After 'going through hell,' Mike Sonko secures freedom

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko when he was escorted by police officers after his arrest, at the Wilson airport in Nairobi, Kenya December 6, 2019. [File, Standard]

"First of all, I want to thank God," former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko said. "We've gone through hell... We thank God, I don't know where to begin."

Of course, Sonko knew where to begin and it didn't take much prodding to recall his "dramatic" arrest in Voi, where he said some 100 policemen descended from the skies and took him away. The latter fact, Sonko went on, was a disproportionate deployment of force against one citizen, especially at a time when the nation was under a terror threat.

Perhaps Sonko's threat was seen in similar light, but this prayerful Sonko appeared ambivalent in remembering others who were arrested with him on that day, but perhaps that did not matter; he was a free man and God had everything to do with his victory.

"Mungu aendelee kutenda kazi yake," Sonko concluded, inferring that he was counting on divine intervention in his many pending court cases.

He was right to expect such miracles in the future, as I anticipate Public Service Minister Aisha Jumwa is similarly elated, after having a murder charge against her withdrawn this week. And these past months have been equally good for Agriculture Minister Mithika Linturi, whose rape charge was withdrawn.

For those who have forgotten, Linturi is alleged to have strayed from his hotel room somewhere in Nanyuki and entered a different room, where a woman was sleeping. The said woman was waiting for her husband and for a moment she thought it was him touching her. But upon further scrutiny, she found it was the former Meru senator attempting to rape her.