Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has moved to court seeking conservatory orders prohibiting acting city governor Benson Mutura from exercising the powers and executing the mandate of the office of a county governor.
Through his lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui, Sonko, who was impeached over alleged abuse of office, says Mutura should be barred from “holding himself as a substantive Governor and from carrying on or representing himself as Nairobi City County Governor.”
He particularly wants the court to prohibit Mutura from exercising powers such as to appoint, reappoint or dismiss persons to any office in Nairobi.
Sonko argues that Mutura has been exercising unlimited powers of an elected governor since he was sworn in, even though he did not ascend to the office through the ballot. And he insists that the County Governments Act prohibits him from doing so.
In his application, Sonko says he has raised matters of grave public interest and weighty matters regarding the governance of Nairobi County which must be dispensed with before the new leadership can proceed to superintend the affairs of the capital.
At the same time, Sonko wants the court to prohibit Nairobi County assembly from vetting and approving the appointment of Anne Kananu Mwenda as Deputy Governor.
“The vetting and approval of Kananu as Deputy Governor of Nairobi County was stopped. Subsequently, when the petitioner was unlawfully impeached there was no deputy governor and hence, she cannot be available for appointment as deputy governor.” Sonko said in his application.
Sonko wants the conservatory orders issued immediately because, in his opinion, the county assembly wants to proceed and ‘unlawfully vet and impose’ Kananu as Deputy Governor of Nairobi.
