Nairobi News

Former Nairobi governors Mike Sonko and Anne Kananu have exchanged bitter words on the bird app.

Ms. Kananu had tweeted criticizing President William Ruto’s cabinet ministers saying, “William Ruto’s cabinet will be made up of all manner of criminals and characters, from murderers to thieves to school dropouts and even drunkards. I’m crying for Kenya!”

To which Sonko responded with, “Wewe Ngavana Mbonoko tingana na nyegere syakure nyamaza urare ama nikukunjie sai. Ndio state yenyu irikwisa. (Loosely translated to: You fake governor, keep quiet and sleep or I’ll come for you. Your regime ended.)

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Wewe Ngavana Mbonoko tingana na nyegere syakure nyamaza urare ama nikukunjie sai. Ndip state yenyu irikwisa. https://t.co/45MIPEUEIS

— Mike Sonko (@MikeSonko) October 18, 2022

Ms. Kananu determined not to give in and responded to Sonko’s comment saying, “If this is the kind of person who was masquerading as the Governor of Nairobi County and a wannabe leader, Kenya is doomed. No wonder you were impeached!”

If this is the kind of person who was masquerading as the Governor of Nairobi County and a wannabe leader, Kenya is doomed. No wonder you were IMPEACHED! https://t.co/8szrOkJG7f

— Anne Kananu (@HEAnneKananu) October 18, 2022

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Barely three years after the 2017 general elections, Sonko was impeached by 80 Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) of Nairobi, with the Senate voting to remove him from office in mid-December year.

The MCAs accused the governor of poor use of conditional grants from the national government, persistently intimidating, harassing, and molesting senior staff, including blackmailing his county executive committee members and chief officers with one-year contracts, whose renewal he had undertaken arbitrarily.

After his impeachment, Anne Kananu, the then deputy governor, was sworn in as Nairobi’s governor. She served as the governor from 16 November 2021 after being sworn the at the Kenyatta International Convention Center Comesa Grounds.

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However, Sonko, while moving to court to stop the swearing-in, argued that he was unfairly and unlawfully deprived of his lawfully contested win of the Nairobi gubernatorial position and sought legal redress at the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal quashed his request.