Embattled Nairobi county boss Mike Sonko has been nominated for Governor of the Year in the Mashujaa Awards 2019.
The other nominees include Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni), Dr Alfred Mutua (Machakos), and Hassan Joho (Mombasa).
According to the Mashujaa Awards’ website, the annual awards ceremony is to “recognize and celebrate those who continue to bit the odds and whose contribution to the Kenyan community remains an inspiration to many of us.”
“We celebrate your achievement and contribution to the Kenyan society in Houston and our Republic of Kenya”.
The US-based awards further indicate the ceremony sets out to “appreciate how far Kenya has come and to celebrate our political heroes”.
Sonko was in October also nominated for the so-called 2019 World Humanitarian Award.
It is, however, the nomination of Sonko, who has been embroiled in misgovernance in Nairobi county and mentioned in graft allegations, that raises eyebrows.
In September, Sonko was questioned by the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission for eight hours at Integrity Centre over graft allegations for garbage and waste disposal tenders.
He was grilled over graft-related queries raised following the awarding and payment of the multimillion-shilling tenders. In March, it was revealed that in six months, the county had paid Sh524 million to 14 companies contracted to collect garbage in Nairobi.
On November 5, he appeared before the anti-graft agency over allegations he lied about never being convicted of any crime in his self-declaration form when he presented his papers for IEBC clearance to vie.
His appearance was punctuated by chaos as his hired goons and supporters engaged police officers in the city centre.
The Auditor-General also queried Sh20 billion county expenditures in Nairobi.
Former Auditor-General Edward Ouko in his 2017-18 audit findings said Sonko’s administration could not provide supporting documents for expenditures running to nearly Sh20 billion.
Ouko also found out that Sonko’s administration irregularly withdrew Sh6 billion from the county’s revenue account.
‘CITY TOP CARTEL’
Ousted Nairobi County Assembly Majority leader Abdi Guyo on November 17 alleged that Sonko sin the “city’s top cartel”, who has has been plundering public resources and pretending to be clean.
The Matopeni MCA further claimed he has evidence that the governor is a beneficiary of bribes from the capital city’s private developers, which he said he will forward to DCI.
His administration is not any better. In September, Sonko suspended 16 county officials, including his ‘Super CEC’ Charles Kerich, effectively throwing City Hall into a management crisis.
He is also yet to name a Deputy Governor, after the assembly rejected the nomination of deported Miguna Miguna, following the resignation of Polycarp Igathe in January 2018.
Since Sonko took office in 2017 more than 40 workers, including senior officials, have either been sacked or suspended.
