A video of a visibly agitated former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko surfaced on social media on Monday, 15 May 2023, as he bragged about having tons of money, contrary to what his detractors claim.
In the undated video, a foul-mouthed Sonko dropped several expletives at unnamed targets as he opened and recorded gold-plated aluminum cases to reveal millions he owns in dollars and Kenyan shillings. There were about six cases stacked together before he took two and opened them.
“You say I don’t have money because I don’t help children. Who told you that a person over the age of 18 is a child? Someone who has given birth, who has been educated until they finish school. I have money, but not to spend on children. I have money to spend on my wives. Let me show you,” Sonko began, launching into a series of insults.
The first was a pile of a hundred American dollar bills, the second a pile of Kenyan money, which he called “fuel pocket money”.
“Let me show you money. You have a long way to go. Someone has to plan in this life. This is all two million for fuel. Over there is 50 million. If God takes you before He takes me, I will buy your coffin and take you to Embu. This is all to buy fuel. Let me take out more money to show you that I can insult people early in the morning. Who told you that people don’t have money in this Kenya? Let me take it out for you so you don’t think it’s fake,” Sonko said in the three-minute video.
Since he came into the political limelight, Mike Mbuvi Sonko has been known as a flamboyant man who likes to hand out money to his supporters.
His wealth grew when he was elected the second governor of Nairobi in 2017, and he was often spotted in the latest expensive vehicles, fashion outfits, jewellery, and luxury gadgets.
His former office had gold-plated furnishings – including gold-woven toilets – as did his Mua Hills mansion, where his family resides.
His children also enjoy a lavish lifestyle, as evidenced by one of his young daughters driving the latest Lexus V8 engines around Kenya.
The source of his wealth is said to be business, but at one point, he was prosecuted and acquitted for corruption during his tenure as governor.
In December 2022, Sonko was acquitted in an Sh25 million corruption case in which he was accused of embezzling money from the county government by awarding dubious contracts.
The Business Daily reported that the charges against him included money laundering, conflict of interest, abuse of office, acquisition of public funds and conspiracy to commit an economic crime.
One of the tenders was for supplying and implementing an electronic revenue collection and payment system. They allegedly committed the offence between July 1, 2018, and January 31, 2019.
Mr Sonko had challenged their evidence, saying the witnesses were actively involved in the tenders and the court should treat the evidence as that of an accomplice.
The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the acquittal.
