Nairobi governor Mike Sonko was yesterday arrested and released during a meeting with Members of County Assembly(MCA) allied to him.
The MCAs allied to Sonko gathered at the residence of controversial city personality Paul Kobia in Riverside and were addressing the media to declare support for the governor.
Minutes after Mike Sonko arrival, more than 50 police officers stormed the compound and threw teargas to disperse the political meeting which according to them was contravening Covid-19 rules and regulations.
Nairobi senator Johnson Sakaja condemned the arrest of Sonko accusing the police of being used politically.
“Arresting Sonko for meeting MCAs in the week of his impeachment is nothing short of using the police for politics. Just as happened in the senate, this must be condemned whether you support the governor or not. Let us not claw back democracy using Covid as an excuse,” he tweeted.
Governor Sonko was detained and bundled into one of vehicles that had been parked outside the compound.
Sonko and the MCAs were briefing the media on the bid for his impeachment.
In a briefing yesterday, politicians led by nominated MCA Silvia Museiya said they were opposed to Sonko’s removal from office.
Accusing proponents of the bid of faking signatures and claiming that 86 MCAs had signed the notice of the motion to impeach Sonko, Museiya alleged that the signatures were collected from a kamukunji the MCAs held before the tabling of the notice and only 17 of them were valid.
“The signatures are not members’. The very few they managed to collect were through coercion,” she said, emphasising that the bid will be unsuccessful.
She said that they are fully supporting governor Sonko and Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
“We do not oppose NMS but want respect and the rule of law to apply. The budget was skewed, it should be cured so that Nairobi residents receive services,” she said.
By Joy Kyalo