Nairobi governor Mike Sonko and Polycarp Igathe at a past function. (Photo/kenyans.co.ke)
When he was resigning, outgoing deputy governor for Nairobi Polycarp Igathe complained that he had failed to earn the trust of his boss.
Hours later, Jubilee key political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi hit out at Igathe saying it was naive of him to have expected trust from a fellow politician.
The underlying issues in their struggling relations have now emerged to have chiefly depended on the governor's mistrust of Igathe.
The mistrust is said to have escalated when Igathe reportedly lied to Sonko over appointments to his leadership.
It is said that Igathe told Sonko to pick Mr Kariuki for the post of county secretary saying it was an order from State House.
It later emerged that he was Igathe's own man and that President Uhuru Kenyatta had had no role in the recommendation.
“The governor agreed because he is close to the President and would not have wanted to undermine a recommendation from State House,” said Sonko's advisor Onchari.
“However, following some consultations, we discovered that Kariuki was in fact an impostor. If the President wanted Kariuki to be county secretary, he would have told the governor the way he told him when recommending the nomination of Elachi as County Assembly speaker,” he said.
Jubilee leaders however say Igathe was not behind the appointment as they argue the President himself gave a public statement vouching for Kariuki.