Where does Mike Sonko’s Money Come from – Find out

His ‘secret weapon’ was support from the youth whom he had helped in many ways. They are the ones who gave him the name ‘Sonko’ – sheng for a man of means.
“Although I had set my eyes on the 2012 General Election, the youth wanted me to vie in the by-election when the Makadara seat fell vacant after an election petition by Ndolo,” said Mbuvi. So how did he accumulate his wealth?
Sonko’s wealth is traced to Mombasa where he was born and educated. There, his father ran a property and real estate agency, Pelly Properties, which he co-owned with another businessman.
After completing primary school at Kikowani Primary School in Mombasa, Mbuvi started getting more involved in his father’s business. At the time he was a student at Kwale High School, Kwale County.
“My father was a developer and used to sell beach plots at the Coast to European buyers. He made good profits because he bought the plots cheaply,”
. He said he made Sh5 million working for his father when he was in Form Four in Kwale High in 1991. Despite qualifying to go to university, he decided business was his calling. Instead, he took a course in Business Administration and Management at Edxcel International School in Mwanza and Pwani Business College. At the time, his father and business partner split Pelly Properties. Mbuvi’s father started Gidson Properties where the young man, fresh from school, was the sales and marketing manager.
Mbuvi relocated to Nairobi in 1994 where he bought eight matatus, which plied the Kibera route. He bought more matatus, which plied route 42 to Dandora and Umoja. He operated matatus in Dandora and Umoja from 1994 to 1997.
“I was also buying and selling plots and residential houses,” says Mbuvi. After 1997, he bought minibuses and began operating his matatu business in Buru Buru where his first minibus was christened ‘Ruffcuts’. He later bought two buses, one double-decker, for a tours and travel business.
Because of helping the youth when in trouble with the police, and ensuring the arrest of a senior traffic police officer due to harassment and alleged extortion, among other things, he became the chairman of the Eastlands Matatu Association.
There were more than 5,000 matatus, under him. He gained popularity in 2007 after going to court when Eastlands matatus were denied access to the Central Business District. The Government then decreed that the matatus stop at the Muthurwa market and bus terminus.