Sonko and Waititu’s tale

It all started when the Ex- Kiambu County Governor Ferdinand Waititu’s suggested that rivers should be moved to spare structures built on riparian reserves from demolition it amused many and caused ridicule to the Central Kenya politician.

Former Nairobi County Governor, Mike Mbuvi Sonko, did not make the situation any easier for Waititu, his long time political buddy. Although they say “birds of a feather flock together” Sonko and Waititu have redefined that as “governors of a feather govern neighbouring counties.”

Despite their similarities, they sometimes make light of each other. In a leaked video recording that went viral on social media, former Nairobi Governor is reportedly heard mocking his Kiambu counterpart over the latter’s stand on the demolition exercise. It seemed like the tale of one monkey laughing at another’s behind being naked not realising that it’s behind is naked as well.

Family Backgrounds.

Sonko was born as Mbuvi Gideon Kioko on February 27, 1975, in Mombasa. His mother passed on in 1997. His late father, Mzee Kivanguli hailed from Mua Hills, in Machakos County.

Mzee Kivanguli was an astute businessman dealing with property, real estate and property development selling beach plots at the Coast to European investors.

He operated a real estate agency called Pelly Properties, which he co-owned.

The younger Mbuvi had several brushes with the law from way back in 1995, when he was arrested and charged with assault.

He was released on a bond which was revoked in 1997 which saw him incarcerated at Shimo la Tewa Prison.

Sonko would later escape prison in 1998 to pay his last respects to his late mother.

He was then rearrested but eventually freed after the court pardoned him.

On the other hand, Ferdinand Waititu was born January 1, 1962, in Kibera, Nairobi is a former Kabete Member of Parliament since 2015 and the immediate former Member of Parliament for Embakasi Constituency and assistant minister for Water Services and Irrigation in the government of Kenya. He is a former deputy mayor and Councillor of Nairobi and the Ex Kiambu governor.

Education background.

Ferdinand Waititu completed his secondary school in 1981 from Dagoretti High School, where he obtained the Kenya Certificate of Education.

He then proceeded to Technical University of Kenya, then Kenya Polytechnic before proceeding to Punjab India where he obtained a degree in commerce from Siri Guru College in 1991.

Mike Mbuvi Sonko on the other hand, started his education at Kikowani Primary School in Mombasa. He proceeded to join Kwale High School for his secondary education.

He later started helping out his father and became more engaged in his various businesses.

He perfected and mastered his business skills which saw him forfeit a chance to pursue his university education, despite having qualified, as the business was so lucrative.

He decided instead, to follow his passion for business where he joined Pwani Business College and Excel International School in Mwanza and studied Business Administration.

Political journey.

Ferdinand is described as a “fiery politician” and has been arrested on several occasions, including for “hate speech” directed against ethnic Maasai and for protesting the demolition of shanty houses in his district.

In September 2012 he was suspended from his government post over charges of hate speech and inciting violence. In 2014 the High court ruled that Waititu is unfit to hold public office due to integrity issues. In 2015 he was elected MP.

He is often referred to as ‘Baba Yao’ (Kiswahili fo. He lost the Nairobi gubernatorial election to the Ex Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero in March 2013. Ferdinand Waititu, however, found a way back to active politics on 4 May 2015 after winning a seat as a member of parliament for Kabete through a by-election following the death of the area MP George Muchai who was murdered in the streets of Nairobi.

The landslide win united him with his long term political friend Mike Sonko but in different fields of politics. However, he officially announced to run for the gubernatorial seat for Kiambu to battle it out with Former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo come next general elections.

The former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko ventured into politics in 2010 in what you could say ‘from nowhere’ and just within 9 years, he had managed to worm his way into Kenyan hearts to become a political enigma and a household name.

The fact that he is the former Governor of Nairobi, the most competitive political arena in the country.

At just 35 years old, Sonko floored political heavyweight Reuben Ndolo in a by-election to clinch the Makadara Parliamentary seat in September 2010. The resounding victory was after a successful petition by Ndolo.

From then onwards, he has been soaring higher and city politics has been synonymous to Sonko. The ambitious politician announced his intention to run for the senatorial seat in Nairobi soon after the promulgation of the New Constitution Kenya 2010, which saw the formation of devolved units.

