Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja on Wednesday night appeared on Jeff Koinange's JKLive show where he addressed several issues.
The youthful legislator expressed his views on a variety of topics including matters Jubilee Party, Nairobi County leadership and the 2022 succession politics.
1. Mike Sonko's Deputy Governor
Sakaja asserted on the need for the County boss to fast-track the appointment of a Deputy Governor with the post having remained vacant since the resignation of Polycarp Igathe on January 12, 2018.
"Nairobi County must have a deputy governor; it’s not a matter of whether you want to or not. We must be properly structured as a county," Sakaja stated.
2. Political parties and politics
Jeff sought to know Sakaja's views on the stability of political parties and the future of Jubilee as a party given the recent internal wrangles that led to the resignation of the vice-chairman David Murathe.
"We want to stop seeing parties as vehicles and see them as institutions. The future of this country is in building credible political institutions and that means building credible political parties," he stated.
3. Uhuru, Ruto and the political debt
When Jeff sought to know the intrigues of the relationship between Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto, Sakaja painted a different picture from what has been making the headlines.
"Our president is a man of his word, unless you betray him and one of the ways you can betray him is by moving beyond what you had agreed upon; Uhuru Kenyatta will never betray anybody.
"Anyone who thinks President Uhuru Kenyatta is a lame duck is in for a rude shock, he is not," Sakaja added.
4. CS Matiang'i's new position in the Cabinet
The appointment of Interior CS Fred Matiang'i as the Chairperson of a recently constituted National Development Implementation and Communication Committee raised a raging debate.
Some critics opined that the move was a bid to shortchange the Deputy President who is by default, the president's assistant. However, Sakaja held a different opinion.
"The appointment of Matiang’i is nothing new and I wish it was done in 2013. We need a system of technocrats who are development oriented
"It would be diminishing the status of the Deputy President to make him sit in a cabinet committee while there is somebody who can chair a cabinet," he noted.
5. 2022 and the uncertainty it portends
Sakaja downplayed the talks on 2022 politics and who will succeed President Kenyatta urging leaders to concentrate on delivering their mandate.
"My mentors have taught me to be more of a leader than a politician and that is what I do. Politicians and leaders are different; politicians are preoccupied with the next elections, leaders are busy thinking about the next generation
"If Kenyans do not want a particular individual to be president he/she will not be. God has ordained our leaders and He knows who will be president after Uhuru Kenyatta," Sakaja concluded.
