Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja was one of the well-known persons in retired President Uhuru Kenyatta's inner circle before their fallout in the moments preceding the 2022 General Election.
Speaking to Citizen TV on Monday, December 26, Sakaja noted that he played a crucial role in convincing the former president of the possibility of winning the presidency from as early as 2009.
The former Nairobi senator revealed that the decision was made at a closed-door meeting with Kenyatta, the current Kirinyaga county governor Anne Waiguru, Anthony Kihara, and a man he only referred to as Marvin at Jomo Gecaga's home in Muthaiga.
The young Sakaja had one goal in mind, to convince the meeting and Uhuru of the practicability of the latter's candidature in the 2013 General Election.
After having made his first stab at the presidency in 2002, Uhuru was one of the well-placed persons to succeed Kenya's third President Mwai Kibaki, and hence was the priority.
Sakaja stated that he did a presentation of projected numbers, a move he said ignited the ambition of President Kenyatta and his close allies.
In reaction to Sakaja's presentation, Uhuru called his brother and spent an hour in the rain deliberating about the presentation as the panel waited for his confirmation.
However, the panel was, at some point, impatient and - according to Sakaja - even suggested picking another candidate if Uhuru was not ready.
"But in the time he had taken, Anne Waiguru and Kihara were so upset they told him ‘my friend if you are not ready we have another candidate, this Sakaja will be our candidate’ and he said ‘No, give me my 10 years’ and it was a journey," Sakaja recounted the moment.
As per Sakaja, this was the moment the panel settled on Uhuru's candidature and paved the way for the birth of The National Alliance Party which Uhuru rode on to win the presidency.
He went on to recount that Uhuru nearly gave up along the way in the famous turn of events that saw Uhuru declare his support for Musalia Mudavadi’s candidature in 2013, before retracting his own words.
According to Sakaja, pressure from unidentified quarters compelled the former president to step-down- a decision that did not augur well with Uhuru's allies and friends.
Furthermore, he revealed that he invited delegates at the Multi-Media University to protest the move and express their dissatisfaction with the decision to relinquish his candidature.
Sakaja would later be promoted to become a nominated Member of Parliament and also doubled up as the National Chairman of TNA after Uhuru's triumph in 2013.
The honeymoon of the two former friends ended with Uhuru's support of a rival in the Nairobi Gubernatorial election.
“I have no bitterness, I hold no grudge against whoever was behind it and you all know who was behind it. I miss my friend Uhuru Kenyatta as a friend, our journey was very long, and politics divided us. I have respect for him," Sakaja stated.
