About one month ago, Members of Nairobi County Assembly collected signatures in support of a motion to impeach governor Johnson Sakaja.

Unlike other past attempts, MCAs from ODM and UDA were united to send the county boss packing accusing him of failing to deliver his for the city residents and sidelining them.

Their move was however thwarted after ODM leader Raila Odinga summoned the MCAs allied to his party not to impeach governor Sakaja.

On September 1,2025 the first meeting between Raila and ODM Ward Reps did not yield, forcing him to reach to President Ruto to convince the members from UDA to drop the bid.

Sakaja’s fate was lying in the hands of the ODM Ward Reps since they are the majority in the Nairobi County Assembly.

It’s for this reason that Sakaja was forced to reach out to the fallen ODM leader to save him from facing impeachment.

A second meeting on September 2, 2025 at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation unlocked the impasse after the ODM Members agreed to drop the plans but gave Sakaja 30 days to fix the mess including bursaries and garbage.

The UDA Ward Reps equally dropped the bid after a meeting with President Ruto at State House on September 3, 2025.

However, after the meeting several Nairobi MCAs claimed they were threatened to drop the impeachment attempt against Governor Johnson Sakaja.

ODM members said the party threatened to deny them tickets in the 2027 elections if they pushed on with the motion.

“We are not happy at all. Many people think the party is democratic but it is not…it was just intimidation. It is a big blow to Nairobians when two handshake-brothers want to decide everything on our behalf,” one of the MCAs said

Adding that, “The assembly leadership is also to blame. They don’t make their own decisions but we have tried our best.”

Governor Sakaja, who was elected on a UDA ticket, opted to attend the ODM meeting.

The members aired out their grievances, including stalled projects and revenue shortfall.

Sakaja is said to have been given about two minutes to apologise, where he defended the delay of bursary funds.

“Sakaja noted that the release of funds had not been possible after being stopped by the Controller of Budget. He shared details of the bursary that had been released since 2022,” said an MCA.

The Ward Reps also demanded that Sakaja fire some of his close allies, including a former MCA accused of blocking assembly members from accessing the Governor who promised to enhance the ward development fund.

“I respect Raila because he is more experienced politically than me but I don’t respect Sakaja. I don’t think he will do anything differently because it is his character, he cannot change,” said Kileleshwa member Robert Alai after the meeting.