Out of office Sonko still touching lives
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko may be out of office but has found a new way of remaining close and dear to his many supporters and those who follow him for political and other social reasons.
Known for his generous heart, social media posts full of inspirational and even witty undertones, the flamboyant Mike has obviously cut a new face to life-but has remained a key headline maker in the newsrooms.
In the last one month, he has been headlined in some of the leading media outlets, with one of the dailies running a story that didn’t really amuse him; it was headlined ‘The tragedy of Sonkonisation of our politics’ this was one week after the same daily Newspaper ran another headline titled ‘The rise and fall of Mike Sonko’ a story he told The Times that he knew the media house “wanted to make sales” because he understands “things are tough everywhere,”
Interestingly, the BBC had also run a story headlined ‘the rise and fall of ex-Nairobi governor’ but all these seem not to bother him so much anymore.
He is a man who seems to have abandoned his old style of engaging in affairs and news information concerning him. He is living a new life and some of his supporters are happy that indeed, the once celebrated King is not yet out of the game.
It is not surprising that two weeks ago, another local media outlet ran a story titled ‘Sonko lands a new stress-free gig.
This after he shared a video of himself engaging in manual labor with construction workers at a site. He captioned the video, “life after politics is stress free” but his critics say he is hiding behind his new way of doing things.
In the video, it was amazing to see him ably scooping sand with a shovel to a wheelbarrow as other construction workers watched in disbelief.
He is a man who has ‘refused to die’ and looks like his supporters want him to even get much stronger than he was.
GENEROSITY
On Thursday, the former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko posted an emotive post about the inspirational story of the Osinya brothers who lost their mother during a terror attack at the Joy in Jesus International Ministry church in Likoni, Mombasa in March 2014.
The post which attracted thousands of reactions from Kenyans was about celebrating his adopted son, Gift Osinya, who cleared his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.
Sonko adopted Gift and his younger brother Satrine Osinya in 2014 and says the duo have been a blessing to his family.
“Gift and Satrine have been an immense blessing to me and my family ever since, and it’s been with great joy that we have watched the two grow into fine, young men with a promising future ahead of them,” Sonko wrote.
For the four years of his secondary education, Gift was at the prestigious Lenana School. In 2016, when he did his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), Gift Osinya was one of the top performers as he scored 399 marks out of the possible 500 marks.
“So, today was again a moment of great joy and a big milestone for us as a family when Master Gift Osinya completed his KCSE at the Lenana School. My son Gift, I am so proud of you, and truly grateful to God for the blessing you have been in our lives,” Sonko added.
The brothers’ story came to limelight following the terror attack that left a bullet lodged in Satrine’s head as captured in a photo he shared of his brother Gift holding his bloodied brother.
This captures one of his great virtues he holds yet to some, it is seen as a philanthropic way of appeasing his supporters.
It doesn’t end there and as the Muslim faithfuls make their prayers while observing the holy month of Ramdhan,Sonko has yet again come out to offer his helping hand.
He is already putting in place measures to support the needy Muslims families and to continue supporting the less fortunate families during this COVID-19 pandemic,
“In readiness to support the needy Muslims families during this holy month of Ramadan, and to continue supporting the less fortunate families during this COVID-19 pandemic, today we have embarked on restocking our stores with foodstuffs. Today we have received maize flour, ngano flour, sugar and rice. We are now waiting for cooking oil, tea leaves, salt, milk, tambi, spaghetti and dates,” Sonko posted.
Marriage advice to young people
As a man who married when he was still young,the governor has occasionally used his life story and marriage to inspire and advise young people on how to handle their relationships and marriages.
His recent one is a timely guidance to youths on how to avoid getting into unnecessary fights to the extent of killing others when things fall apart.
Sonko advised couples, both young and old to learn how to say sorry instead of resorting to killings.
“The recent cases of domestic violence involving the killing of spouses, children and even parents like the case of the young man in Kisumu are extremely disturbing, and we need to bring this bad culture to an end as Kenyans,” he said.
He also used photos of him and President Uhuru Kenyatta with their young families and used the opportunity to encourage people to marry early.
Cases of couples turning against one another in acts violence that turn tragic have been rampant lately, with incidents reported nearly every week.
Nairobi achievements
The governor believes that he had the best work plan to fix Nairobi and weed out cartels and believes that he achieved much within the three years he was in office
He says that contrary “to the propaganda the media is spreading” and adds that as “sponsored by the cartels and the evil minded,” there is another side of his past they wouldn’t want the public to know.
He listed the following as some of his major achievements:
FIFA Standards Dandora Stadium. (Which was later politicized)
Upgrade of Luthuli Avenue to Pedestrian friendly road
400 million bursary scheme to the bright but Needy Nairobi students.
Renovation of Pumwani Maternity Hospital and installation of The first human milk bank in East Africa.
123 km of roads across Nairobi compared to 13km by the previous regime.
Construction of a new outpatient maternity wing at Pumwani Hospital
Construction of a modern, 3 storey maternity wing at Mama Lucy Hospital
Construction of an oxygen plant at Mama Lucy Hospital
TB Centre at Kangemi Health Centre
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