City tycoons and politicians are pushing State House to reconcile Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and Deputy Governor Polycarp Igathe.
They want President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto to prevail on Igathe, who resigned last Friday, to rescind his decision.
Some businessmen plan to meet Uhuru over the Igathe-Sonko standoff and urge him to broker a truce.
Uhuru, who was in South Africa when Igathe resigned, has avoided commenting on the falling out between Sonko the politician and Igathe the manager from the corporate world.
Igathe was seen as the protector of State House’s interests. His resignation is effective on January 31.
The Star has established Sonko and Igathe differed sharply over appointing county executive committee members, chief officers and top managers.
Igathe is said to have insisted on a 50-50 power sharing of top positions with Sonko, which the governor is said to have flatly rejected. This led to a split.
He also is said to have demanded that he take charge of county administration and management, as promised during the campaigns, while Sonko concentrated on politics. Igathe referred to this when he resigned.
“I regret I have failed to earn the trust of the governor to enable me to drive administration and management of the county,” Igathe said.
Yesterday, a source who sought anonymity, said some Nairobi billionaires opposed to Sonko’s anti-graft crusade pushed the deputy governor to resign to frustrate the county administration. “It was never Igathe’s decision to resign. He was pushed by powerful businessmen,” the source said.
WANTED TENDERS, CONTRACTS
“Igathe is my confidante and resigning was not his decision. Actually, they wanted Igathe to be given some posts in the administration and to run the whole city.”
Some city tycoons are also said to have tried and failed to meet the governor over tenders and contracts.
“Some tycoons thought they could use Sonko to secure multi-billion-shilling contracts. After they failed, they ganged up and decided to frustrate Sonko’s government by pushing Igathe to resign,” an aide of Sonko said.
Yesterday a video, apparently taken during the campaign or shortly after the inauguration, surfaced online. The video appeared to show Igathe drinking and using the ‘F’ word.
Also pictured are business mogul Chris Kirubi and other friends, wearing Ferrari caps and matching Jubilee jackets, with UhuRuto labels.
Igathe is seen teaching Kirubi and his friends the ‘Australian Toast’, while opening a can of Tusker. He says he learnt it when he got his first job in the State Government of Queensland.
“Here is to you, here is to me. The best of friends, we will always be. And if by chance we disagree, well, F**k you. Here is to you!” Igathe says as they toast. Another of Igathe’s friends adds, “We never miss our wives, we never miss our concubines.”
