

1. Firing CECs
Governor Mike Sonko’s cabinet has been characterised by reshuffles and suspensions throughout the year.

He fired former finance chief executive Danvas Makori for what he termed as working against him. Two months later, the new finance executive Newton Munene was moved to the trade docket and Allan Igambi took charge.

Veska Kangogo had a couple of run-ins with the governor that saw her being transferred from the finance docket to the health docket before being suspended on insubordination grounds.

2. Offering tots to CECs
At the height of the saga of dead infants at Pumwani Maternity Hospital, Sonko convened a meeting with his cabinet and he went on to invite them for some whisky tots.

Nairobians lashed out at the governor for what they termed as lack of seriousness in running the county government.

3. Retreating to Machakos county
Sonko ignored his City Hall office for months and preferred instead to operate from his Mua hills home in Machakos County. This was after his security detail was downsized.

The governor later claimed in a television interview that he preferred working from home because it is near his father’s grave, a statement that further angered Nairobians.

4. Matatu ban
The governor’s attempt to ban matatus from the CBD was a blooper that affected thousands of commuters. Traffic in the city came to a standstill, as the elderly and sick people walked long distances to reach the city centre.

5. Outbursts
It all started with the governor constantly blaming Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho for the woes in the county government. For months, he would publicly claimed the PS was frustrating his efforts until late in August when he said that the frosty relationship  had ended after an intervention by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

6. Ndakani dam
Sonko and his Murang’a counterpart fought over ownership the Ndakaini Dam, forcing the President to urge the two to stop squabbling over natural resources. Critics said there were better ways that Sonko would have dealt with the issue without publicly spatting over the resource.