Mike Mbuvi Sonko, also known as Mbuvi Gidion Kioko among other aliases, is a Kenyan politician who served as the second Governor of Nairobi between August 2017 and December 2020. Before that, Sonko served as the first Senator of Nairobi between 2013 and 2017.
Sonko was born on February 22, 1975, in Kwale County. He attended local schools before venturing into the land brokerage business while in high school.
He had considerable success as a businessman and opened a number of businesses in Nairobi and in various parts of the coastal region.
However, he would later fall into trouble with the law after he was convicted and sentenced to prison. He was incarcerated at the Shimo La Tewa Prison in Mombasa and admitted that he escaped prison to bury his mother.
The prison escape haunts him to date with allegations that he later forged a medical report indicating he was sick and later a death certificate which is subject of an active court case.
In 2010, Sonko ventured into active politics as a supporter of the Yes Campaign (Referendum that passed the current constitution) in Makadara. He later unsuccessfully sought the ODM ticket in the Makadara by-elections of 2010 - opting to run on a Narc Kenya ticket.
He later decamped to TNA which he used to contest the Nairobi senatorial seat in 2013. In 2017, he was nominated by the Jubilee Party as its gubernatorial candidate in Nairobi.
He successfully ran against the incumbent, Evans Kidero of ODM and won with a comfortable margin. With 869,050 votes, Sonko had the third-highest tally of overall votes after Uhuru and Raila who vied for the presidency.
The flamboyant politician’s term as Nairobi Governor came to an end on December 7 when the Senate voted to uphold impeachment charges laid against Sonko by the Nairobi County Assembly.