Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has warned those eyeing his seat to prepare for a titanic battle come the 2027 elections, saying he will not be a pushover as he seeks to defend his seat.
The city county chief dared his critics to bring it on, saying no other person best suited to run the capital city than he is.
He reiterated that he will be going for a second term despite mounting criticism over a decision to partner with the national government in the execution of some key county functions.
“Of course, I will be going for a second term. I don’t think there is a person better placed to run this capital,” said Mr Sakaja.
Already, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has declared his ambitions to dethrone Governor Sakaja come 2027.
Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino addresses journalists in Kileleshwa, Nairobi on June 26, 2024.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
There are also reports that former Nairobi governor Dr Evans Kidero is also planning to make a comeback for a seat he held between 2013 and 2017 before he was defeated by Mike Sonko.
“The seat will be open for anyone to vie, and there will be many throwing their hats in the ring. Great leaders discuss ideas and not individuals. I don’t talk about individuals; anyone can show interest,” he said.
Mr Sakaja said there is no other bigger seat one can vie for apart from the Presidency that dwarfs the Nairobi governor position.
“After the Presidency, Nairobi governor is the next big seat in terms of stature and control one can vie for. You cannot vie to be a prime cabinet secretary or cabinet secretary,” said the 41-year-old.
However, the governor was guarded on the political vehicle he will use to defend his seat, saying he will listen to the people.
Former Nairobi governor Dr. Evans Kidero.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“There are many discussions going on, but I am in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA). That is the party I was elected on. If we are still together in broad-based and the right party is ODM or UDA, I will go for any, but I will listen to the people,” he said.
The governor said he does not regret vying for the seat in 2022, despite his predecessors leaving the seat with “tainted” reputations.
“If I did, I would not be seeking re-election. It is the most fulfilling political seat I have had, and it should be a stepping stone to even greater things.”
He argued that his administration is the first one that will deliver two terms and a total transformation of the city.
“We are getting closer to sorting out the financing problem. You know relief is bigger than pain. That relief will come,” he said.
“No matter who you put to run the city, no matter what arrangement you create. Until you sort out the financing issue, you will not have solved the problem.”
But who is Governor Sakaja?
The former Nairobi senator rose to the helm of City Hall in 2022 at the age of 37, but becoming the fourth governor of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital and East Africa’s economic hub, does not tell the entire political story of the 41-year-old.
Born in the capital city on February 2, 1985; Governor Sakaja’s political journey has been nothing short of meteoric.
Bitten by a political bug while in the university, Mr Sakaja began to worm his way to Kenya’s political reckoning at a very young age.
At the age of 22 years, he was already rubbing shoulders with who-is-who in national politics after being made the director of “Vijana na Kibaki lobby” youth league for the late President Mwai Kibaki’s presidential campaign team in 2007.
The group was tasked with countering opposition messaging ahead of the 2007 polls by engaging the youth, organising rallies and campaigning for Kibaki’s re-election under the Party of National Unity.
At that time, the politics were high stakes as the third president was in a fierce fight with the opposition led by the late Raila Odinga, who was flying the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket, a party formed after a resounding victory against Mr Kibaki during the 2005 Constitution referendum.
The aim of the lobby group was to mobilise at least 3.5 million votes, mostly from younger voters, for the president’s re-election.
Mr Kibaki would controversially defeat Mr Odinga in the hotly contested presidential race, which plunged the country into a deadly post-election violence as the opposition rejected the presidential results.
Nonetheless, it is at the movement, according to Mr Sakaja, that he cut his political teeth, which would soon start biting at a much grander stage following his pivotal role within the lobby group.
“I began my political journey many years ago during President Kibaki’s era through the Vijana na Kibaki movement. I learnt my political ropes from the late Kibaki and his aides,” said Mr Sakaja in a past interview.
After being exposed to high-octane politics, Mr Sakaja did not look back. At the age of 26, he played a key role in the formation of The National Alliance (TNA), which he became its inaugural chairperson – a role he led until September 2016 when the party merged with 12 others to form the Jubilee Party ahead of the 2017 elections.
Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
TNA was the party former President Uhuru Kenyatta used to sail to victory in the 2013 elections. Notably, it is the outfit that gave him the first taste of the August House when he was nominated as a Member of the National Assembly between 2013 and 2017, bagging one of the three coveted slots.
While at the National Assembly, Mr Sakaja served as the chairperson of the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association, a parliamentary caucus responsible for advocacy of youth empowerment policies and legislation, as well as mentorship of youthful leaders.
He also served in various committees, including the powerful House Business Committee, the Joint Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity and the Departmental Committee on Finance.
No longer a political student, he joined Nairobi politics by going for the senatorial seat on a Jubilee Party ticket, defeating the current senator, Edwin Sifuna of ODM, to succeed Mike Sonko.
At the Senate, Mr Sakaja joined hands with other youthful lawmakers such as Mutula Kilonzo Jr, Kipchumba Murkomen, Aaron Cheruiyot, Moses Kajwang’ and Susan Kihika, among others; a group that became known for fearless debating in the House.
He served in various committees in the Senate and as the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare.
After the Senate stint, “Mr Dimples” – a name that gained popularity in 2022 campaigns – vied and won the gubernatorial seat on President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance’s ticket, where he defeated Azimio’s Polycarp Igathe in August 2022 to become Nairobi’s fourth substantive governor.
However, his political journey has had its fair share of controversies, including being dragged into the Kemsa scandal, Covid-19 pandemic arrest and questions around his university degree.
He flouted the Covid-19 rules, leading to his resignation as the chairperson of a Senate ad hoc committee on Covid-19 pandemic after allegedly being arrested at the Ladies Lounge in Kilimani, Nairobi.
His inconsistencies around his higher education studies have exposed the Lenana School alumnus to the court of public opinion. From pursuing an Actuarial Science degree at the University of Nairobi, graduating with a Management degree from Team University in Uganda, to not having learnt outside Kenya – it has all been degrees of controversy.
He fiercely fought the controversies and eventually had his name on the ballot in 2022, shrugging off an imminent disqualification from the Nairobi gubernatorial race.
