Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja has faulted the move by some Senators who are lawyers to represent Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko in court. Senators Mutula Kilonzo Jr, Kipchumba Murkomen were in court as part of Sonko’s defence team, a move which drew mixed reactions from Kenyans, keeping in mind that the Senate’s role is to oversight the County governments.
Senator Sakaja has said Sonko had a right to be represented by a lawyer of his choice, but there was a conflict of interest when the Senators represented him, “There is a serious conflict of interest when the leader of majority and the majority whip are the ones representing a Governor whose matter is likely to come to the same house that they are in leadership positions.”
He said the move diminishes the position of the Senate as an objective institution that oversights Counties, “One individual is not the County. It might be the interest of these people to first sit back, listen to the court, the judgement, the proceedings…you can give support behind the scenes, as a lawyer,” said Sakaja. He added that the LSK and other bodies need to provide clarification on these cases of representation.
However, he said there would have been a better way to handle the Governor during his arrest, “Every accused person deserves a level of dignity, whether it’s a big person or a small person..I think the handling could have been done better,” he said. The Nairobi Governor is set to know the verdict on his bail application on Wednesday. He was however taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital on Monday night.