The Senate has confirmed the impeachment of Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko by the Nairobi County Assembly.

Senators sealed the fate of Sonko after finding him guilty of four charges touching on corruption and abuse of office and voted to confirm his ouster on Thursday minutes past 11pm. 

The four charges leveled agaist the flamboyant and outspoken politician gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, gross misconduct and crimes under the national law.

On the first charge, Senators voted Ayes 27 and Nays 16 while two legislators abstained.

On the second charge; Ayes 27 Nays 16 and Abstentions while in the third charge senators voted Ayes 27 Nays 16 and Abstinence 2.

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Similarly, on the fourth and final charge there were Ayes 27 Nays 16 and 2 abstentions.

The two senators who abstained from the voting are Nairobi's Johnson Sakaja and Mutula Kilonzo Junior of Makueni even as 16 senators who are allied to Deputy President William Ruto voted to save Sonko as handshake and BBI politics took center stage.


The twenty seven senators who voted in support of kicking the govenor out of office, were mainly allies of President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga.  

Garissa led by Senator Yusuf Haji, who is ailing, did not vote alongside Machakos after the seat fell vacant following the death of Boniface Kabaka last week.

Senators aligned to the DP defended Mr Sonko, and opposed the charges which they described as flimsy. They argued that the threshold required to debate the motion was not met at the Nairobi County Assembly.

The lawmakers voted to kick Sonko out despite his pleas earlier that he be forgiven for his transgressions.

“Out of frustration, I may have made utterances that may have offended many people in ways that I did not intend. And today, I stand before you here with remorse, and having learned my painful lessons.

“I stand before this House with great humility to plead for your mercy and leniency. I am only human, and I know I have made mistakes before."

Owing to the Thursday vote, Nairobi residents will be headed back to the ballot to elect a new governor as Sonko had refused to choose a deputy folowing Polycarp Igathe's resignation lasdt year.

Sonko becomes the second governor to be kicked out of office after former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and was ousted despite carrying a host of MCAs to Kwale to paralyse voting on his ouster and making last minute efforts to save his political life.

And by minutes past midnight his impeachment resolution by the Senate Assembly was published on a special issue of The Kenya Gazette, perhaps to preempt any legal move the now former city governor might try to make at sunrise on Friday.



Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Ben Mutura will effectively take over the running of the city county until a new governor is elected in the next 60 days.