Why Ruto, Raila won't protect Sakaja from 2027 city verdict

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja appears before the Senate Roads Committee on the county's urban regeneration programme at Bunge Towers, March 18, 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga have plucked Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja from jaws of political disaster. They have separately, but jointly, given Nairobi's supremo respite from the wrath of the County Assembly. MCAs are unhappy with Sakaja over a raft of issues that trouble many Nairobians, too. The governor will be happy for now. But the people cannot be. Their city is in a mess, even as the rescued Sakaja smiles and chuckles dimply. Equally to worry about is devolution, and the rule of law. Under President Ruto, with Mr Odinga as his de facto Prime Minister, the law is always in danger. Their heavy hand in the affairs of Nairobi County Government is only the latest in their rule by decree. From the very start in September last year, their joint government has held the law and the nation in contempt. For a start, they formed this coalition government without regard for the Constitution and the Third Schedule to the Political Parties Act Cap 7D of 2022. The two instruments allow political parties to form coalition governments. Coalition agreements may be entered either before, or after elections. The schedule provides a detailed raft of conditions that must be fulfilled. Mr Odinga and President Ruto ignored these while forming their joint government. They did not even file details of this "broad-based government" with the Registrar of Political Parties. In effect, it is an illegitimate government. Article 3(2) of the Constitution states clearly that to attempt to form a government outside the provisions of the Constitution is unlawful. Odinga and Ruto have not explained where they got authority to form the "broad-based government." But they have been holding joint Party Parliamentary Group meetings. Here, they will railroad MPs whichever way they want. This is at once illegal and dictatorial. For, even dictatorships can sometimes be within the framework of the law. Theirs does not even pretend to operate within the law. It is within this framework of impunity that the Ruto-Odinga hand in Nairobi County Government is to be seen. Having formed a government whose legal foundations are questionable, they are ready to offend good governance in every imaginable way. Within this context they have jettisoned Nairobi MCAs' motion of impeachment against Governor Sakaja. The Nairobi governor is probably innocent. Yet, that is not even the question. The County Assembly of Nairobi is responsible to city residents. Nairobians would want to know whether the accusations against their governor are valid or not. This is the question. In the emerging scenario, they may also want to know if some powerful forces, outside the county government, could be complicit in the issues MCAs accuse their governor of. The best way to settle this is through the path that Ruto and Odinga have scuttled. Why have they done this? The MCAs accuse the governor of financial mismanagement. They talk of poor debt handling and of lone-ranger leadership. They say the city bursary fund is opaque. They accuse the governor of corruption, incompetence, and loss of touch with the city. He has failed residents in expected provision of clean drinking water, garbage collection and waste management, road maintenance, and provision of a functional drainage system, they say. Besides, Sakaja is accused of hiring goons who terrorise residents during demos. The goons now terrorise Nairobi even when there are no demos. Nairobians are robbed by marauding gangsters in the CBD, in broad daylight. While we have no evidence, some associate Sakaja with these crooks. Pray, where is the truth? What is the truth regarding recent unlawful mass evictions, and pulling down of houses in the city? Claims have been made that palatial offshore homes have been acquired using public funds. It is befitting to give the governor the chance to defend himself. When President Ruto and Mr Odinga intervene, they raise eyebrows. Sakaja needs to face his accusers. He needs, especially, to be allowed to clear his name. But, for whatever reasons, the two giants in the broad-based coalition don't want this. Yes, President Ruto and Mr Odinga have given Sakaja a slim lease of political life. Yet, the assembly must still follow up these matters to the logical end. Sakaja cannot possibly turn up in 2027 to ask Nairobi to give him a second term with these questions still lingering. If he does, Nairobians will have a duty to reject not just him, but the MCAs, and Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga, too. -Dr Muluka is a strategic communications adviser. www.barrackmuluka.co.ke

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