Safina SG says Sakaja’s cooperation deal with Ruto weakens re-election chances
By Mabonga Makhanu, February 23, 2026Political analyst and Safina Party Secretary General Joakim Simiyu has stated that Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja’s transfer of key county functions to the national government has reduced his chances of being re-elected in 2027.
Speaking during an interview with Obina TV on Monday, February 23, 2025, the Safina Party Secretary General said that Sakaja has dimmed what he described as an “already dimmed star” by allowing the takeover.
“Sakaja has made his deemed star more deemer,” Joakim stated.
He added that Sakaja has shown Kenyans that he is not able to deliver on the responsibilities entrusted to him by Nairobi residents in 2022. According to him, the cooperation deal will be viewed as a vote of low confidence on his side.
Sakaja explains
This statement comes days after Sakaja signed a Ksh80 billion cooperation deal with the national government, in which the government is set to take charge of key county functions such as water and sanitation, roads, and garbage collection.
Instead, Sakaja argued that if there has been any shift at all, it is from the national government to the county government, not the other way round.
He cited the school feeding programme popularly known as Dishi na County as an example, noting that it was initially a national government function before being handled by the county administration.
“We have not ceded any function; transfer of function is provided under the constitution, Article 187. If anything, the only transfer of power that has happened is from the national government to the county, when we did an intergovernmental agreement on school feeding.”
Ruto-Sakaja partnership
Sakaja emphasised that he swore to protect the interests of Nairobi residents when he was sworn in as governor and insisted that the transfer of county functions will not happen under his watch. He stated that the only way such an arrangement could take place would be through a referendum.
“As I said in the state of the county address, transfer of functions is not something that we are going to do. I swore fidelity to the constitution and to the mandate given to me by Nairobians. The only way to cede such powers would be through a referendum,” he made it clear.