Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has defended his record, denying allegations of stealing public money as he revisited the events that led to his removal from office nearly six years ago.
Sonko said he had been elected by close to one million Nairobi residents and had wanted to deliver services to them, but his decision to transfer key county functions to the national government eventually became a major source of conflict.
Speaking on NTV on Thursday, the former governor said he agreed to the arrangement in 2020 in the hope of improving service delivery in the capital.
"I was elected by nearly one million people. My biggest problem was how to show the people what I could do for them," Sonko said.
On February 2020, Sonko signed a deed transferring health, transport, public works, utilities and planning functions from Nairobi county to the national government.
The agreement led to the establishment of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), which took over the management of the transferred functions.
However, Sonko said disagreements emerged over the financing of the services, particularly the transfer of money from the county government to the national government.
"The transfer of functions came and they took over the work. But the constitution had not provided a legal framework for transferring money from the county government to the national government," he said.
The arrangement also faced legal challenges, with a court declaring the transfer of functions unconstitutional in June 2020 over the failure to obtain approval from the Nairobi County Assembly.
The court gave the national government 90 days to regularise the arrangement. The declaration was later set aside following further court proceedings.
Sonko said the legal disputes and accusations that he had stolen public funds further complicated his relationship with the national government.
"They started saying I had stolen public money. I have not stolen from anyone," he said.
Sonko's political troubles escalated in December 2020 when the Nairobi County Assembly voted to impeach him.
The motion cited alleged gross violations of the constitution and other laws, abuse of office and gross misconduct. The Senate subsequently upheld his removal in December 2020.
Sonko challenged the impeachment in court, but the Court of Appeal upheld the decision in March 2022.
In its ruling, the court found that the charges against him had been substantiated, including his failure to provide NMS with documents needed to complete the transfer of county functions.
The court also found that his conduct had hampered service delivery in Nairobi.
