Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja today held a meeting at the Bomas of am Kenya with United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party delegates from various wards in Nairobi ahead of the UDA party elections at the constituency level scheduled to be held on Friday, May 31, 2024.
In the meeting with the delegates, who are in support of his bid for the UDA Nairobi county chairmanship, Sakaja said that his intention as the ruling party’s county boss is to ensure he unites the party membership in Nairobi and build a formidable party structure that will ensure that UDA is strengthened and becomes the party of choice for everyone.
Speaking at Bomas of Kenya, Sakaja said; During the last elections, we lost some seats for MCA because in Kenya Kwanza, we had multiple candidates. I want to join His Excellency President William Ruto in uniting this party and therefore, I call on you here today to go out as a team on Friday and deliver victory. If at any constituency we have more than one candidate in this team, let us sacrifice and agree to have one candidate.”
“We beat the other team at the polling station elections and at the ward level. Let us now head to the constituency level with more power and more united. I have a very special consideration for those who will step down for the victory of this team because loyalty must be rewarded,” Sakaja said.
Sakaja challenged the delegates to be the leaders who would spearhead the party’s popularity drive in areas where it did not perform very well as well as have a strong women’s league movement within the party.
“We want to build our party and it is you the delegates who will help us at the grassroots to build it, especially in areas where we did not perform very well. I am the Governor of Nairobi and so my aim is not to look for a job but to unite the people of Nairobi,” Governor Sakaja noted.
In enumerating the success of the diplomatic approach in leadership, Sakaja recalled the chaos that was often seen at city hall which is now a thing of the past noting that the approach used to unify the county assembly is what is needed in unifying Nairobi and the whole country.
“As the chairman of our party UDA in Nairobi, I want to assure the country that Nairobi will remain united and we mean it when we say this. Before I was elected the Governor, there was even a police post at City Hall because of the constant chaos. Matatus used to strike very often and our city inspectorate was in constant running battles with hawkers but that is not the case today. The same approach is what we will use to unite Nairobi,” Sakaja announced.
Sakaja noted that he was aware that he was not running against a competitor but a “project” but emphasized that his resolve to run for the county chairmanship and win would not be moved. He said this in a swipe at his main challenger Embakasi North MP James Gakuya.
“I am competing with a project planted by someone we know and one who has been a nemesis of many people for no reason but I am not afraid. This is not a tribal seat and I have no apology for not belonging to a particular ethnic group,” Sakaja said.
Gakuya has the backing of the Deputy President in the race to be Nairobi UDA chairman but has been seen to campaign based on his ethnic background.
The UDA constituency elections are significant because those who win constituency elections will form part of the National Delegates Congress(NDC)that will pick national officials.
The polls are also significant for politicians seeking to contest for governor positions as winning constituency-level leadership will boost their chances of securing UDA tickets in 2027.
