Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja, held a meeting with former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s political power brokers, The Messina Group (TMG), in London on Tuesday, April 4.
TMG’s founder, Jim Messina, was a critical player in former United States president Barack Obama’s campaign victory in 2012.
“Great catching up with my friend Jim Messina, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Barack Obama’s 2012 Campaign Manager together with Ben Mallet and Tara.
“Always amazing getting international political and economic perspectives from these great guys,” Sakaja noted in a statement.
In its company profile, The Messina Group boasts of helping 13 prime ministers and presidents on five continents run successful campaigns.
Apart from Uhuru’s and Obama’s campaigns, the group had a hand in the United Kingdom’s Theresa May and David Cameron’s campaigns, and Spain’s President Mariano Rajoy.
Others include Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto, Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri, and Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
The CEO of TMG, Jim Messina, served as Deputy Chief of Staff during President Barack Obama’s tenure at the White House.
US media houses called him “The Obama White House’s Fixer”.
This was due to his ability to rally support for bills that Obama wanted to sign into law.
Notably, during Obama's presidency, he worked with Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders to pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA), colloquially known as Obamacare, in March 2010.
In May 2017, the Uhuru-led Jubilee Party also contracted Cambridge Analytica, another group of American political strategists.
Cambridge Analytica, a British company owned by billionaire Robert Mercer, was credited with helping Donald Trump become the forty-fifth president of the United States.
They also contracted British public relations (PR) firm BTP Advisers. BTP Advisers was also present in Uhuru’s 2013 presidential campaign.
Sakaja won Nairobi gubernatorial race in August 2022 on a UDA party ticket after beating his closest rival Polycarp Igathe of Azimio. Before occupying City Hall, he was Nairobi County's second Senator from 2017 to 2022.
