Polycarp Igathe resigns, says Sonko doesn’t trust him
Nairobi deputy governor Polycarp Igathe has announced his resignation. Mr Igathe, who has been at the helm for four months, said he had failed to earn the trust of his boss Governor Mike Sonko.
“Dear Nairobians, it is with a heavy heart that I resign my seat as elected Deputy Governor of Nairobi City County effective 1pm on 31st Jan 2018.
“I regret I have failed to earn the trust of the Governor to enable me to drive Admin & Management of the county.
“Without fear, favour or ill will I step down to avoid abusing or betraying my oath of office to Kenyans, Nairobians and my family. Thank you for the encouraging support given to me so far,” he announced in a series of tweets on Friday.
But in his resignation letter, addressed to Sonko and sent to newsrooms, Igathe expressed his gratitude to the governor.
“Serving Kenyans, in Nairobi under your leadership, has been a high honour and distinct privilege. I am grateful to Nairobians and yourself for giving me the opportunity to serve,” the letter read in part.
STORMY RELATIONSHIP
The two have had a stormy relationship since they assumed office and which they tried to down play by urging city residents to ignore rumors of a rift between them.
The relationship between the two has been the subject of speculation online, with claims that they are no longer working together.
“Political distractions aside, we have a brotherhood that goes beyond the ongoing rumors,” Igathe wrote on Facebook in December.
Igathe went on to share photos of him and Sonko enjoying light moments over some drinks.
In a news article published by a local daily, it claimed that the duo had bad blood and again they denied by taking to Twitter to respond to a the article which claimed their political marriage in on the rocks.
The article suggested, among other things, that influential political operatives at State House had succeeded in some sort of a coup within City Hall, installing Igathe as the de facto boss.
RESIGNATION
In their response Governor Sonko shared photos of a meeting on his Facebook page accompanied with a statement on his relationship with his deputy.
“My deputy later briefed me on various development matters touching on roads and infrastructural development as well as ICT. I wish to assure the people of Nairobi that the NCC executive is working together with the sole aim of uplifting the living standards of Nairobians,” wrote Sonko.
County governments have in the last five years been crippled by fighting among leaders with some deputies and their governors not seeing eye to eye by the end of the first term.
Igathe becomes the first deputy governor to resign since the 2013 general election.
Surprisingly, he resigned hours after a television interview with NTV where he appeared to defend their performance so far.
Igathe joined politics from the private sector, having resigned as a CEO at Vivo Energy.
Sonko and Igathe won the Nairobi Gubernatorial race with 719,624, votes against Evans Kidero who garnered 576,578 votes.