Showdown as Sonko ferries MCAs to Mombasa hours before impeachment vote

Members of the Nairobi County Assembly are today (Thursday) set to vote on an impeachment motion seeking to oust Governor Mike Sonko from office, this despite the court issuing an order blocking the process.

However, the governor has employed a divide and rule tactic, ferrying MCAs allied to him to Mombasa to dent the two thirds majority requirement to carry forward the impeachment motion.

The push to impeach Sonko was on top gear on Wednesday with intense lobbying in the Capital and Mombasa. As Sonko took MCAs allied to him to Mombasa to keep them away from the assembly, his opponents were whipped into backing the party position in Nairobi.

MCAs allied to Sonko insist that they are more than 60, daring their opponents to bring on the impeachment

Two scenarios are likely to play out; should MCAs keen on Sonko’s ouster achieve the two thirds majority, at least 82 MCAs, they can proceed with his impeachment leaving the Governor at the mercy of the Senate. On the other hand, the impeachment motion will not take off if the team in support of Sonko’s ouster fail to reach the threshold of the two thirds majority in the house.

The proponents of Sonko’s impeachment, say they have 86 MCAs while Sonko insists he has 60 in his corner.

The MCAs in support of Sonko insist he is the victim of a witch-hunt over his troubled relationship with the Nairobi Metropolitan Services which he accuses of operating unconstitutionally.

At the center of Sonko’s ouster are accusations of abuse of office, gross misconduct as well as lack of capability to run county affairs, accusations that Sonko has repeatedly denied.