This archive report was first published on 7 December 2019.
On December 6, 2019, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko's attempt to evade arrest ended in a dramatic showdown in Taita Taveta. The governor's flight from authority began in Nairobi, where police had issued an order to arrest him, issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji.
According to sources, Sonko had fled from his house in Nairobi's Upper Hill area, and it is alleged that he may have taken the inter-county standard gauge railway (SGR) train to Mombasa. His two-car convoy was eventually flagged down at Ndara roadblock near Maungu on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.
When police officers approached the convoy, Sonko allegedly resisted arrest, cursing, spitting, and beating anyone he could lay his hands on. His bodyguards also joined in, beating up journalists and police officers. Despite the chaos, police managed to overpower Sonko and bundle him into a police car.
“I will not board the helicopter until I’m told what I have done,” Sonko yelled at the police before he was overpowered and cuffed. He was eventually airlifted to Nairobi from Ikanga airstrip, where he was held at Voi Police Station.
The dramatic arrest was coordinated by OCPDs Monicah Kimani (Mwatate) and Onesmus Kombe (Taita). The police had staked out Sonko's residences in Kanamai and Vipingo in Kilifi, as well as Mtopanga in Mombasa, and hotels he frequents. Border posts in Taveta and Lunga Lunga in Taita Taveta and Kwale counties were also placed on alert.
