Nairobi Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) have reignited efforts to oust Governor Johnson Sakaja, less than a year after a similar attempt was narrowly defused.

The move comes barely two weeks after Sakaja signed a Ksh80 billion cooperation agreement with the national government, brewing persistent tensions between the county executive and legislators.

Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, Nairobi South Ward MCA Esther Waithera Chege confirmed that the MCAs are preparing to submit an impeachment motion to the clerk of the county assembly, which will then be forwarded to the Speaker for consideration.

According to Chege, the motion will outline 22 distinct grounds for the governor’s removal, though the specifics remain undisclosed.

“We have enough signatures for the first round. The second round comes within the seven days, and I can assure you we have an overflow of signatures for the first round,” Chege said.

She further emphasised that the current push is independent of the previous effort.

“We are confident about our members who have appended their signatures. Moving forward, we will only be counting days. These new signatures have nothing to do with last time’s motion of impeachment. This is a new impeachment,” she added.

The renewed motion echoes a familiar political narrative. On September 1, 2025, Nairobi MCAs had amassed over 70 signatures out of the 123-member house to trigger Sakaja’s first impeachment bid.

That effort prompted intervention from both the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President William Ruto, reflecting the high stakes in Nairobi politics, which is poised to give a showdown in the 2027 polls.

Will Sakaja survive?

At the time, legislators cited several grievances against Sakaja, including delays in disbursing bursaries, a stalled Ward Development Fund, failure to fulfil campaign promises, and neglect of the specific needs of Nairobi residents.

The tension culminated in a closed-door meeting on September 2, 2025, at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation (JOOF), where Sakaja met with Orange Democratic Movement (ODM)-aligned MCAs under Raila Odinga’s facilitation.

According to Nairobi County ODM Chairperson George Aladwa, Sakaja acknowledged the accusations and offered an apology, receiving 60 days to improve his leadership approach and mend relations with the Assembly. Despite these reconciliatory efforts, the Assembly appears to remain divided, setting the stage for a fresh confrontation.

The timing of the motion, just weeks after a major financial agreement with the national government, shows the complex interplay between local and national politics.

While the Ksh80 billion deal was widely touted as a milestone for Nairobi, the MCAs’ determination to pursue impeachment indicates lingering dissatisfaction with Sakaja’s leadership style and responsiveness.

Moreover, the devolved unit’s Senator Edwin Sifuna has urged Sakaja to shelve the deal, accusing President Ruto of grabbing power in Nairobi County, calling for the shelving of the cooperation deal between the two levels of government.

Speaking in a press release in Nairobi on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, Sifuna said that the pact signed at State House in Nairobi on Tuesday, February 18, 2026, violated the provisions of the constitution that provide for public participation to be done before such a move.

“It is a mockery of the public for you to do something, then later say you will have public participation. It means that you have already made up your mind and that you will do an exercise that is cosmetic. They are not anticipating a scenario in which it will be rejected…We are saying, shelve this thing, go through a proper process. There are legal processes for you to channel money if the need for Nairobi, for instance, has been identified as unique,” Sifuna said.

Sifuna called the national government to remit money owed to the county amounting to Ksh100 billion, arguing that if the money were to be channelled to the county, there would be no need for a cooperation agreement between the county and the national government.

With the details of the 22 charges still confidential, from previous impeachment motions conducted by the Senate, the charges usually range from governance issues to claimed mismanagement, though the specifics may remain shielded until formal submission.