Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has broken his silence on the failed impeachment motion by Members of the County Assembly (MCAs), which sought to remove him from office.
Speaking during an interview with Inooro FM on Monday, September 15, Sakaja lifted the lid on why the MCAs wanted him gone, citing standoffs over bursaries and ward-based programmes as some of the issues raised by MCAs.
On bursaries, Sakaja explained that MCAs faulted the stalled bursary allocation that had affected the education status of many pupils within the county. However, the Governor disclosed that there was a ban on the bursary allocation, thus causing the distribution hitch.
Despite the hitch, Sakaja noted that in the three years he had been in office, his county had distributed Ksh1.6 billion in bursaries, vis-a-vis the Ksh3 billion distributed by previous governors.
On ward-based programmes, Sakaja disclosed that MCAs had taken issue with the slow implementation of projects in their wards. He noted that the slow pace was not entirely the county's fault, referencing the delayed disbursement of funds from the national government.
The latest comes after Sakaja survived an impeachment motion after high-level interventions from President William Ruto and ODM party leader Raila Odinga.
On Tuesday, September 2, Raila held a closed-door meeting with Sakaja and ODM-allied Nairobi MCAs at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation (JOOF), during which he persuaded them to suspend their push for impeachment. The discussions were aimed at creating space for dialogue and reconciliation between the Governor and the Assembly.
The developments were confirmed to Kenyans.co.ke by a source who attended the meeting, as well as Nairobi County ODM Chairperson George Aladwa, who later addressed the press.
Aladwa announced that the ODM MCAs had agreed to put the impeachment bid on hold for one month, giving Governor Sakaja time to adjust his leadership approach and mend ties with the Assembly.
Aladwa also revealed that Sakaja acknowledged all the accusations the MCAs levelled and apologised to them during the meeting.
President Ruto convened the separate UDA meeting at State House, Nairobi, where he cautioned them against pursuing the ouster motion.
The Ruto-Raila intervention came days after both ODM and UDA MCAs had gathered over 70 signatures out of the 123-member house, with a bid to present an impeachment motion at the Nairobi County Assembly. They required at least 82 signatures to table an official motion of impeachment.
Key grievances that they had raised included the failure of the first-term Governor to fulfil campaign promises, delays in disbursing bursaries, and the stalled Ward Development Fund. They also accused him of neglecting the needs of Nairobi residents and ignoring the priorities of the county’s wards.
