(KDRTV) – Deputy President William Ruto could team up with former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and support one candidate in the highly anticipated by-elections.
The high-stake gubernatorial race will be the precursor to what is expected to be a year of intense politicking. The Nairobi by-elections will be held in February, just months away from the BBI referendum. The winner of the polls will have an upper hand in the referendum polls.
Ruto and Sonko may be planning to take on the handshake in the race if the word on the street is anything to go by.
The DP’s allies in the Senate unsuccessfully tried to defend Sonko from ouster in last week’s dramatic vote. 27 Senators upheld all the four charges that had been leveled against the governor by the Nairobi Assembly.
Ruto and the Governor enjoy a close working relationship. The two met in April before Sonko dramatically changed his mind on the transfer of some city functions to NMS. Several media outlets reported that the meeting could have influenced his decision.
Despite being impeached, Sonko has continued endearing himself to Nairobians by donating Christmas goodies to the city’s poor. He said he will ensure the less fortunate in all the 17 sub-counties enjoy Christmas.
“They may have taken my office but not the people. I will continue standing with the people and as usual every festive season from the 20th to 25th December I normally donate foodstuffs to the needy,” Sonko said in a Facebook post.
These actions point at a man who is not ready to let go, his influence in Nairobi. Sonko garnered more than 800,000 votes in the 2017 elections. The number could have increased following what many people believe to have been an unfair impeachment in which due process was not followed.
DP William Ruto, just like Sonko, has concentrated his hustler empowerment projects in Nairobi. This year alone, he has donated wheelbarrows, carwash machines, carts and other goodies to the ‘Nairobi hustlers’. The by-elections could provide him with an opportunity to see if the strategy will be working. Ruto and Sonko could give the handshake a run for its money.
