Johnson Sakaja was born on 2nd February, 1985 in Nairobi. He secured his first job at Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) at the age of 19, however it was short lived. He later on worked at a cyber café belonging to his aunt, while also trying out his luck in the entertainment industry as a rapper, but failed to take off. He later launched a financial consultancy firm called Arthur Johnson Consultants which is still active to date. So how did the 37 year old venture into politics?
Political Journey
His polished and articulate nature landed him as a vice chair of the Actuarial Students Association while in University. In 2005, he was elected as the Chairman of the Student Organisation of Nairobi University (SONU), where he actively participated in the referendum to rally the youth.
In 2007, Sakaja supported former President the late Mwai Kibaki’s re-election bid; starting out as a youth mobiliser before being named the director of the ‘Vijana na Kibaki’ lobby group. At 26, Sakaja played the significant role of Chairman in the formation of The National Alliance (TNA), which was the current party of President Uhuru Kenyatta. He was later elected as Nairobi Senator in 2017.
In November 2021, Sakaja declared his interest to vie for Nairobi Governor’s seat in the 2022 Nairobi gubernatorial election. He was subsequently cleared by the IEBC to run for the seat on June 7, 2022 despite uncertainties about his academic qualifications. Mr Sakaja won the gubernatorial election with 699,392 votes while his Jubilee counterpart Polycarp Igathe got 573,516 votes. He was sworn in as Nairobi County Governor on August 25th, 2022.
President elect William Ruto described him as a ‘miracle candidate’ during his swearing in ceremony, as his gubernatorial journey was marked by a series controversies and challenges.