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Sonko faces second impeachment bid after MCAs table notice


Nairobi MCAs have begun a fresh process of removing from office beleaguered Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.

This is after 86 MCAs appended their signatures on a notice of impeachment motion, against a threshold of 42 signatures needed, paving way for a second attempt at impeaching the governor.

Moving the motion, Minority Leader Michael Ogada, put forward a number of grounds for the removal of Mr Sonko from office, key among them gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, committing a crime under national and international law and lacking the physical and mental capability to run the county government.

Mr Ogada said he will next week Thursday table evidence to support the grounds that he has put forward for the removal of the governor saying that Governor Sonko has failed to even perform the few functions that he has been left with.

“We will not keep on watching and waiting forever. We (Nairobi MCAs) have made a decision to bite the bullet and make sure normalcy is brought back to the city,” said the Embakasi MCA.

“The only thing we can do as MCAs is to send him (Sonko) home and the people to bring us another governor and then we move on. The residents must see services being delivered,” he added.

Notice of motion

On his part, Minority Whip Peter Imwatok said Speaker Benson Muutura will serve the governor with the notice of motion detailing the grounds for his removal after which Mr Sonko will then be given seven days to deliver his defence before the impeachment motion is tabled before the House next week Thursday.

“We want to tell the governor that the Speaker in the next few hours will serve the governor with the notice of the impeachment motion. From there, let him respond. The MCAs will then be served his reponse. By next week Thursday, the MCAs will make their decision and I don’t see them making any other decision. The decision is clear – that Sonko has a task before the Senate,” said Mr Imwatok.

This is the second time the MCAs are trying to ouster Mr Sonko from office after the first attempt in February aborted following the intervention of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

If the censure motion is passed by two-thirds of all members of the county assembly, in this case 82 out of the 122 Nairobi MCAs, Speaker Mutura shall then inform the Speaker of the Senate of that resolution within two days.

The matter will then be taken over by the Senate provided the governor does not go to court to challenge his impeachment.