Sakaja questions police’s motive for trying to arrest him at night
By Cynthia Lodite, March 31, 2026Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has slammed the National Police Service (NPS) officers led by the Nairobi Regional Police Commander, Issa Mohamud, for storming his office at night.
Speaking to members of the press on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at the Senate building, Sakaja questioned the officers’ move to camp at his office on Monday evening, March 30, 2026.
The city governor explained that he was in the office the entire day, questioning the officer’s motive of trying to effect a warrant of arrest at night.
“Why come to the office at night? I was in the office the whole day. Who is in the office at seven?” Sakaja posed.
Sakaja, who drove himself to the Senate building just hours after a dramatic police hunt for him for snubbing the House watchdog committee, maintained that he had nothing to hide from the Senate and the members of the public.
“They were looking for me to come to the Senate, I am here….I have nothing to hide from the Senate, Public,” Sakaja stated.
Police camp at City Hall
His move to the Senate comes after police intensified efforts to locate him following a Senate directive ordering his arrest for contempt of Parliament.
At the time, Issa Mohamud, the regional police commander, talked to the press on Monday, March 30, 2026, at Nairobi City Hall and confirmed that officers have been looking for the governor but have not yet found him. He stated that the operation will continue until Sakaja is apprehended and presented before the Senate committee.
Meanwhile, just hours after the police launched the hunt at City Hall, Sakaja swiftly moved to dismiss a move by the Kenya Police Service to deploy officers to arrest him, terming the action “unwarranted and unnecessary”.
At the time, the Nairobi Governor was insisting that the dispute in question was institutional, not personal.
In his statement on Monday, March 30, 2026, Sakaja said the arrest order, arising from his failure to appear before a Senate watchdog committee, fails to take into account an ongoing standoff between the Council of Governors and the Senate of Kenya.
“The issue at hand is not a personal matter concerning Governor Sakaja Johnson, but one that is being handled collectively by the Council of Governors,” the statement read.
Sakaja defended his absence, saying he acted on guidance from the Council of Governors, which advised members not to appear before the specific Senate committee until broader concerns are resolved. He argued that disputes between governors and senators “should be addressed institutionally… not through actions targeting an individual governor”.