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Sonko tells off DPP over plans to block him from running for governor


Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has responded to the Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji’s suggestion that he should not be allowed to contest the Mombasa gubernatorial seat.

While accusing the DPP of provoking him, Sonko said he is tired of being oppressed.

“Let the courts decide. This is none of your business. I know you’ve been sent by your friends, the two Mombasa brothers you normally meet at a private apartment,” Sonko shot back.

Sonko’s responses appears to have been triggered by Haji’s remarks that it would be morally and legally wrong for an impeached politician to run for office.

“Impeached governors and those stopped from accessing their office should not be allowed to run for office. There must be respect for the rule of law,” Mr Haji said.

Additionally, Haji said his office would battle it out with politicians who had been impeached and were still running for office despite being aware that he might lose in court.

“You have an impeachment on your neck and then you go outside there and start campaigning eti you will become a governor of another county. That will not happen,” he said.

Sonko was impeached by the Nairobi Municipality County Assembly (MCAs) on December 2020 with the Senate voting to remove him from office the same month.

The MCAs accused the governor of poor use of conditional grants from the national government. Additionally, they accused him of 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.

While defending himself, Sonko denied using county funds to fly his wife and daughter to the US for the First Ladies’ conference in New York, claiming, a trip sponsored by the national government, which met part of the costs.

Sonko, who has active corruption-related cases in court, has announced that he will be on the ballot on a Wiper Party ticket. He argues that he is fit for office since he has challenge the ruling in court.