Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko (left) and his deputy Polycarp Igathe at a
past function. Mr Igathe resigned on January 12, 2018 as deputy governor
of Nairobi county. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Summary
- Before his resignation, there were rumours that, with support from people in high office, Igathe had already taken charge of the city, reducing Sonko to a mere figurehead.
- Igathe came from the private sector and was viewed as complementing, or making up for, the perceived weaknesses of his boss, the governor.
- With little formal education before he went into public office, Sonko presents himself as an example of the political success of the underclass.
- While Igathe’s resignation may not be related to the alleged rivalries within Jubilee said to revolve around the Kenyatta succession, it could trigger those.
Before
this shocking development, sections of the media had published rumours
that, with support from people in high office, Igathe had already taken
charge of the city, reducing Sonko to a mere figurehead.
According to the rumours, Igathe was carrying out a Jubilee-backed policy that would lead to a de facto
stripping of functions from the Nairobi County government, so that
these would be carried out by the national government, and specifically
State House.
However, Igathe’s
resignation does not seem consistent with the rumours that the media had
published and leaves the impression that the problems at City Hall, and
possibly also in Jubilee, are more complex.
PRIVATE SECTOR
Igathe
came from the private sector and was viewed as complementing, or making
up for, the perceived weaknesses of his boss, the governor.
A
streetwise operative whose life before politics has remained the
subject of some controversy, Sonko devoted his first term in elective
office, first as MP for Makadara and later as Senator of Nairobi,
courting public attention through charlatanry, with his so-called “Sonko
Rescue Team”, staging public stunts that were held out as substitutes
for deficiencies in the delivery of public services.
In
preparation for last year’s elections, where Sonko was expected to run
for governor, and in response to criticism that he lacked the depth to
run a city, Sonko went into a process of making himself over, gradually
shading his gaudy attire in exchange for designer suits, in a bid to
shake off the image of a punk that had fastened around him.
Whatever
their differences in private, Igathe remained reverent towards Sonko,
even attracting some criticism while defending the governor’s
ill-advised use of the Sonko Rescue Team in performing cleaning up
services in the city. There was a torrent of disapproval of Igathe’s
support for Sonko, based on an argument that Igathe and Sonko already
had a public budget for the very services for which they were accepting
private charity.
CONTRASTS
Sonko
and Igathe came into office as contrasts. With little formal education
before he went into public office, Sonko presents himself as an example
of the political success of the underclass.
Sonko
has brought into office a style that celebrates an underclass
sub-culture which he supposedly represents, and his charitable stunts
often target the poorest people in the city. On his part, Igathe has a
corporatist image, and was presented as the person who would do the work
as Sonko embarked on populism.
Within
Jubilee, Sonko is viewed as aligned to Deputy President William Ruto,
while Igathe is thought to have the confidence of President Uhuru
Kenyatta. In the circumstances, it has been tempting to extrapolate the
problems at City Hall as representing something larger within Jubilee,
possibly involving the President and his Deputy.
Whether
or not this is the case, the implications of Igathe’s resignation will
not be confined to City Hall and will almost certainly touch on the core
of the Jubilee power arrangements.
DISAGREEMENTS
To
begin with, as the capital city whose management signifies how the
country is run, disagreements in Jubilee over the management of Nairobi
could set the tone on how the whole country gets to view the government
in the next five years. In their first term in office, Nairobi was under
the control of the opposition, Cord, while Jubilee held the presidency.
With Jubilee now in charge of both the presidency and the government of
the city, responsibility at the two levels is aligned, making it
difficult for Jubilee to pass the buck for failures.
It
is not unlikely that President Kenyatta or his Deputy Ruto was aware of
Igathe’s resignation before it happened and could have intervened
suitably. The fact that this did not happen may signal an inability
within Jubilee to mediate internal problems before these become crises
for the country.
Secondly, by
allowing a situation that led to Igathe’s resignation, Sonko has
suffered a major blow that will significantly weaken his own authority,
both within Jubilee and as governor of the city.
Although
undoubtedly popular, Sonko’s capacity to lead has remained suspect.
Having lost his deputy so early, Sonko will come under significant
public scrutiny and may be forced to cede significant amounts of
authority to Igathe’s successor, for fear that if the next deputy
governor also resigns, public pressure may then force Sonko out as well.
RESIGNATION
Thirdly,
while Igathe’s resignation may not be related to the alleged rivalries
within Jubilee said to revolve around the Kenyatta succession, it could
trigger those. To begin with, the fallout from Igathe’s resignation may
have made Sonko a one-term governor, or may even trigger events that
could force him out before his term is over.
In
that case, the search for a Jubilee candidate for Nairobi governor in
2022 may have begun already and could cause major shifts in the
governing party. Further, Sonko’s ambitions for higher office may have
been checked irreversibly. Also, as a key county in Kenya, all the
factions in Jubilee will want to have a say on how Nairobi is run, and
would naturally want to influence the selection of Igathe’s successor.
TRANSPARENCY
Fourthly,
Jubilee has previously sounded out a plan to abolish the county
government of Nairobi, whose functions would be assimilated by the
national government. A bill by then Muranga Senator Kembi Gitura was
viewed as Jubilee’s hot air balloon on this plan.
It
remains to be seen if this plan is still on, and unless more
transparency is allowed into the Igathe affair, suspicion that this is a
plan to wreck devolution in Nairobi will deepen.
The
timing of the Igathe affair could have been better: President Kenyatta
has to deal with a divided country, after another contentious General
Election. A divided house in Jubilee does not represent the best
beginning point for doing so.
gkegoro@gmail.com
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