Sakaja, Gachagua go head-to-head on Marikiti hawker issue
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja. This isn't the first time, and likely not the last, that the two have disagreed on issues affecting Nairobi County.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja have once again disagreed on how to manage affairs of the capital city, this time over the relocation of Marikiti traders to Kangundo.
The two exchanged not so kind words on social media Thursday, just hours after chaotic scenes earlier in the day when some traders from Marikiti and Muthurwa markets protested a move to relocate them to Kangundo Road Market.
With a sizeable number of traders seen to be from the DP’s backyard in Mount Kenya, the second-in-command gave the impression that the county chief was targeting them in the move and resorted to social media to address him, signalling that the two still don't see eye to eye.
"We promised that our administration will never disrupt lives or undermine economic activities. Please consider holding a meeting with the leadership of the market to agree on any changes your government wishes to make without affecting their livelihoods. These traders have given you their trust and vote...it is only fair that you listen to them," the DP said while addressing Mr Sakaja.
The DP urged him to follow the Constitution, which provides for public participation with affected people before making such important decisions.
"Please forgive me if I seem intrusive but they are coming to me because I was your guarantor in matters of trust, please my brother," Mr Gachagua appeared to plead.
Barely half an hour after the post, the Governor's response was brief and curt.
"My elder brother H.E. Rigathi Gachagua. You have my number," the governor posted.
Not the first time
This isn't the first time, and likely not the last, that the two have disagreed on issues affecting Nairobi County.
In 2022, when Mr Sakaja sought to relocate long-distance matatus from the Nairobi CBD to Green Park Terminus, the DP opposed the move on grounds that it would affect businesses. He then reminded the governor that the votes of the people of Mt Kenya secured him the coveted seat.
"I told the Nairobi Governor that we will sit with him because we are the ones who elected him. I have mobilised Kikuyus in Nairobi to vote for him and I have called him. Any decision he makes that may affect business in Nairobi, we must first sit down and discuss it," Mr Gachagua said in Nyeri in 2022.
In another instance, when Mr Sakaja tried to relocate hawkers from the CBD to lower city centre in a bid to restore order, once again, the DP asked him to go slow on such matters.
"We are the ones who elected him...Some decisions he is taking are likely to spoil business in Nairobi. We have to sit with him and agree on them," said Mr Gachagua.
In the recent suspended UDA grassroots elections, the DP opposed Governor Sakaja's candidature for the Nairobi UDA chairmanship and instead backed his opponent, Embakasi North MP James Gakuya.
On his part, the governor has frequently accused the DP of playing tribal politics and trying to push him out of county politics.
