Barely two days after Nairobi Governor Deputy Polycarp Igathe’s bid to resign come end of January, Governor Mike Sonko says he is ready for talks with Jubilee party leadership over his deputy’s unexpected resignation last week.
Sonko who was speaking for the first time in public since his deputy broke hearts of many Nairobians, while addressing the press from Mombasa said that while he is focusing on service delivery to the people of Nairobi, he is ready to hold talks hopefully resulting to a reconciliation.
“We still focus on service delivery, we agree there are challenges that we must look into. Nairobi is not like Mombasa or Kisumu, it is unique, it has 5 million people during the day and 4 million at night,” he said.
Basically, on his Deputy Igathe, Sonko seemed unwilling to address the resignation issue said he will continue focusing on the challenges facing Nairobians however he asked the electorate to have faith that the problems will be sorted adding that he will first consult various leaders as he seeks to resolve the leadership crisis at City Hall.
“I have to consult the electorate and the party leadership on this issue. And again this is not just a Jubilee issue it affects the whole county but we are going to address it,” said Sonko.
Igathe resigned on Friday evening citing failure to win the Governor’s trust. “Dear Nairobians, it is with a heavy heart that I resign my seat as elected Deputy Governor of Nairobi City County effective 1pm on 31st Jan 2018. I regret I have failed to earn the trust of the Governor to enable me to drive Admin & Management of the county,” he tweeted.
Consequently yesterday, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria confirmed that talks to mend the broken relationship between Sonko and Igathe would kick off today (Monday); the talks being led by Kuria and Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja are set to include other Jubilee politicians – the leaders taking advantage of a two-week window to reconcile the two before 31st January date when Igathe’s resignation takes effect. In addition, Kuria said they will meet the two leaders individually, before attempting to bring them together.
Igathe, whose resignation has caused political tension in Nairobi, might bring a political embarrassment if not well sorted out to bring the two together.