Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga on Tuesday weighed in on the appointment of Nairobi Deputy Governor Anne Mwendwa, who was nominated on Monday, by Governor Mike Sonko.
Speaking to Citizen TV’s Daybreak show, Wanga insinuated that city boss had no legal authority to appoint a deputy governor following a court order that barred him from accessing the office.
According to the MP, Sonko was not only restricted from accessing his office but also performing key mandates, such as the appointment of the deputy governor.
“If you read Mumbi Ngungi’s ruling, it is very clear that the barring is not from the physical space, it is from performing the function of the office. Because in any case, the Governors can work from anywhere…
“It will be wrong to think that the ruling spoke to you about physically going to the office. It is about the performance of the functions of the office of the governor.
“The advisers of the Governor on that matter have not reviewed Mumbi Ngugi sufficiently or they want to test the water on the extent of the ruling,” said Wanga.
The appointment of Mwendwa elicited mixed reactions from a section of the political leaders with others expressing their reservations on the move citing the court order that barred the embattled governor from accessing the office.
“…for Sonko to go ahead and appoint a deputy governor I think was misadvised” – Gladys Wanga Woman Rep. Homa Bay County #DayBreak pic.twitter.com/SDGSi84Gdb
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) January 7, 2020
On Monday, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji dismissed Sonko’s appointment terming it a contradiction of the bail terms.
Haji vowed to challenge the appointment in court and also seek further stringent bail terms.
However, Sonko’s lawyer and Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen supported Sonko’s appointment saying the Governor did not violate the bail terms.
According to Murkomen; “there is no connection between appointments and protection of evidence relating to DPP’s case.”
Lawyer Charles Kanjama, who spoke to Citizen TV on Monday, also said the move by Sonko to appoint a deputy governor was not a violation of his bail terms since he was only barred from office.
The move by Sonko is bound to awaken a major showdown in the corridors of justice given that his fellow governors, Ferdinand Waititu and Moses Lenolkulal, accused of corruption allegations were warned against opening a parallel office where they will be discharging their duties from.
Governor Sonko was arrested early December and charged with corruption after he was accused of misappropriating Ksh357 million.
The Governor denied the charges and was released on Ksh15 million bail. His case is set to be mentioned on January 15.