A Nairobi voter has expressed his interes tin becoming the next Nairobi County Deputy Governor through a local daily.
He described himself as a voter and resident of Nairobi who is requesting Governor Mike Sonko to appoint him as his deputy. The advert is said to have cost him Sh 130,000.
Philip Sogoti Chepsat, a voter and a resident of Nairobi, requested Governor Mike Sonko Mbuvi, to appoint me as his deputy. I am a university graduate with over 15 years’ experience in public service,” read part of the advert.
According to Philip, he had already tried reaching out to the Nairobi Governor but was not sure if his request had reached him, thus resulting in putting up an advert.
Governor Sonko has been without a deputy since Polycarp Igathe quit on January 13, 2018. Mr Igathe resigned four months after being sworn into office. The former deputy said that his job did not entail what he had hoped it would.
Igathe joined politics from the private sector, having resigned as a CEO at Vivo Energy, with the intent to restore East Africa’s largest city to its position as the regional economic powerhouse. He later landed a job with Equity Bank as the Managing Director then recently left to go back to his job at Vivo Energy.
Earlier this year, Sonko said he had shortlisted four female candidates for the position. They included former Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru, gender activist and insurance executive Agnes Kagure as well as lawyers Karen Nyamu and Jane Weru.
Karen Nyamu sought to vie for the Nairobi Woman Rep seat but lost to Rachel Shebesh during the Jubilee nomination exercise in 2017 elections.
Sonko has also threatened to appoint controversial lawyer Miguna Miguna but nothing never came out of it. It was, however, unlikely that Miguna Miguna would accept working with Sonko as the two do not see eye to eye. Miguna was also a candidate of Nairobi’s gubernatorial seat in 2017 during the elections that Sonko won.
While appearing before the Senate Devolution Committee on April 24, Sonko said there is no provision in the law that compels him to appoint a deputy and insisted that he was still consulting on a suitable candidate.
“I have shown goodwill in this matter. What I want you to understand is that after my former deputy governor resigned, he cited failure to earn my trust, but he never explained how. So, I do not want to just rush to appoint another one then they resign. It will be a big embarrassment to me,” Sonko said.
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