- In an exclusive interview with the Star on Friday, the governor said he will be speaking of work done and not plans in his reelection bid.
- The cashless system has sealed revenue leakages and eradicated corruption.
Image: NCCG
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has exuded confidence he is under no threat from rivals lining up to challenge him in the next election.
The governor said his development record will speak for itself, citing improved street lighting and roads upgraded in the county’s 85 wards.
In an exclusive interview with the Star on Friday, the governor said he will be speaking of work done and not plans in his reelection bid.
“In 2027, I will be defending my seat. Any Kenyan has a right to go for this position but people will judge us by the work we will have done by then,” Sakaja said.
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino is among the governor’s top challengers and is already campaigning for 2027.
Embakasi North’s James Gakuya is also salivating for the seat. He recently challenged the governor for the county UDA chairmanship.
Despite competitors pulling out their claws to dig in, the city county chief said he was "hopeful and sure" that he will trounce them.
“As for opponents, they will always be there, and there will also be stories but I am confident that based on what we have done in the city, the impact we have in the society, Nairobi residents will give me the chance to continue working for them as the governor,” he stated.
Sakaja cited the improvement of walkways in the central business district and other parts of the city among the milestones of his administration.
“We have built 17 kitchens where 200,000 are eating every day. From next week when schools reopen, they will be 310,000,” Sakaja said.
He said owing to the transformation in the revenue collection system, the city’s earnings have improved tremendously.
“We collected the highest amount of money, Sh12.8 billion, because of technology and digitisation,” he said.
“There is no human link to the bank once payment is made through the USSD code…and it automatically reflects at the county revenue account at Central Bank of Kenya,” he said.
The county chief said since he took over, he has completed 60km of roads, restored over 10,000 streetlights, and installed new lights across 85 wards.
The governor added that he has revved up ward bursaries to Sh7 million and awarded Sh857 million in scholarships to 124,100 students.
Ward development cash, he said, is up to Sh23 million and that the county has overseen the construction of 17 kitchens which are set to serve 310,000 children hot lunches.
On jobs, the county chief said he has hired over 5,000 new employees, the majority of them being youths.
The county has increased dentists from five to 50 whereas 1,900 housing units are under construction in Woodley.
City Hall is also upgrading informal settlements in Embakasi East and Roysambu, and has plans to improve markets too.
Sakaja said running a huge city comes with lots of complexities, but he has navigated the challenges and listened to the residents.
He agreed with President William Ruto's recent observation that the problem seemed to be how the administration communicates.
“We need to communicate better because a lie goes around the world twice before the truth. It is easier to talk about negative things.”
The governor said most of his critics draw inspiration from the fact there is always an unmet need or an unattended issue in the capital.
“Because of the nature of Nairobi, you could have done something but there is still an unmet need…people will focus on that and ignore the good,” he said.
“We will keep saying the truth. We will keep looking for platforms where we can tell what the city county government has done and the plans.”
In response to criticism from a section of UDA leaders, Sakaja said it is the nature of politics and his focus remains on the vision he shared with his the electorate during the campaigns.
“There is merit in listening…we have been listening to the Gen Zs and Millennials. Many times politicians want to jump into issues without understanding what we need to do,” he said.
In the 2027 race, the governor said he would talk about his ideas for improving the livelihoods of city residents.
“Politicians talk about individuals, other people talk about personalities, but I will just talk about ideas,” he said.
President Ruto's creation of a broad-based government has vindicated Sakaja from critics who felt he gave UDA rivals a lot of stakes at the onset of his term.
The governor said he considered the dynamics of the city when he decided to make Azimio leaders part of his team.
“I started the broad-based concept in Nairobi from the very beginning and that is why some quarters in my party were fighting me,” he said.
“I looked at the dynamics in the city. Nairobi is not politically homogeneous and doesn’t have only one party.”
In the 2022 elections, Raila beat Ruto in Nairobi but the ruling party clinched the governor's seat.
ODM also bagged the senator and woman rep seats as well as 13 MP seats out of 17. It also captured more MCA seats than the governor’s party, which got 35 MCAs out of 85.
“I won as governor overwhelmingly but it would have been foolhardy for me to think that I could ignore what the other people had said. From the word go, in the appointment of CECs, I got representatives from across the divide,” he said.
“I got chief officers from across the political divide and told people not to be shocked if they saw the former PM and the President work together.”
He added: “Politics is pragmatism. It is the art of the possible, not the battleground of absolutes, and that is what is happening today.”
The city governor said leaders must strive to ensure the people feel represented, adding it is the way to pacify the masses.
“It is not just about political survival but pragmatism that people must feel represented. Unless they see someone they believe in, some people don’t feel represented and then you will never have a society that is unified,” the governor said.