Mike Sonko Mbuvi, recording artiste who likes to play dirty

If there is one thing that former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko likes reminding everyone, it is that he knows how to fight — on the street, on social media, and on the political arena. Sonko, however, has another talent; recording his friends and enemies.

For Mr Sonko, every war is justified, even if it means burning bridges with his powerful friends and allies. That’s how this week he combined his recording talent with his penchant for battles, releasing troves of audio and video recordings of his former friends and associates, whom he accused of blackmail. For his antics, he earned trending hashtags for a whole week.

In his #Sonkoleaks, he claims to expose friends and associates who engineered his ouster from office. He accuses the group, which includes his former lawyer, of betrayal and backstabbing, even to the point of facilitating and influencing judges to rule against his impeachment motion. He claims that the Judiciary has become an auction ground, selling justice to the highest bidders.

Not even his successor Ann Kananu has been spared the attacks, and the new city boss has asked the courts to gag Mr Sonko from further publishing any material aimed at tarnishing her name. Some of his accusations are unprintable. 

But the man has been on the explicit path for long. First elected to public office in 2010, Mr Sonko has been a man on a warpath with the authorities. He has organised demonstrations against perceived enemies of the people, even to the extent of involving powerful friends — like he did with President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2014, whom he put on phone loudspeaker to stop the demolition of houses in Nairobi. Mr Sonko had by then only been in politics for less than five years.

'Recording artiste'

Earlier on, in 2011, the then Makadara MP was thrown out of Parliament for wearing ear studs and sunglasses. 

“I represent the youths who elected me to Parliament,” he said in protest.

He at times recorded private conversations with friends and associates and posted them on social media, earning himself the nickname “recording artiste”.

He would later be elected senator of Nairobi before his elevation to governor, a rise he mostly credited to his appeal to the masses. This trait endeared him to the political elite, who viewed his popularity with the masses as a bonus to their quest for power.

But his time as governor — perhaps his most colourful moment of his political career — was not short of the intrigues that catapulted him to public office. His unorthodox and brass leadership style soon led to a string of resignations, sackings and constant fallouts with city officials.

Past criminal record

He would later be forced to hand over some of the county functions to the newly created Nairobi Metropolitan Services, after President Kenyatta accused him of non-performance. He would be impeached in 2020, a move he blamed on cartels and brokers.

Mr Sonko's past criminal record has also often surfaced in public discussions about his integrity. He himself has talked about it in public on numerous occasions. 

“My critics refer to me as a criminal,” he said in 2019. “Yes, I’m a former prisoner, I was a former criminal, but today I'm the governor of this great city.” 

Today he is accused of embezzling close to Sh300 million through the irregular awarding of contracts to friends’ companies. He has also been accused of recruiting and arming a militia, but he denies the allegations.

For now, Mr Sonko is vowing to keep recording. Asked whether he is afraid the exposes will, in any way, implicate him, the former county chief said he has nothing to lose, and that he “has no business extorting Kenyans.”