Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko was supposed to be just the face of Jubilee in Nairobi, and not to handle actual administration of the County, a Jubilee legislator has revealed.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show Monday, Mathira MP, Rigathi Gachagua, intimated that the President Uhuru Kenyatta led political unit knew the former legislator was incapable of governing Kenya’s capital city, which is why it picked former Nairobi Deputy Governor, Polycarp Igathe, as his running mate in the 2017 polls.
“The original idea was that this guy (Sonko) cannot manage things, so we gave him a deputy who can help manage things,” Gachagua revealed, pointing out that Igathe’s move to quit in January 2018 was Sonko’s fault.
“He frustrated the deputy and the deputy quit,” the Late Nyeri governor Nderitu Gachagua’s brother remarked.
According to Gachagua, Jubilee picked Sonko as the Nairobi gubernatorial candidate in 2017 solely out of his popularity.
“We needed to win this seat,” the lawmaker told host Sam Gituku, accepting that the party made a mistake in its choice.
“We keep on learning. These are hard lessons…things we need to discuss in the future…who is it that we want to take the seat and what is his capacity?” Gachagua said.
He further called out Sonko for embarrassing Jubilee with his roguish credentials.
“He (Sonko) has been bragging everywhere with his credentials of I served prison here, I left prison, then I went to this prison…Those are his credentials,” the MP mockingly stated.
STATE OF NAIROBI
Rigathi Gachagua, MP Mathira: My workers did not vote for Nairobi Governor because they like him, I asked them to vote for the Jubilee candidate. The original idea was this guy (Nairobi Governor) get a deputy who can manage things but he frustrated him #DayBreak pic.twitter.com/6ow62tFIVV— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) November 25, 2019
He also pointed out the need for Jubilee to hold an intervention for Sonko, and to push the county head to promptly appoint a capable deputy.
“We need now to take the bull by the horn as a party, and call Mike Mbuvi Sonko and say you are embarrassing the party,” Gachagua stated.