60 minutes with Johnson Sakaja, Governor of Nairobi

Johnson Sakaja, the Governor of Nairobi will be a guest speaker in Professor Eric Verdeil's course, “Urban Infrastructure: Water, Sewage & Energy”. This course explores the critical role of urban infrastructures in the development of large cities, addressing technical and policy challenges across various sectors like water, energy, sanitation, and waste management while considering their governance and the broader urban political ecology of metropolises.

H.E Sakaja Arthur Johnson, born on February 2, 1985, is the Governor of Nairobi City County, the capital city of Kenya. He has served as the immediate former Senator of Nairobi, previously as a nominated member of the National Assembly and Chairperson of the ruling party (2013 – 2017).

Sakaja's political journey began as a student at Teams University, where he was elected as the Chairman of the Student Organisation. His involvement in politics deepened as he played a pivotal role in formulating the 2010 Kenyan constitution, particularly contributing to discussions on constituency boundaries when the country was recovering from the 2008 post-election crisis. At the age of 26, Sakaja was instrumental in forming The National Alliance (TNA), and he assumed the role of the party's chairman. Notably, TNA was the party that led former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to victory in the 2013 elections.

During his tenure as the Senator for Nairobi, Sakaja was actively engaged in the legislative process, participated in the allocation of national funds, and exercised oversight over the distribution of funds to the county government. He also took on the responsibility of chairing the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association, a parliamentary caucus dedicated to advocating for youth-oriented policies and legislation and providing guidance to emerging youth leaders. Furthermore, Sakaja co-authored a book in collaboration with the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists, focusing on representation and fiscal decentralization topics.

Sakaja's contributions to Kenya's political landscape extended to his role as the Chairperson of the Committee of Labour and Social Welfare, a standing committee addressing various areas such as manpower and human resource planning, gender issues, cultural and social welfare, national heritage, betting, lotteries, sports, public entertainment, public amenities, and recreation.