Mbuvi Gideon Kioko, commonly known as Mike Sonko or simply Sonko ( Sheng for "rich person" or "boss"),Kenyan politician thrown out of parliament for earrings
CNN, March 3, 2011 (born 27 February 1975) is a Kenyan politician. He served as the second Governor of

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. He was removed from the office of the governor by a form of impeachement by the Senate of the Republic of Kenya on Abuse of Office, Gross Misconduct and Crimes under National Law on 17 December 2020. He was the second governor to be impeached and impeachment upheld by the senate after Kiambu's Ferdinand Waititu. Sonko and Waititu were close friends and exhibited bromance during their tenures in the 10th parliament. Since leaving office he has aligned himself with President

William Ruto William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician who is serving as the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the 11th deputy president of Ken ...

. William Ruto had also fallen out with President

Uhuru Kenyatta Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. Kenyatta was chosen by Daniel Arap Moi as his preferred successor, but Kenyatta was defeated by opposition le ...

whom he served as

deputy president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Early life and education

Mike Mbuvi Sonko was born in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

in 1975. His father, Mzee Kivanguli was

Kamba Kamba may refer to: *Kamba people of Kenya *Bena-Kamba, a community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo *Khampa, also spelled Kamba, Tibetan people of Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in ...

from Mua Hills

Machakos County Machakos County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, which came into being because of the devolved system of governance occasioned by the 2010 constitution of Kenya. The country's first administrative headquarters are in Machakos Town, which is ...

. He attended Kikowani Primary School before proceeding to Kwale High School..

Political career

Makadara Member of Parliament and
Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
Senator

Mike Sonko rose to national political prominence when he was elected as a Member of Parliament for

Makadara Constituency Makadara Constituency is an Constituencies of Kenya, electoral constituency in Nairobi City County, Kenya. It is one of seventeen constituencies in the county. It was renamed prior to the 1997 elections, but was also known as Doonholm Constituency ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

at the age of 35. The September 20, 2010 by-election was occasioned by a successful petition by Reuben Ndolo. After the inauguration of the new constitution of Kenya in 2010 and the creation of the county governments, Sonko announced his intention to run for Senator in Nairobi County. He became the First Senator of

after garnering 808,705 votes, beating his closest competitor,

Margaret Wanjiru Margaret Wanjiru is a Kenyan politician and a Bishop at Jesus is Alive Ministries (JIAM). Career and Political life She is also popularly known as 'Mama Na Kazi'. She belongs to Jubilee Party after leaving ODM party and was elected to repres ...

of the

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augu ...

, who had garnered 525,822 votes, in the Nairobi senatorial election of 2013. Unlike his time in parliament, where he gained notoriety for flaunting House Rules, including incidences of inappropriate dressing, the Senator mostly dressed in official attire. During his time in the Senate, he formed the Sonko Rescue Team, an officially registered

Non-Governmental Organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

that provided government-like services to residents of Nairobi slums. The then governor of Nairobi County, Dr. Evans Kidero opposed the activities of the group, citing conflict of interests with the county government's operations. The Senator acquiesced and donated the vehicles to the county government after several weeks of tense public exchanges.

Nairobi Governor

As early a
January 2016
Mike Sonko had announced his intentions to run for Governor of Nairobi County in the

2017 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya on 8 August 2017 to elect the President, members of the National Assembly and Senate. They coincided with the 2017 Kenyan local elections which elected Governors and representatives in the devolved governmen ...

. After a grueling primary campaign against Peter Kenneth, Sonko ran for the Gubernatorial seat for Nairobi County under the

Jubilee Party of Kenya The Jubilee Party of Kenya was the ruling political party of the Republic of Kenya from 2016 until 13 September 2022. The party was founded on 8 September 2016, following the merger of 11 smaller parties. During the 2017 election, the Jubilee ...

and defeated the incumbent

Evans Kidero Evans Odhiambo Kidero (born 20 May 1957) is a Kenyan politician and former Governor of Nairobi County. He served as CEO of Mumias Sugar Company for 8 years, resigning in 2012 to join elective politics. Early life Kidero was born in Majengo a ...

to become the second Governor of Nairobi. On 17 December, 2020, after undergoing impeachment procedure by the Nairobi County Assembly, Sonko was impeached by the Nairobi Senate and removed from office. Four days after Sonko's removal, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura was sworn in as acting Nairobi Governor for at least 60 days due to the lack of a deputy governor.

Remarkable event(s)

After the

Westgate shopping mall attack On 21 September 2013, four masked gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall, an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that starte ...

in September 2013, Sonko claimed that he had warned the security services of a possible attack three months prior to the incident .

Corruption charges

On the 6th of December 2019, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Kenya issued an arrest warrant against Mike Sonko for various corruption charges during his tenure as a Governor of Nairobi County. He was arrested in Voi. After the arrest, he was detained at

Kamiti Maximum Security Prison Kamiti Maximum Security Prison is a prison in Nairobi County, Kenya. The prison is within Roysambu Constituency, Kasarani District, bordering Kiambu County. Originally named "Kamiti Downs", it sits in the middle of its own estates which lie fal ...

for a few days and released on December 11, 2019 by anti-corruption court for a bond of sh30 million or a surety of the same amount or a cash bail of Sh15 million . As a condition for the release, he was barred from accessing office of

Nairobi County Nairobi City County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya. With a population of 4,397,073 in the 2019 census, it is the third smallest yet the most populous of the counties, also serving as the capital of Kenya. In 2013, the county entity was eff ...

governor until the case is determined. He was impeached by the senate on 17th December 2020.

Personal life

Sonko is rumoured to have broken out of prison in 1998 and recently, officials have called for him to complete his jail term.

Recognition

In August 2019, Sonko was awarded an honorary degree of excellence from European Digital University (EDU) in recognition for his good will and contribution to the community.

References

External links

Mike Sonko Documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonko, Mike Members of the Senate of Kenya Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Living people 1975 births Kamba people