Sources say DP Gachagua had sent two names to the governor for consideration for the position of CEC but the names never saw the light of the day, leaving the DP red-faced with rage. The deal to have the opposition in the cabinet was initiated by Mr Sakaja who went to seek the President’s advice before embarking on appointing county executive committees (CECs) and chief officers
Fresh details on the fallout between Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua have emerged. The Weekly Vision has learnt that governor Sakaja had to strike a deal with the Azimio top leadership before he constituted his cabinet.
Sources say the governor first consulted President William Ruto before he made the appointments that now include persons allied with Azimio Alliance into key county portfolios. The bone of contention therefore between Governor Sakaja and DP Gachagua is that after getting the green light from President Ruto to include Azimio supporters in his cabinet, he never consulted the DP who was equally shocked to the governor had appointed opposition supporters to his cabinet.
Sources say DP Gachagua had sent two names to the governor for consideration for the position of CEC but the names never saw the light of the day, leaving the DP red-faced with rage. The deal to have the opposition in the cabinet was initiated by Mr Sakaja who went to seek the President’s advice before embarking on appointing county executive committees (CECs) and chief officers, the president gave him the go-ahead.
Sources say the governor told President Ruto that despite him being a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) governor, the Azimio coalition occupies the majority in the Nairobi County Assembly seats and that there is no way his administration could deliver on his mandate without working with them. Having received a green light from President Ruto, Mr Sakaja reached out to ODM leader Raila Odinga through Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna. Several private meetings were held and ODM demanded five slots in the cabinet, however, Mr Sakaja granted the opposition three slots.
Raila Odinga then forwarded the three names for consideration. When announcing the cabinet, Sakaja named the three to various portfolios. They are Ibrahim Auma Nyangoya CEC for Boroughs Administration and Personnel, Rosemary Kariuki, who was until recently attached to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) secretariat, she was appointed to lead the Business and Hustler Opportunities docket and Michael Gumo, son of veteran politician Fred, who stepped aside in favour of Tim Wanyonyi for the Westlands constituency seat in the August 2022 polls, he was appointed to the Innovation and Digital Economy docket.
In supporting his move to appoint the opposition to the cabinet, Sakaja said “If you look at the last election in Nairobi, in the presidential vote, Azimio got the majority. We lost the Senate and Woman Rep seats. Out of the 17 MP seats, UDA only managed four, the same case with MCAs; they are the majority with a margin of about 15. In this scenario, nothing would have sailed through if I fail to work with the opposition,” explained Governor Sakaja.
Mr Sakaja said if I fail to constitute Azimio members in my administration, even the budget will not be passed and CECs and chief officer’s approval may have failed to go through. “Without a budget, there is nothing that can happen in the county and as a leader you must make certain decisions for things to work and that’s what I did,” he added. In the deal, Azimio also donated some positions to Kenya Kwanza. The Azimio leadership allowed the UDA party to take seven chairmanship slots in committees and four vice chairs even though they are the minority.
