Senator Mike Sonko. Photo: plus254.co.ke
Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko has dismissed Peter Kenneth’s gubernatorial bid under the Jubilee Party.
The senator said he will not step down for the former Gatanga MP in the race for Nairobi governorship.
Sonko said there were no talks within the Jubilee Party to hand any aspirant a direct nomination ticket ahead of August 8 general election.
“I am not ready for consensus. I am ready to go to the ballot,” Sonko said during an interview on Citizen TV on Sunday.
The Jubilee senator said Kenneth did not back President Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid in the 2013 general election and he cannot therefore step down for him (Kenneth) now.
Sonko alleged that Kenneth was sponsored by foreign donors to vie for presidency and split the Mt Kenya votes so that Uhuru can lose the election.
“The offense Peter Kenneth committed, he was fighting the President in 2013. Several leaders from Mt Kenya region approached him to step down for Uhuru, he refused. Let him feel the same way we felt, I will no step down for him,” Sonko said.
The Nairobi senator said he can only step down for Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi or businessman Jimnah Mbaru, who hail from Murang’a County - Kenneth’s backyard.
“If it’s about Murang’a politics, let us bring on board Jimnah Mbaru or Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi, I can step down for them, but not Kenneth,” he said.
He further alleged that Kenneth during his 2013 presidential campaigns, tainted Uhuru’s image by saying he was unfit for the presidency over the crimes against humanity charges he was facing at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Sonko said he was ready to work with fellow Jubilee leaders, Margaret Wanjiru and Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru, to eliminate problems facing Kenya’s capital city.
Both of them have presented their nomination papers to the Jubilee party, seeking to vie for Nairobi governorship.