Nairobi governor Mike Sonko, speaker Beatrice Elachi power games are far from over. The speaker re-vetoed his memorandum on a bill allocating Sh15 billion to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services and returned it back to him for assent days after Matopeni ward MCA Abdi Guyo was reinstated as the county assembly majority leader.
All said and done, city politics rotates around Sonko, Elachi and Guyo going by the political events surrounding the offices they fight to hold with each trying to undo each other. Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju, in a letter dated April 16, announced Guyo’s appointment among a raft of new changes to the party’s leadership in the house. David Murathe, Jubilee vicechairman was involved in the new changes. Guyo is close to both Tuju and Murathe. Guyo had lost his seat in changes announced by Jubilee last year with Sonko blessings aimed at taming Guyo.
Matopeni MCA Abdi Guyo
At the time, Sonko and Elachi had identified Guyo as common enemy. In a letter addressed to Elachi, Tuju had announced the changes were necessary, where Charles Thuo took over the majority leader and was to be deputised by Millicent Mugadi while majority whip went to June Ndegwa to be deputised by Hassan Abdikadir. But Guyo is now back as majority leader with Peter Gitau (Dandora area) as his deputy and Paul Kiguathi Kados (Mihango) as majority party chief whip. In January, Elachi and Guyo buried the hatchet and rallied MCAs behind them amid a mooted impeachment against Sonko. The duo, who could not see eye to eye last year and were locked in fierce battles, came together at a Kamukunji held at City Hall and attended by several MCAs. In their joint statement after the meeting whose tone was antiSonko, they affirmed that there is a leadership crisis in the Nairobi county government following the governor’s arrest and arraignment.
Charles Thuo
Before, the supremacy battle between the two degenerated into chaos and pandemonium with their supporters baying for each other’s blood. At one point Guyo’s supporters stormed the speaker’s office destroying property worth millions as they sought to physically eject her from office. Guyo would later face the wrath of Elachi’s supporters who teamed up and had him impeached from his position as majority leader. But now, it is said, Guyo has teamed up with Sonko to checkmate Elachi who used her position to allow an impeachment motion against Sonko. Sonko and Guyo are now reading from the same script, sending shockwaves to the governor. Elachi escalated her war with the governor when she dismissed his arguments for rejecting the NMS bill as fatally flawed, noting that the Bill originated from the executive and was considered by the select committee on budget and appropriation, in accordance with assembly practices. Apart from Elachi, Sonko is also fighting powerful government operatives he suspects of sabotaging him.
Speaker Beatrice Elachi
Last week, the governor accused Interior principal secretary, Karanja Kibicho of frustrating his efforts to help residents pull through the coronavirus pandemic. Back to Elachi, when Guyo successfully led her ouster as speaker, it is the governor who defended her. But now Sonko finds himself fighting the Speaker. For long, Sonko has been at loggerheads with a powerful clique close to the presidency that include Interior principal secretary Karanja Kibicho, former presidential adviser Nancy Gitau, State House Comptroller Kinuthia Mbugua and former Jubilee Party vice-chairman David Murathe. It is this clique that advised the president to force Sonko to cede lucrative dockets to the national government. Sonko is said to have reached ODM leader Raila Odinga to help him navigate his wars with powerful forces surrounding Uhuru.
Millicent Mugadi
After failing to use Raila to tame powerful forces in the system, the governor held a night meeting with the deputy president at his Karen residence, announced he was to commence the process of terminating the transfer of key Nairobi county functions to the government, blaming a clique around the president of shortchanging him. The governor claimed a number of cartels close to the president were out to ruin the deal between his county and the state, which had been planned out of good intentions for Nairobi residents. Sonko was with Ruto as the government was repossessing the multi-billion Ruai land associated with a firm owned by the DP. Sources within the system told Weekly Citizen, Ruto fronted Sonko for city governorship to help him acquire the land after having failed to achieve the goal during the Evans Kidero regime and the era of county clerks.
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