The visit by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to Nairobi’s Marikiti market where he dared Governor Johnson Sakaja to relocate the disgruntled traders signalled his intention to assert his influence in the city ahead of the 2027 re-election.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Mr Gachagua visited Marikiti, Muthurwa, Gikomba and Nyamakima markets as well as OTC and Tea Room matatu termini in the company of various politicians and leaders of the traders’ groups.
In his speeches, Mr Gachagua asked the county government of Nairobi to create a conducive environment for business people, especially the small-scale traders.
“I received information that the traders are suffering and protesting against some policies of the City County Government. During the 2022 campaigns President William Ruto and I pledged that you (traders) won’t suffer. We promised a conducive environment for traders. We urge the Governor to keep the promise,” he said.
“I appeal to the Governor to engage the people before making decisions that affect them.
“I spoke to the Governor to be a person who does not turn against the people who elevated him to power. Embrace the spirit of public participation. I am appealing to all leaders to realise that we got the leadership positions through votes; taxpayers are our bosses and employers. We can’t turn against them,” he said.
Mr Gachagua has remained unapologetic in his open agitation for the interest of his Kikuyu ethnic community. The community formed the biggest voting bloc for United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidates in Nairobi during the 2022 polls, sweeping Mr Sakaja and other Kenya Kwanza politicians to power.
Other major ethnic blocs have often voted in favour of the opposition, coalescing around Mr Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement.
The ethnic dynamics mean that Mr Gachagua, Mr Odinga and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka will largely influence the outcome of the next governor race.
There are already talks of a possible Gachagua-Kalonzo political arrangement among other formations ahead of the next elections.
And in a quick response on the Friday visit, Mr Sakaja called out Mr Gachagua of engaging in ethnic political mobilisation. He said the DP had resorted to incite some of the traders against the county government programmes that include removing traders from road reserves.
“In a misinformed tribal diatribe, and while speaking in vernacular in the heart of our nation’s capital, you have chosen to use falsehoods to incite traders against the measures we are taking,” said Mr Sakaja.
The governor said his plans of relocating some of the traders was designed to protect them from accidents similar to what happened in Londiani in Kericho county, when a truck driver lost control and ploughed into traders selling their wares on road reserves.
He also explained that his administration has no plan to relocate the Marikiti Market.
“Selected produce will be delivered wholesale to the other markets we have built using taxpayers’ money. What we will not allow are traders endangering their lives by selling their wares on the roadside. They will move to Kangundo Road Market.
“However, if you have sufficient space outside your office on Harambee Avenue, I am sure they will be happy to display their wares and ply their trade in that safe environment,” said the Governor
He said that his government has continued to engage the traders, as opposed to claims by Mr Gachagua that there were no consultations with the traders.
“A leader of your calibre should provide informed solutions and not stoke tribal disunity in our country. Nairobi is a cosmopolitan global hub that will operate in an orderly manner,” Mr Sakaja told Mr Gachagua.
He went on: “I know you are dealing with other weighty and impending political issues. Keep the people of Nairobi out of it.”
Mr Sakaja became Nairobi’s fourth governor by polling 699,392 votes against Jubilee’s Polycarp Igathe who got 573,518 votes. Nairobi is one of the 47 counties that has never re-elected a governor.
In 2017, pioneer Nairobi governor Dr Evans Kidero lost to Mr Mike Sonko, who was impeached before completing his first term in office.
Analysis of the 2022 voting pattern shows that Mr Sakaja won in Dagoretti South, Kasarani, Embakasi East, Embakasi West, Embakasi Central, Mathare, Roysambu, Kamkunji, Starehe, Langata, Westland and Dagoretti North, while Mr Igathe was ahead in Kibra and Ruaraka constituencies.
Mr Gachagua’s escalating falling out with President William Ruto — and by extension with Mr Sakaja — is already presenting a complex political dynamic that requires the governor to scout for a new voting bloc for survival in the next poll.
This explains Mr Sakaja’s new-found close ties with Mr Odinga and ODM. Mr Sakaja has appointed some of Mr Odinga’s allies in his government, with some ODM MCAs becoming his fiercest defenders. Recently, Mr Sakaja spend two days with Mr Odinga in his rural Opoda Farm home, in a visit perceived as part of his plan to endear himself to Mr Odinga as well as his supporters in the capital city.
Mr Odinga has retained a substantive control of the city politics in the last successive elections. At the national level, Mr Odinga lost to former President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Ruto in 2017 and 2022 respectively, but was ahead of them in Nairobi county.
Mr Sakaja, who seems to be enjoying the support of President Ruto and Mr Odinga, has declared he will not succumb to intimidation and blackmail by Mr Gachagua.
In a recent function attended by Dr Ruto, Mr Sakaja said he was voted by a majority of Nairobi people and cannot be taking instructions from other quarters on how to run the city. He said he would, however, continue consulting with the people on priority development programs.
“I am the governor of Nairobi and I will not allow some individuals to derail us on our plans of supporting our people. You voted for me to be a full governor. There is no prefect in Nairobi,” he said while thanking the President for standing with him.
Nairobi ODM chairman and Makadara MP, George Aladwa, told Nation Africa that with the political rapprochement between Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga, the two sides may have consensus to back one candidate for the governor seat.
