Nairobi County: UDA's Johnson Sakaja Beats Azimio's Polycarp Igathe

Outgoing Nairobi Senator, Johnson Sakaja has been elected as the new Nairobi governor.

Sakaja, who was vying under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) stunned Azimio la Umoja (Jubilee) candidate Polycarp Igathe, beating him with 699,392 votes against Igathe's 576,516 votes.

"Therefore as county returning officer, I declare Johnson Arthur Sakaja as duly elected as the governor for Nairobi City County," Gogo announced at the county tallying centre in Kasarani.

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja arrives for the gubernatorial debate on July 11, 2022. /TWITTER

Gogo noted that forms from six polling stations were missing but it mattered little as the total votes in the station, 3,986 votes, would not make any difference in the final tally.

Sakaja Floors Igathe In Gubernatorial Debate

The determinant of the brutally-contested Nairobi gubernatorial race was the two candidates' performances during the gubernatorial debate on Monday, July 11.

The event held at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) started with Igathe arriving oddly early before it began and Sakaja arriving 15 minutes into the main action that kicked off at 8 pm. 

"The starting time was clear to all candidates and the event must proceed as scheduled. His slot will remain open for Johnson Sakaja," NTV's Mark Masai, who was the moderator of the debate, explained.

While explaining the reason for his lateness, Sakaja revealed that he wanted to give Igathe a head start before proceeding to fry him in front of millions watching at home...for the majority of the debate. 

"Well, my opponent is used to head starts, so I wanted to give him an opportunity, but there is no need to delve deeper into that, whether it is from government, but I look forward to a good debate," he indicated. 

The moderators went straight into the action and questioned Sakaja if he had the qualifications to run for governor, that is having a degree from a recognised university. Sakaja affirmed that he has a degree from Team University in Uganda.

Igathe used every chance to roast Sakaja regarding the credibility of his academic papers, which were a hot nationwide conversation both offline and online.

He claimed that he toppled two other candidates to clinch the Jubilee party ticket, noting that he did not have a degree. 

"Within the party, there were two other people, the ones who were running against me within the party also did not have degrees, I beat them," he said. 

However, Sakaja responded by exposing how his opponent resigned as Deputy Governor, just six months into the job, further claiming that he could not stand by former governor Mike Sonko during his difficult times. 

"If you stuck in office Governor Sonko would not have been impeached. If you stuck in office, maybe you would be the incumbent governor. 

"This city needs resilience, you need to be tough. You cannot say you betrayed, how many votes did you say you guys got?" he posed. 

Igathe went back to the degree topic and once again questioned his academic credentials, stating that they are false 

"I'll tell you what is not integrity...is uttering false documents and then standing here and saying I have integrity," Igathe said.

Nairobi senator, Johnson Sakaja and Polycarp Igathe during the Nairobi gubernatorial debate on July 11, 2022. /TWITTER

"Go to the EACC website and check what Sakaja cited as his degree in 2017... it is a public document, and then look at the degree he says is today, we don't know who he is, is your name really Sakaja?" 

Sakaja was even ruthless by calling out his opponent for being sponsored by the State to vie for the highest seat in the capital. 

"You cannot force individuals, DCCs, assistant chiefs...the meeting at St. George's primary school we know all these things, I can table this evidence," he said. 

Igathe defended by indicating that he joined politics in March 2017 and has been part of the Jubilee party...but many signs pointed out that the gubernatorial hopeful was powerless to match Sakaja, having caused a frenzy with his viral service delivery to Nairobians.