Things for Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko went from bad to worse on Friday following the new development in his corruption case.
DPP Noordin Haji gave orders for Sonko to be arrested after being implicated in a series of corruption cases by the EACC.
The directive thus leaves a vacuum of power and raises the question of who will take over the role.
Governor Sonko’s absence poses a problem as Nairobi is the only county without a deputy governor.
Elachi to act as governor
Lawyer Steve Ogolla explained that the Speaker of the Nairobi County Assembly takes over as required by the law.
According to Ogolla, the current speaker, Beatrice Elachi, should assume powers over the running of the city.
The legal representative noted that Elachi will play the acting role for 60 days before elections for a new county boss are conducted.
He, however, commented that legally, there were two interim measures that could be taken.
The first one is that the controversial governor is permitted to appoint one of his CECs to assume the throne as his case continues.
The lawyer disregarded that Nairobi would be in a crisis as the law had taken care of all possible scenarios from such a situation.
The other move would be for the County Assembly to convene and decide whether to impeach the embattled county boss.
Ogolla articulated that the ruling party should intervene in the matter to avoid fresh political wrangles within the county.
The legal practitioner insisted that Jubilee can persuade Sonko to step aside and allow the authorities to carry out the probe.
Lawyer Dunstan Omari, however, disagreed with his counterpart over the appointment of a member of Sonko’s government as an interim governor.
“There is no deputy governor hence the third person in line is the speaker and it ends there.
“The law has no provision for a CEC to take over,” mentioned Omari.
The lawyer perceived that even if the governor is allowed to appoint a CEC, he wouldn’t do so to complicate the situation within the county.
Sonko’s promise to resign
In September, the Nairobi governor vowed to resign if found guilty of being corrupt.
The once Senator of the ‘city under the sun’ articulated that the decision would be in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s bid to fight corruption.
“We must sustain the fight against graft and we cannot purport to do so and remain in office after being accused.
“So that is a cross I will carry on my own in support of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s fight against graft,” stated the embattled city boss.
He reiterated that he would not help individuals involved in the crime and that everyone was on their own.
The flashy county head in the past months was bombarded with summons from KRA and EACC over the failure of remitting taxes and embezzlement of public funds.