Sonko’s life on fast lane comes back to haunt him

Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko. [File, Standard]

The year was 2010. The late Dick Wathika had just lost his seat after a successful petition by Reuben Ndolo and a by-election was in the offing. It was to be a tight fight. The men to watch, people assumed, were Ndolo and Wathika. They had the might that being in politics for long, gives. Gideon Mike Mbuvi, alias Sonko came in and tilted the seesaw and continued in the same trajectory without looking back.   

He came into politics as an unknown. He was a lean young man whose popularity was slowly rising in the Eastlands part of Nairobi. He had the money the youth yearned for, and he was generous. He had the vigour and fiery language that presented a new way of doing politics. His sheng’, the language of the people on the ground, was flawless. He dressed like them, spoke like them, ate with them, and dangled the promise of changing fortunes for them. He was one of them – or so he said – so they voted for him.