Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko on Thursday night became only the second governor to be impeached and removed from office.
After two days of hearings, senators still voted along party lines, with those in support of Uhuru and Raila voting to remove Sonko, while those in support of Ruto voting not to.
In total, 27 senators voted in favour of the charges which was 3 more than the constitutionally mandated 24, required to remove a sitting governor.
16 of the legislators voted against the charges. 2, namely; Nairobi senator Johnson Sakaja and Makueni’s Mutula Kilonzo jr. abstained from the vote.
This is a list of all the senators and how they cast their votes.
Sonko stood accused of gross violation of the constitution or any other law, abuse of office, gross misconduct and crimes under national law.
Minutes after his removal, the decision was gazetted which left many Kenyans wondering how late the government printer was working that day, owing to the fact that it was close to midnight.
Sonko now joins Ferdinand Waititu of Kiambu and Martin Wambora of Embu as the only 3 governors to be impeached and removed from office. Wambora was however saved by the courts, which quashed his removal.
Sonko is believed to be headed to the courts too, but only time will tell if he will be successful.
As it stands, Nairobi has no deputy governor following the resignation of Polycarp Igathe in January 2018. If the courts do not overturn Sonko’s removal, Nairobi assembly speaker Benson Mutura will assume the office as acting-governor. A by-election will then be held within 60 days.
