Early life of Johnson Sakaja

Johnson Arthur Sakaja was born on 2nd February 1985 in the City of Nairobi. Sakaja went to secondary school at Lenana and joined the University of Nairobi for a course on Bachelor of Arts in Actuarial Science, a course he did not complete. He later joined Teams College in Uganda for a degree in Business Administration.

Before entering politics, Sakaja was the Chairman Joint Committee of National Cohesion and Equal Opportunities. He was the Chairman of The National Party, TNA, which the President, Uhuru Kenyatta, used for the election in 2013.

Political life

After the 2008 post-election, Sakaja contributed ideas as an initiator of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill, where he made submissions in the definition of constituency boundaries. At the age of 26, Sakaja helped in the formation of The National Party (TNA). Sakaja was offered a nominative position after the general election of 2013. This position gave him leeway to mix and join with other elected members of Parliament in Nairobi. This was when he was offered the position of Chairman of the Kenya Youth Parliamentary Association. His vast experience as a nominated Member of Parliament gave him room to contest for Senator of Nairobi County, which he won with ease in the general election of 2017.

The position of Senator of Nairobi gave Sakaja much added responsibility in checking the use of resources for the county as he was one of the most active senators. Sakaja participated in making laws to govern the issues at the Senate, such as the Allocation of National Revenue and exercising oversight over the same.

Sakaja co-authored a book in Collaboration with the Kenya Section of the International Commission of Jurists on Representation and Fiscal Decentralisation of Resources.

He served as the Chairman of the Committee of Labour and Social Welfare, a standing committee that deals with human resources, cultural and social welfare, national heritage, betting, lotteries, sports, and public entertainment.

Extracurricular activities

Johnson Arthur Sakaja is involved in many extracurricular activities, which include:

1. Patron, Kenya Professional Boxing Commission
2. Executive Member, Kenya National Private Security Workers Union
3. Patron, AFC Leopards Football Club
4. Member of the Liaison Committee at the National Assembly.

Sakaja’s first 120 days as Governor

Johnson Arthur Sakaja was elected with 699,392 votes on United Democratic Alliance Party, beating his competitor, Polycarp Igathe, who got 573,526 votes.

The first important task which Sakaja did was meeting all elected MCAs of the Nairobi County Assembly, composed of Azimio La Umoja Coalition as the majority. He went on to release all the Boda Boda (Motor Cycles), which had been locked up by the City Council askaris who were still in action when Sakaja was elected as the new Governor.

Governor Sakaja promised the Nairobian Citizens to:

1. Expect a new Nairobi of hope, order, and dignity.
2. Construct markets, decongest Gikomba Market
3. Introduce a City Metro Commuter Light Rail
4. Initiate a 50Million Biashara Fund per year
5. Leverage infrastructure bonds to fund projects and developments
6. Promised to work with all elected Members of the County Assembly.

Of all the above, Sakaja has managed to nominate at least four Azimio La Umoja Coalition members in his County Assembly and, in the process, nominated people of all races living in Nairobi City. In other words, his committee of Chief Executive Members (CECs) represents the face of Nairobi.

Another important task he has done is to restructure the CBD in Nairobi to exclude Matatus and Commercial Buses from entering the CBD areas.

Sakaja’s life in the public eye, a final assessment

In my humble opinion and based on the work he has started to do, Johson Arthur Sakaja will succeed as the Governor of Nairobi County because he understands the environment of Nairobi City. He is also liked by the majority of Nairobians.