Mr Aladwa said there was already a proposal for the two parties to zone their strongholds for purposes of fielding single candidates to boost chances of retaining seats currently held by UDA and ODM.
He said should ODM opt to support Dr Ruto’s re-election, they would push for UDA not to field a candidate for the governor seat. He said Mr Sakaja would be free to defect to ODM so as to defend his seat on the Orange ticket, which he said remains popular in Nairobi.
“There is already a proposal for zoning so that if we decide to support Ruto’s re-election, then ODM should have the governor candidate in Nairobi. If Sakaja wants to defend his seat he would have to join ODM,” he said.
The lawmaker, who recently led some Nairobi ODM MPs for a visit to State House, castigated Mr Gachagua for propagating ethnic based politics. “Nairobi has all the communities. His politics of just talking about his community will not help him in Nairobi,” he said.
Mr Sakaja has for years been careful with his politics, choosing not to be abrasive and antagonistic to his opponents.
He was one the UDA leaders who first appealed to President Ruto and Mr Odinga to engage in talks so as to end the weekly opposition protests that had paralyzed business last year.
In the last election, Mr Sakaja was the only UDA candidate elected at the county level. UDA lost Senate and Woman Rep positions to Mr Odinga’s ODM. Out of the 17 constituencies, Mr Odinga’s opposition swept most of the seats, with UDA winning only three constituencies.
In a previous interview, Mr Sakaja said his kind of politics made it easy for him to campaign even in the opposition areas in Nairobi. He said in 2017, he won the senate seat alongside Mike Sonko, who was elected governor, against Mr Odinga’s wave in Nairobi.
“When I won the senate seat in 2017, Jubilee didn’t win Nairobi that time. The presidential vote was not pro Uhuru. Raila won in Nairobi. But Sonko and myself were able to win governor and senate seats,” said Mr Sakaja.
“It is because we were never engaged in divisive politics. You have never heard me insult leaders in the opposition. I don’t do that; so I would go to ODM areas and be able to campaign freely. Many of my colleagues could not do that. So I could get both Jubilee and ODM votes to win the senate seat,” he said.
In the last poll, he said he was able to win the governor seat because he could easily appeal to both opposition and UDA supporters.
“UDA lost both the Senate and Woman Rep positions. We (UDA) got four out of 17 MP seats. Out of the 85 MCAs seats, we got only 35,” he added.
“I am the governor of Nairobi and I will not allow some individuals to derail us on our plans of supporting our people. You voted for me to be a full governor. There is no prefect in Nairobi,” he said while thanking the President for standing with him.
Nairobi ODM chairman and Makadara MP, George Aladwa, told Nation that with the political rapprochement between Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga, the two sides may have consensus to back one candidate for the governor seat.
Mr Aladwa said there was already a proposal for the two parties to zone their strongholds for purposes of fielding single candidates to boost chances of retaining seats currently held by UDA and ODM.
He said should ODM opt to support Dr Ruto’s re-election, they would push for UDA not to field a candidate for the governor seat. He said Mr Sakaja would be free to defect to ODM so as to defend his seat on the Orange ticket, which he said remains popular in Nairobi.
“There is already a proposal for zoning so that if we decide to support Ruto’s re-election, then ODM should have the governor candidate in Nairobi. If Sakaja wants to defend his seat he would have to join ODM,” he said.
The lawmaker, who recently led some Nairobi ODM MPs for a visit to State House, castigated Mr Gachagua for propagating ethnic based politics. “Nairobi has all the communities. His politics of just talking about his community will not help him in Nairobi,” he said.
Mr Sakaja has for years been careful with his politics, choosing not to be abrasive and antagonistic to his opponents. He was one the UDA leaders who first appealed to President Ruto and Mr Odinga to engage in talks so as to end the weekly opposition protests that had paralyzed business last year.
In the last election, Mr Sakaja was the only UDA candidate elected at the county level. UDA lost Senate and Woman Rep positions to Mr Odinga’s ODM. Out of the 17 constituencies, Mr Odinga’s opposition swept most of the seats, with UDA winning only three constituencies.
In a previous interview, Mr Sakaja said his kind of politics made it easy for him to campaign even in the opposition areas in Nairobi. He said in 2017, he won the senate seat alongside Mike Sonko, who was elected governor, against Mr Odinga’s wave in Nairobi.
“When I won the senate seat in 2017, Jubilee didn’t win Nairobi that time. The presidential vote was not pro Uhuru. Raila won in Nairobi. But Sonko and myself were able to win governor and senate seats,” said Mr Sakaja.
“It is because we were never engaged in divisive politics. You have never heard me insult leaders in the opposition. I don’t do that; so I would go to ODM areas and be able to campaign freely. Many of my colleagues could not do that. So I could get both Jubilee and ODM votes to win the senate seat,” he said.
In the last poll, he said he was able to win the governor seat because he could easily appeal to both opposition and UDA supporters.
“UDA lost both the Senate and Woman Rep positions. We (UDA) got four out of 17 MP seats. Out of the 85 MCAs seats, we got only 35,” he added…CLICK HERE FOR MORE ARTICLE>>>
