Opinion: Let’s give Sonko a chance at redemption to earn our trust

No one can accuse the good people of Nairobi of being “village idiots.” That’s not to say their choice of elected leaders is particularly enlightened.

In fact, Nairobians have often elected knuckleheads, thugs, Mafiosi, and illiterates. That, I am told, is democracy, which Winston Churchill called the worst system of government, except for all the others.

The people exercise their franchise the way they see fit – Germans unfortunately elected Adolf Hitler, the last century’s Anti-Christ. Hyperbole aside, Nairobi – one of the most recognisable cities – has become a swamp of hissing reptiles in the guise of City Hall. Governor Mike Sonko is the King of the Swamp. Which begs the question – should he resign or be impeached?

Don’t get me wrong. I like the “people’s governor.” Fewer Kenyans have come from the depths of Kenyan society and risen thus far. Sonko is living proof that every dream is valid. One can be germinated from the dregs of society but still rise to the inner sanctum of the state – with the sons and daughters of kings and queens.

That’s Sonko’s story in a capsule. How can anyone, no matter how snooty, not admire him? Sonko’s story is that of the so-called noble savage, the idealised primitive who rises above the corruption of civilisation.

He’s a post-colonial of the tortured African soul. He represents the dysfunction that characterises us. The latest exhibit is the debacle over Miguna Miguna’s nomination for Deputy Governor.

Sonko is at once the embodiment of grit but also the epitome of our crass and base instincts at the stage of the primitive accumulation of wealth.

We admire him – and loathe him – because he’s succeeded where we have failed. The traditional elites envy him and want to see him destroyed because he’s a usurper. Unlike them, his father didn’t steal for him.

This is the only reason they are princes, and why they despise him. Who’s the better man? He who “steals” for himself, or he for whom his parents stole? That’s why the morality play about the source of Sonko’s wealth – and I don’t know the size of his patrimony or how he acquired it – must stop.

If Sonko is to be indicted, let it be on grounds other than that he’s a gatecrasher – a barbarian – at the high table. As a student of truth commissions, I know excavating Kenya’s skeletons would leave virtually no member of the traditional elite unscathed. That’s not to say we shouldn’t dig into the cupboards of history – we must to exorcise our demons.

My only point is the traditional elites must know that when they point at Sonko, three of their indexes are pointing back at them. He’s clearly ill-educated. So is Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu. So are hundreds of elected officials, many with fake papers. For me, all that is white noise – shiny objects.

The question is whether Sonko can actually run the sophisticated and corrupt metropolis that’s Nairobi.

Does he have the training, experience, discipline, aptitude, and humility to lead the great people of Kenya’s largest city? The answer appears to be in the negative. He’s chaotic and disorganised. He doesn’t seem to know the first thing about running a bureaucracy.

He has no regard for process and decorum. He still thinks and acts like the wild MP for Embakasi untethered from the strictures of the rule of law and administrative norms. He’s a man lost at sea. It’s telling that Nairobians chose him over well-trained and seemingly competent technocrats – Peter Kenneth, Evans Kidero, and Miguna Miguna.

If Kenya wants to be a middle income country, then it must get serious leaders. Citizens need to elect capable people. Kenya will not get there if Nairobi is run like a meat-roasting kiosk in the middle of a chaotic village market. Or like a bar in a seedy neighbourhood. The Senate has a responsibility to oversee county governments.

Why are senators acting as though they have no ears or eyes? Don’t they see Nairobi is like a driverless auto careening down the road in a murderous rage? Has Sonko abdicated as Nairobi Governor? He seems more interested in the intrigues of the 2022 Kenyatta succession than running Nairobi. Should he be yanked?

I believe in second chances. If Sonko is our baby, then let’s not throw him out with the bath water. Let’s give him a chance at redemption to earn back our trust. The Senate must insist on immediate sobriety at City Hall – in every sense of the term – or else. Miguna is like Sonko and can’t save him from himself. Give Sonko six months to demonstrate he can do the job. Then impeach or force him to resign if he can’t save himself.