Sonko to sack 5 Cabinet members for non-performance

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko (pictured) intends to sack five Cabinet members for allegedly failing to live up to their contract terms.

Mr Sonko said that the decision was informed by the non-performance of the members.

"Someone like Makori (Danvas), the former Finance executive, failed and I fired him. There are four others to go too," he said without giving further details.

The governor is seeking to replace the five through a competitive recruitment exercise after the county advertised the vacancies for County Executive Committee (CEC) members.

County Public Service Board (CPSB) chairman Philip Kung'u yesterday said the governor had requested the board to advertise the positions, but did not divulge which members were on the chopping block.

There is no legal requirement for a governor to advertise positions of CECs.

“A CEC is a CEC and the governor can assign them to any department he wants. He is the appointing officer. Let us not seek to be presumptuous. The governor can seek to replace all of them if he wants, or any member he wishes. That is up to him. We really cannot question that because it is his prerogative," said Mr Kung'u.

On April 11, Sonko sacked Mr Makori for allegedly working with his political enemies. Makori had previously served in the Agriculture docket.

The governor then reshuffled his Cabinet to fill key positions. He moved Trade, Tourism and Cooperative Development Executive Allan Igambi to the Finance docket and replaced him with Newton Munene.

On August 1, Sonko suspended Health Executive Hitan Majevdia and Chief Officer Thomas Ogaro over alleged laxity at work.

He gave them 14 days to explain why health centres lacked medicine and offered lacklustre services.