Despite being a chief critic of Raila Odinga and NASA
coalition, a humbled Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko says he is keen to work with
the opposition.
Sonko, who was elected on a Jubilee ticket, is grappling
with the unprecedented resignation of his deputy Polycarp Igathe.
And asked how he will run City Hall with a possible
backslash from a Jubilee dominated assembly, Sonko insisted he shall work with
all elected leaders including those in NASA.
“I have good working relationship including those in NASA. I
will consult them on the way forward as we are all determined to work with
people.
“I will also consult electorates and those leaders who are
not part of Jubilee,” he said on Monday at Mombasa.
And hours after his call to a bipartisan approach to issues
facing Nairobi, Embakasi East Babu Owino became the first NASA leader to back
the embattled governor.
“Leaders are chosen by God. Let us give Sonko humble time to
deliver,” Owino wrote on his facebook.
Throughout Jubilee campaigns, Sonko led onslaught against
NASA in all his campaigns within the city.
State House is virtually running City Hall, making key
decisions and appointments and reducing Governor Mike Sonko to a disgruntled
figurehead.
An intergovernmental committee in the President’s Office is
deciding major projects, awarding mega contracts and filling influential posts
in the capital
It’s all part of Jubilee’s pre-election script to safeguard
state interests in the capital, which generates 60 per cent of Kenya’s GDP.
The Star established Sonko and the former Deputy Governor
Polycarp Igathe had a frosty relationship after the city boss learned of
Uhuru’s efforts to have Igathe run the show.
“This is state capture, control of resources going to the
counties and political positioning by the executive,”
Ndung’u Wainaina, Executive Director of the International
Centre for Policy and Conflict, told the Star.
On November 8, the head of state told Sonko to his face to
focus on politics and the leave day-to-day running of the city to Igathe and
Tourism CS Najib Balala.
Igathe, former MD of Vivo Energy, is a well-connected
professional.
