Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja.
Nairobi County Clerk Edward Gichana has received a petition from the residents of Nairobi County seeking the impeachment of Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja from office for misconduct.
The public petition from Maxwell Achar (former Korogocho MCA), which was received by the Clerk on June 30, states several grounds that the governor has violated, hence seeking his removal The petition says that the governor has duly failed to uphold the oath of office, and instead, he has grossly violated the Constitution of Kenya, has abused the office and that his conduct is wanting.
“We petition the Honourable Assembly, now to resolve to remove Hon. Johnson Sakaja (Herein referred to as the Nairobi County Governor) from the office of the County Governor of Nairobi City County, by way of impeachment pursuant to Article 181(1)(a)&(b) of the constitution of Kenya 2010, Section 33 of the County Government Act, 2012 and the County Assembly Standing Order No. 68 and 213,” the petition reads.
In his petition, Mr Achar cited that Governor Sakaja was in gross violation of the constitution and any other law, which is against Article 179(4) of the constitution, which dictates the manner in which a state officer is expected to exercise the powers bestowed towards him.
“The governor through his office and personal assistant recruited, sponsored and financed, further deployed criminal gangs armed with crude weapons on June 17, 2025to disrupt, terrorise, bully or to coerce by threats or violence and to maintain power of violence against lawful and peaceful protesters who were “peaceably and unarmed” picketing and demonstrating,” the petition reads.
The second ground is in line with the removal of tenants from the county government houses, which the petitioner says is against the gazette notice number 2728 of 2019, which had waived all rent arrears for Nairobi County properties accrued before April 30, 2029.
He said that the governor lied by saying that the tenants owe 15 years of rent, when in reality, the maximum after the 2019 waiver is 74 months, which is about six months and not 15 as claimed by the governor.
“And further in the contravening of the bill of rights, Human Rights Act 2011 and Article 43(1) on housing rights, the governor without adequate notice deployed criminal gangs in cooperation with a few county staff to carry out unlawful and illegal eviction of tenants in county houses and land without obtaining a court order.”
On the abuse of office, the petitioner claimed that using Governor Sakaja’s office to recruit criminal gangs to intimidate and harass peaceful protesters was in breach of Article 73 and 75 of the constitution of Kenya and Section 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 24, 32 and 34 of leadership and Integrity Act by breach of public trust.
The petitioner said that his move is in line with Article 181 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, Section 15 and Section 88 of the County Governments Act of 2012 and Standing Order 213.
The Standing Order 213 reads that “for purposes of this part a petition means a written prayer to the County Assembly by a member of the public requesting the County Assembly to consider any matter within its authority, including enacting, amending or repealing any legislation.”
Standing Order 214 reads that the petition shall be submitted to the County Assembly to the Clerk, who will then submit it to the County Assembly Speaker, who will communicate it to the County Assembly.
However, the County Assembly Majority Leader Peter Imwatok dismissed the petition as a matter that is dead on arrival.
In a phone interview with Daily Nation, Mr Imwatok, who represents the residents of Makongeni, said that such a petition lacks the threshold of removing a sitting governor from office.
“An impeachment is a standalone legislative framework, it cannot be instigated by an outsider who is busy. An impeachment ha a process that is defined in law and in the standing orders, it cannot be brought by persuasion,” Mr Imwatok said.
“That is a wrong way to impeach a governor. You cannot say that you want to impeach the governor through a petition in public. Petition presented before the Parliament has to be tabled before a committee that will look into them.”
According to the Majority Leader, while the petition might have serious grounds, it would have been easier for the petitioner to use the area MCA to bring the petition to the House.
“If you have an issue that you feel has not been addressed, you can go to court under public interest. If you feel that the county governor is not doing the right thing, go to court. Do a public petition in court.”
