Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja on Monday, July 20, announced his resignation as Chairman of the Senate ad-hoc Committee on Covid-19.
Sakaja made the announcement after presenting himself at Kilimani Police Station to be booked after apparently going missing following his arrest on Friday, July 17.
Sakaja was arrested for flouting Covid-19 regulations after he was found drinking at an establishment identified as Ladies Lounge along Dennis Pritt Road in Nairobi at 1 a.m.
Speaking at the police station, Sakaja stated that he was taking responsibility for his actions and reiterated that everyone was capable of making mistakes.
He asserted that his resignation from the ad hoc Committee was him owning up after being at the centre of the publicised incident in which he also allegedly threatened police officers.
"I apologise to Kenyans and I will pay the full consequence of the law. I also want to say that I resign from the ad hoc Committee on Covid-19 which I have been chairing.
"We have done a lot of work so far and I support the work the government and officers have been doing across the country. But because of that responsibility, and the example I need to set, I have this morning officially briefed the speaker about that," he asserted.
Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, however, vowed that the Senate would reject Sakaja's resignation as he defended him over the drama.
"As the senate we shall not accept Johnson Sakaja's resignation. Being found in a bar past time is equivalent to forgetting to put on a mask while eating.I stand with my distinguished cousin," he wrote in a since-deleted tweet moments after Sakaja made the announcement.
According to a police report seen by Kenyans.co.ke, Sakaja threatened that he would have the arresting officers dismissed. The Senator, however, denied the allegations.
"I think you know me and my character, I can't do that. I don't have the power to transfer anyone or to fire anyone," he stated.
He was accompanied to the station by his lawyers, John Khaminwa and Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior.
Sakaja is set to be arraigned in court on Tuesday, July 20 to be charged with flouting government regulations on the pandemic.
Mutula dismissed claims that Sakaja had gone into hiding to avoid arrest, claiming that there were individuals pushing for a dramatic arrest of the Nairobi Senator.
"The sentiments that he was running away or had disappeared was something that we needed to debunk this morning because the people pushing that wanted Sakaja to be handcuffed and brought here," he noted.
Watch Sakaja's speech below:
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