Nairobi — The dalliance between Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and the Azimio coalition has caused jitters in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance, following his move to appoint persons allied to the rival Azimio Alliance to key county portfolios.
Members of the Nairobi County Assembly allied to the UDA-dominated Kenya Kwanza Alliance while addressing the media on Friday accused the Governor who was elected on a UDA ticket of sidelining them and instead favoring the Azimio side.
Led by Minority Leader Anthony Kiragu, the MCAs vowed to boycott a special sitting slated for the afternoon during which the Assembly was expected to approve Governor Sakaja’s 33 Chief Officer nominees.
“The Governor used the UDA flag while seeking this seat but we can see he has sidelined us, We want to tell him that this afternoon we will not participate in the approval of his Chief Offers and he can have them approved by Azimio,” Kiragu stated.
The Members’ concerns arose after Governor Sakaja’s move to appoint Lucky Ogutu Okudo as Chief Officer for ICT and Energy.
Okudo, an Azimo operative, was at the centre of chaos witnessed at IEBC’s National Tallying Center in Bomas during the announcement of presidential election results as Azimio attempted to stop the official declaration of results.
During the Bomas incident, Ogutu, clad in camouflage, made headlines after she emerged in the fracas witnessed during the tallying process.
“We also saw what went down at Bomas and the said nominee was pictured pick-pocketing phones and behaving like a goon. That’s not the kind of a leader that Nairobi residents want,” Kiragu stated.
Minority Whip Macharia Mugambi also cited failure to submit the necessary credentials by the nominee on time as another reason they could not participate in the vetting exercise they termed as an illegality.
“As Kenya Kwanza we cannot not participate in an illegality, and Ogutu cannot be the face of Nairobi,” Mugambi stated.
The Governor’s cabinet also has Azimio allied persons including ex-Westlands MP ODM aspirant Mike Gumo.
Governor Sakaja however defended his move saying he was elected by both Azimio and Kenya Kwanza supporters, and that his appointments reflect the face of the city.