Has he used up all his nine lives? The rise, rise and eventual fall of Mike Mbuvi Sonko

On February 25, 2020, Sonko was "forced" to sign away control of the Capital city and he transferred four key functions to the National Government.

By the stroke of a pen, he was done as far as being the Governor of the Seat of Government with functional and financial power handed to military man Maj-Gen Badi, who was later appointed Director-General of Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) by President Uhuru Kenyatta on March 18, 2020. He later said he was forced and fixed into handing over the City to NMS.

Many thought he was done until a few weeks ago when he announced he had shifted base and moved to Mombasa where he said he was going to vie for Governor.

Many laughed, there is no way he would get an ice cube's chance in hell at the Coastal city. Shock on them, his entry immediately rattled the local political contestants who cried foul and even sought help from the highest office in the land.

Sonko was back, and he had a chance. Then the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) struck denying him clearance to run for the county's governor seat citing his impeachment as the main reason why he could not be cleared.

The maverick rushed to court and on July 13, 2022, the Mombasa High Court ordered the IEBC to clear the former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko to run for the Mombasa governorship.

IEBC obeyed the court and officially cleared Sonko to vie for the position of Mombasa Governor.


This was another chance at political life for Sonko, he was back, he just needed to get the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land to rule his way and he would be the first Kenyan to govern two Counties.

But on Friday afternoon, Sonko's nine lives were up after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal challenging his impeachment by the Nairobi County Assembly.

Try as he may, this is most probably, the end of his elective political career and with that, he can only be active from the bleachers and not on the field he so loves to duel with any willing (and unwilling participants).

Here are the nine lives of Mike Sonko.

Who is he?

Gideon Mbuvi Kioko Sonko is not a newcomer to Kenyan politics, but neither is he old. His supporters christened him “Sonko” as he was always quick to reach into his resources to sort out their problems. “Sonko” a local slang used to refer to a ‘rich flamboyant person’ is now part of his official name. Sonko is not your conventional politician, he is a man on a mission. At the age of 35 years, he became an MP in 2010, he rose to be the Nairobi County senator in 2013, and by 2017, he took the plum gubernatorial seat in Nairobi.    


Unlike many Nairobi politicians who have risen from grass to grace, Gideon Mbuvi Kioko has walked a very different path, he has surmounted many obstacles, and just when many had written him off when he got impeached, here he is, completely reinvented and again with friends in high offices to boot.

In Mombasa, he has been seen in the company of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Azimio leader Raila Odinga.

Mike Mbuvi Sonko is brash and informal. He looks more at home in patterned designer shirts, t-shirts, and ripped jeans than in formal office suits…

As a new MP in 2011, he was thrown out of parliament for wearing ‘bling’ and ‘shades’ (sunglasses). He promised to ‘revisit’ the issue of the dress code in parliament but went out without changing it. Sonko remains unconventional, a lover of bling, a rabble-rouser who initiates fights that have almost wiped him out. Sonko is flamboyant, loves the fine things in life, and he brings the ‘streets-cool’ stuff to the offices through the main door, so to speak!

Entry into Nairobi City politics

Sonko made his debut in city politics during the Makadara Constituency by-election in 2010. Sonko vied against two major opponents; former MPs Reuben Ndolo (ODM) and Dick Wathika (PNU). Mr. Ndolo had petitioned the election of Mr. Wathika in the 2007 elections and the court ordered a repeat election.

He pulled a surprise in the ensuing highly anticipated two-horse race between Ndolo and Wathika at the time.

Sonko never considered a forerunner in the race, sprinted away with the prize, he polled 19,913 votes to Ndolo’s 17,652 as Wathika trailed with 11,000 votes. In 2010, Sonko was a newly minted MP on a Narc-Kenya ticket.

Little could anyone guess the epic journey that had just begun in Sonko’s life. Never one to conform to the status quo, in August 2011 Narc-Kenya sanctioned him for campaigning against the Narc- Kenya party’s Kamukunji candidate in a by-election.

However, no MP for Makadara Constituency ever showed the level of zeal, zest, and colour that he had in representing his constituents. From leading community demonstrations to throwing stones and pleading publicly with the powers of the day for his people’s plight, he was unrelenting!

As a Member of Parliament for the Makadara constituency, he led community demonstrations, rolled on the ground, and even punched a wall!

He put President Kenyatta on a speaker phone during one of one of his daring face-offs with alleged land grabbers and dared anyone around to play with the lives of "his" people!

