Senator Johnson Sakaja has joined Deputy President William Ruto’s UDA party, and will run for city governor on the outfit’s ticket.
Sakaja said he left Jubilee a longtime ago and is now a member of the very popular UDA party.
“I have never joined ANC. When I left Jubilee, I went straight to UDA,” Sakaja told the Star.
Many people were taken aback by the news, given the senator had previously been associated to Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC.
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Sakaja represented the ANC in the One Kenya Alliance technical committee till Mudavadi linked up with the Deputy President under the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
Sakaja and Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala are alleged to have arranged the deal that saw Mudavadi join the DP.
Sakaja will compete in the UDA primaries against Margaret Wanjiru, former Starehe MP.
Word has it that the DP is working on negotiating a deal between the two competitors.
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“There are attempts to unite us but I am ready for nominations,” Sakaja added.
In February, Sakaja and Wanjiru almost came to blows during a rally held at City Park in Parklands.
Wanjiru was speaking when she was interrupted by Sakaja who was running point.
Sakaja got into trouble when he cut short the former Starehe MP who was in the middle of selling her agenda for the country’s capital.
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As Sakaja took away the microphone, an enraged Wanjiru could be seen stepping down a makeshift dais, gesturing aggressively.
The Nairobi senator urged the former MP to cut her statement short when a small group of youths became rowdy during her address.
Sakaja denounced the incident in his speech, saying the youths had embarrassed him as their senator.
“You have really embarrassed me. As Kenya Kwanza, we should give every person in our team the chance to speak. When you are annoyed with the music playing on the radio, you do not destroy the electronic, you change the station. If you do not like what a person is saying, just be quiet,” he said.
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Should he clinch the ticket, he will face off with a candidate from the Azimio la Umoja movement which is led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake partner, Raila Odinga.
Thus far, Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi is the only gubernatorial candidate from the ODM party.
Incumbent Anne Kananu, and Richard Ngatia, are both in the Jubilee Party which is among the 26 parties in Azimio.
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko will also be seeking to reclaim his seat on a Wiper ticket.
The Kalonzo Musyoka-led party is also a member of Azimio.
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