NAIROBI, Kenya — A section of Members of the Nairobi City County Assembly has announced plans to initiate impeachment proceedings against Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, signalling renewed political tensions at City Hall.
The lawmakers, led by Deputy Minority Leader and South B MCA Waithera Chege and Baba Dogo MCA Godfrey Majiwa, said they have gathered sufficient signatures to formally table a motion seeking the governor’s removal from office.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Waithera Chege confirmed that the motion was ready for submission but could not be presented after the Assembly Clerk failed to appear.
“I want to thank the Nairobi MCAs for approving the proposed cooperation agreement between the Nairobi County Government and the National Government by a majority vote,” she said.
She added:
“We also had another agenda, of presenting the signatures of impeachment before the Clerk for the Nairobi Governor. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that. The Clerk was nowhere to be seen. The Speaker has, however, promised us that tomorrow by 10 am we will be able to present the same before the Clerk. We were ready to present the motion and the particulars, but after the House business sitting, the Clerk disappeared.”
Under Kenya’s constitutional framework, a governor may be removed from office if a motion is supported by at least one-third of county assembly members, followed by investigation and determination by the Senate. The Assembly has 122 MCAs, meaning at least 41 signatures would be required at the preliminary stage.
22 alleged charges
Waithera indicated that the motion contains 22 separate counts but declined to disclose their details pending formal tabling.
“Until it is presented before the Speaker, that is when it becomes a public document. We have enough signatures for the first round. We cannot mention the figures now until the Clerk officially receives the documents,” she stated.
She further revealed that the MCAs have compiled 22 charges against the governor.
“We have 22 counts against the governor, the contents of which I cannot display now,” she said.
The nature of the allegations remains unclear, though impeachment efforts in Kenyan counties typically cite grounds such as gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, or misconduct.
The impeachment push emerged shortly after the Assembly approved a cooperation agreement between the Nairobi County Government and the National Government — a framework intended to facilitate joint service delivery and development projects in the capital.
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Governor Sakaja, elected in 2022 under the ruling coalition, has in recent months navigated political friction within the Assembly over revenue collection reforms, urban infrastructure programmes and relations with national authorities.
Political analysts note that impeachment motions in county governments often reflect broader power struggles rather than purely administrative disputes.
Since the advent of devolution in 2013, several governors across Kenya have faced removal attempts, though only a handful have successfully been impeached and upheld by the Senate.
If formally tabled, the motion against Sakaja would trigger a high-stakes process likely to test coalition loyalties within the Assembly and at the national level.
City Hall has not yet issued an official response to the impeachment claims.