Sonko bags the Nairobi County Senate seat

Sonko, with just two years in Parliament was discontent with being just an MP and made a new move setting his sights on the newly minted Nairobi Senate seat.

On March 4, 2013, Sonko was elected the first Senator of Nairobi County by a staggering 808,705 voters. In politics, he holds the record of being the most voted candidate outside the presidential race.

Never one to rest, Sonko the Senator was a constant thorn in the flesh then Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero. He kept him on toes with claims and counterclaims about corruption at City Hall and his performance as the governor before eventually telling him to his face that he would vie against him in the 2017 General Election.

Sonko clinches the Nairobi Governor seat

During the 2017 General Election, he toppled Evans Kidero from the Governor’s seat as he had promised and set to work. He said the previous administration was corrupt, inept, and had allowed the city to deteriorate in filth and road traffic jams.

Before long, in 2018, Polycarp Igathe, the Deputy Governor resigned citing irreconcilable differences with Sonko. Before he could blink he was being accused of the very things he had accused his predecessor.

Not knowing the firm grip the national government had on the Capital, he stepped on the toes of top national government officials, and his goose was cooked! It was only a matter of time if not procedure before he began to spiral downward.

The Nairobi Metropolitan Service was created to take over the major functions of the Nairobi County Government and in February 2020, Sonko signed his powers away.

He later alleged it was done in a ‘drunken stupor’. City resources and personnel were redirected to the new entity under General Badi.

His attempts at spurring with Gen. Badi fell flat as he was no match for the little-spoken military man, in fact, he largely ignored him.

A myriad of court cases and the loss of friends in high offices

A myriad of court cases was suddenly in his daily retinue and to add salt to injury, the Nairobi County Assembly impeached him on December 3, 2020 and by December 18, 2020, the Senate confirmed his impeachment.

The High Court, and later the Appellate court upheld the decision by the Nairobi County Assembly to impeach him. The search for his replacement was swiftly conducted and the Governor’s office was occupied once more.

His flailing attempts to reach the President fell flat on each try as did his overtures to reach the leader of the opposition, Raila Odinga who had mended fences with the President.

In his moments of desperation, he even cavorted with the Deputy President who had fallen out with the President and in his usual style rankled feathers when he alleged he had participated in dirty tricks against the opposition with the full participation and knowledge of the state.

In December 2019 Sonko got arrested dramatically midway to Mombasa while on the SGR train, he sank his teeth through the hand of the cop who held him and he got airlifted back to Nairobi in a police chopper and he was immediately arraigned back in Nairobi on more charges. One charge was peculiar though, he was wanted for not finishing his jail term at Shimo La Tewa Prison way back in time!

Sonko was kept very busy, fighting his way through the courts, and in his spare time, he would drop "humble" pictures on social media showing him working with his workers on a building at one of his homes.

Sonko’s new mission in Mombasa

The General Election of 2022 is just around the corner and Sonko still has his mojo! He is reinventing himself and this time, it is through the Wiper Democratic Party. Of course, he still has his flashes of genius and he is a man of means and great mobilisation skills. Wiper supremo, Kalonzo Musyoka does not mind having him in his corner.

He knows Nairobi has been zoned off and naturally set his sights on trophy number two, Mombasa County. History has come around 360 degrees for him and he’s back where it all began, in Mombasa.

He claims nativity to the coastal city as would any local from that county, he was born and brought up in Mombasa. Long gone now are the days he scratched out a living in the coastal town trying to sell property and ending up in prison on fraud charges. This is a brand new beginning holding a lot of hope, more hope for him than for the people he plans to lead.

The IEBC had been a stumbling block to his aspirations to vie for the governor’s seat in Mombasa but has now given way. On 14th July 2022, the High Court in Mombasa quashed an earlier decision by the electoral commission to disqualify Sonko from vying for the Mombasa Governor seat on grounds that he had been impeached from office. It will not be a walk in the park for Sonko as the ODM brigade led by Abdulswamad Nassir is raring to go for the same seat. But this is friendly fire compared to what befell him in Nairobi. He remains a great community mobiliser and he has shown sparks that could light up Mombasa during the general elections on the 9th of August, 2022.

A Maverick

Sonko remains is a maverick who has defied many odds, lived 9 lives, and is here to tell it all. Time and opportunity happen to all under the sun and how he will turn out after the 9th of August remains a function of time.

However, what is apparent is that Gidion Mbuvi Kioko Sonko came, he saw, and he conquered! Sonko’s path is unscripted yet he has walked in it with much gusto, abandon and speed as one called to a cause.