He scooped 808,705 votes to become the first senator in Nairobi in 2013 General Election, beating his opponent from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Margaret Wanjiru who garnered 525,822 votes.

His senatorial stint was mired with bad blood with the then-governor Evans Kidero which saw a defiant Sonko form Sonko Rescue Team, much to the chagrin of the county boss.

He would later relinquish and donate the vehicles to the county government after a long tussle.

Not one to settle for less, in 2016, a year before elections, Sonko declared his intention to run for the gubernatorial position in Nairobi which was being eyed by many politicians.

Sonko won the seat to become the second Nairobi Governor, in a hotly contested 2017 General Election.

The landmark victory saw him oust incumbent governor Kidero and humble political bigwigs and elites the likes of Peter Kenneth.

The impeachment 

Sonko lost his seat on 17th December 2020 night after the majority of the senators voted to uphold all the four charges levelled against him by the Nairobi City MCAs.

The Senate commenced impeachment proceedings against Sonko after 88 out of Nairobi’s 122 MCAs voted on December 3,2020 to impeach the former governor on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution and other laws, abuse of office, commission of crimes and lacking the mental capacity to run the county government.

The former Nairobi Governor invested a cool Sh 600,000 of taxpayers’ money to fly his daughter Saumu Mbuvi to the US disguised as county administrator.

Saumu accompanied Sonko’s wife, county First Lady Primrose Mbuvi, to the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women held in New York from March 12 to 23, 2018.

Senate the governor’s daughter spent Sh220, 000 on a chopper flying around New York City, and another Sh260, 000 in what he described as an ‘offside party’ from the first lady’s conference in Philadelphia.

An additional Sh120, 000 was given to journalists while Sh300, 000 was factored in as transport costs.

Sonko becomes the second governor to be impeached by the senators after Martin Wambora (Embu) and Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu).

The Kiambu County Senate on January 29, 2020voted to impeach there then-Governor Ferdinand Waititu.

Majority of the senators voted in support of removing Waititu from office over allegations of corruption, gross misconduct and abuse of office.

They voted against Waititu on three charges; Violation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, Crimes under the national Law and Abuse of office/ Gross Misconduct. The tallies for the three separate votes were 23 against 13, 28 against 11 and 27 against 11.

Waititu was accused of, among other things, misappropriating county funds and grabbing land from a widow.

Various irregularities including claims of his companies doing business with the county government. A total of 63 MCAs cast a vote of no confidence to oust Waititu from office.

According to the MCA, there has been a diversion of funds intended for use by the assembly to unplanned projects, with the result being systematic crippling of assembly operations which compromised the independence of the House.

There was a failure to adhere to the stipulated dictates of the law in awarding Sh2.1 billion road tarmacking contracts against an approved total Roads, Transport, Public Works and utility budget of Sh1.4 billion in the financial year 2018/2019.

Cooperation.

Over the years, the two masters of high drama have climbed the political ladder rather fast to become governors. This achievement is unusual considering critics’ assessment of the two politicians as clowns with crude approaches to life.

Sonko went overboard in October 2016 when he declared himself “acting President.” The declaration landed Sonko in trouble. State House distanced itself from the embarrassing claim.

Except for his latest stand on demolitions of structures built on riparian reserves, Waititu, on the other hand, has been more cautious with the Executive. Always defending the downtrodden, the Kiambu county chief is a populist leader.

As the Embakasi MP, Waititu was once captured on camera roughing up and hurling stones at individuals accused of grabbing land belonging to a primary school. Asked about the crude method, the MP proudly termed his actions “justice Embakasi-style”. And during last year’s poll campaigns, Waititu and then Thika MP Alice Ng’ang’a forcibly took a section of a piece of land belonging to two businessmen and converted it into a public road.

To some, Waititu probably fits the definition of an uncouth and abrasive politician who stops at nothing to get what he wants. But to others, he is a man of the people who always acts as a champion for the poor.

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, seems to have waning popularity. He scored a D+ in the several opinion poll ranking county leaders on how they involve Kenyans in key decisions on devolution.