For years, Mr Charles Korgoren Kerich has been one of the most powerful men at City Hall.

Governors came and went and political wars erupted. County executives were hired, fired, impeached and suspended. Yet one man, Mr Kerich, remained firmly in place, navigating the turbulent administrations of governors Mike Sonko, Anne Kananu and Johnson Sakaja while steadily expanding his influence over Nairobi County's most critical department of finance.

Today, however, the man many at City Hall knew simply as "Mr Money" has seemingly vanished from public view and he is nowhere to be seen. Nobody knows where he is and the courts have been looking for him to arrest him for the past few days, but he is nowhere.

His disappearance comes at perhaps the most critical moment for City Hall. As the county races against constitutional deadlines to prepare and approve its budget, Members of the County Assembly are openly questioning his whereabouts.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja (Left) and County Chief Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning Charles Kerich at a past event.

Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation

During a heated plenary session on Tuesday, ward representatives said the absence of the county executive has left the budget-making process at City Hall in turmoil.

"We are in the process of making the budget in the county government and the CEC for finance is nowhere to be seen. We are reading from the newspapers that he has been imprisoned but he is not yet in prison so the question is, where is he?" Majority Leader Peter Imwatok posed on the floor of the Assembly.

The question captures the extraordinary fall of a man who, for nearly a decade, knew the county government’s finances better than almost anyone else. Long before he became one of the most influential figures in county government, Mr Kerich was a journalist. He spent years editing stories and rose through the ranks to become Group Editor-in-Chief at Radio Africa Group.

Few could have predicted that the former editor would eventually become one of the most powerful technocrats at City Hall. His entry into county government came in October 2017 when then Governor Sonko shortlisted and interviewed him for the ICT and e-government docket in his inaugural administration. He was vetted, approved and sworn in. From that moment, his rise was meteoric.

Mr fix it

Mr Sonko's administration was characterised by frequent cabinet reshuffles, but each reshuffle appeared to elevate Kerich's stature. Within a short period, he had accumulated control over some of the county's most strategic departments including ICT, Lands, Finance, Housing and Health.

Whenever there was a crisis, Mr Kerich was often the man sent in to steady the ship. In 2018, after Finance CEC Danvas Makori was dismissed, Mr Kerich was appointed acting Finance executive and became the first finance chief under Sonko's administration to successfully steer the county budget through the assembly.

When the Pumwani Maternity Hospital scandal erupted, he was again handed additional responsibilities, serving as acting Health CEC while still holding the Lands docket. His growing influence earned him a reputation as Sonko's "super CEC”, a trusted lieutenant who could be deployed across departments and sensitive assignments.

The trust between the former governor Sonko and his executive was evident in August 2020 when Kerich appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee on Sonko's behalf. Senators, however, turned him away, insisting that only the governor could answer questions regarding the county's affairs.

Even then, it was clear that Kerich occupied a unique position within City Hall's power structure. His influence survived Sonko's impeachment. When Anne Kananu took over City Hall, he still remained relevant.

When Johnson Sakaja won the governorship in 2022, he once again found himself at the centre of power. After unsuccessfully seeking the UDA ticket for the Bomet Central parliamentary seat, he joined Sakaja's campaign machinery and later returned to City Hall as Finance CEC.

Nairobi County CEC for Finance and Economic Affairs Charles Kerich during the reading of the county budget on 29 June 2023

Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | NMG

The appointment cemented his status as perhaps the most enduring county executive in Nairobi's history. Those who have worked with him describe a meticulous technocrat with an encyclopaedic understanding of county finances.

“He knew the budgets and the revenue streams at City Hall. He knew where the money was coming from and where it was going. His suspension got us by surprise given his influence,” said a colleague at City Hall.

For many within City Hall, if there was a financial question, the answer was usually found in Kerich's office. But today, it is the courts that are asking questions.

His unending legal troubles stem from Nairobi County's failure to honour a court decree requiring payment of Sh106.7 million to Kwengu & Company Advocates.

On May 19, Justice Francis Gikonyo sentenced Kerich to three months in prison for contempt of court after finding that the county had persistently failed to comply with orders requiring payment of the debt. The court directed police to arrest him and commit him to prison.

The judge noted that neither Nairobi County nor Kerich had filed responses opposing the contempt proceedings despite being served.

He would later moved to court seeking suspension of the sentence, arguing that a power outage interrupted internet connectivity during the virtual session when the ruling was delivered. However, the High Court declined to certify the application as urgent and refused to suspend the sentence pending a hearing scheduled for July.

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The matter took a dramatic twist when lawyers acting for the decree holder returned to court alleging that Kerich had travelled to Dubai despite the committal order. The lawyers further accused Governor Sakaja of facilitating the trip under the guise of official county business in order to place the finance chief beyond the reach of the court.

The allegations have now triggered fresh proceedings seeking to cite the governor himself for contempt of court.

Neither Sakaja nor Kerich has been found liable for those allegations, which remain before the court.

Last week, Mr Sakaja suspended Kerich from the Finance docket as pressure mounted over the unfolding legal battle. For a man who built his career surviving political storms, administrative upheavals and three successive administrations, the current crisis presents perhaps the biggest test in his public life.

The former editor who became City Hall's financial mastermind now finds himself at the centre of an escalating legal and political storm.

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