Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko contended Wednesday that Raila Odinga's move to join the government has created a vacuum.
Speaking on a live television interview on K24 that was also streamed live on his Facebook page, the flamboyant governor said there was no one fighting for the common mwananchi and vowed to take up the role.
"We cannot torment people so as to make Kenya look like America or South Africa... We have to fight to for Wanjiku. It's wrong for a governor to criticise the government that he's working for but we have no choice.
"There is no opposition, Baba did that work as the leader of the opposition... If there is no one fighting for the poor. I will do that as the governor of Nairobi," the governor said.
His words come in the wake of viral footage of him confronting armed hoodlums in Buruburu, the latest in a string of street confrontations.
Confronting private developers in the streets appears to be the flamboyant governor's modus operandi.
His street confrontations are well-documented.
He has always framed those confrontations as fighting for the poor.
Sonko's assessment of a vacuum in the opposition is consistent with that of political pundits who contend the veteran opposition leader's decision to join the government has weakened the opposition.