What you don’t know about Sonko’s ‘Star Wars’ headgear that has left Kenyans talking
Nairobi governor Mike Sonko on Sunday made his first public appearance since he handed over key functions of the county government to the national government.
The man who never shies away from controversy showed up in public what looked like a virtual reality (VR) headset and has left tongues wagging and caused a stir on various social media platforms.
Sonko looked like a character straight out of the Star Wars sequel with his head gear and complemented his “futuristic-looking” visor look with a surgical mask, in the photo that went viral immediately it was posted online.
The governor spoke to journalists as he joined county health officials who were fumigating the streets of Nairobi at night in the exercise that commenced on Thursday, March 19, after it was able to access all gear needed to do the job.
Nairobi director of health Wilson Lang’at said the exercise could have started earlier but was delayed due to lack of enough equipment and have now received 700 litres of chlorine, other disinfectants and special pumps.
What many Kenyans don’t know is that what Sonko was wearing was a a new generation intelligent electric multi frequency head massager which retails online for about Sh50,000.
According to an American-based manufacturer of a device similar to what Sonko donned, said it can massage the eyes and head, calm the mind and soothe the nerves.
“The iDream1260 adopts air pressure, vibration, and heat compression massaging technology to massage the regions around your head and eyes (excluding the eye and eyelid). It allows you to enjoy peaceful music while massaging, further relaxing your head and eyes,” states Breo, the company manufacturing the device, on their website.
The gadget is also reported to have the ability to detect someone’s body temperature from a distance by just turning the visual gear to face them.
Sonko’s aides, who spoke to Nairobi News, claim the headgear has the same capabilities as the artificial intelligence helmets worn by Chinese police which can automatically identify people who could have the coronavirus.
The said helmets designed by Chinese technology firm Kuang-chi based in Shenzhen in Guangdong province and have been used to check temperatures in several cities across China including Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenzhen.
On social media, majority of Kenyans who are unaware of the gadget were left speculating on what it could be and made fun of the city county boss.
Here are a few reactions.
Whats this new ppe gear sonko is wearing…u think we can trademark it and sell it to the world?
— Sital Chandaria? (@sitalchandaria) March 30, 2020
Sonko anapenda chocha sana. Saa unaenda fumigation na eye massager. Ndio akae kama heri
— ???? ?? (@obeez) March 30, 2020
kkkk. looks like satellite pilot ,,, Explorer. surprise.. mayor wearing advanced head mask….
— Farah Nafis ? (@FarahNafis) March 30, 2020
Robocop.??? He would make a good cartoon for the kids.
— Hal (@halimahillow) March 30, 2020
Manzu is a great journalist, how he interviewed Sonko and kept a straight face……
— Kibe (@kibekelele) March 30, 2020
Weeeh. Sonko is spraying the city…ako halfway through Wuhan manual…
— Are your hands clean? (@mary_mumbi) March 30, 2020
Was sonko trying to identify where the virus is and spray it dead or trying to see Kenya's future with the virus with this gadget? https://t.co/hqVhmiTVkQ
— Samuel Maina kamau (@Samuel_wakamau) March 29, 2020
Lakini huyo sonko anakuanga na sarakasi mingi yaye! Sasa nini hio amedungiria kwa kichwa. ?
— MoonShine™ (@DenniseKosgei) March 29, 2020