Governor Johnson Sakaja is once again in the spotlight after a group of young men confessed to being hired to disrupt protests in memory of Albert Ojwang.
These protests were meant to call for justice after Ojwang died in police custody under suspicious circumstances. What has angered many Kenyans even more is that the same thugs who caused the violence are now saying they were promised Ksh2,000 but were only given a fraction of that amount. Speaking to Citizen TV on Friday, some of them openly complained that they were short-changed, despite doing exactly what they were sent to do disrupt the peaceful protests and silence public anger.
This development follows serious allegations that Governor Sakaja had a role in organizing the disruption. Reports spread online claiming that he met with Calvince Okoth, also known as Gaucho, on Sunday, June 15, and allegedly offered him Ksh2 million to help coordinate the thugs. Sakaja denied the claims, insisting that he was not even in Nairobi that day.
According to him, he had travelled to Lugari for a church event and returned to the city via Kitale on Monday afternoon. He even shared details of his flight to try and prove he wasn’t involved, adding that he had not seen Gaucho in a long time and dismissed the reports as lies.
But despite Sakaja’s denial, the situation has raised more questions than answers. Several political leaders, including Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, have publicly accused him of sponsoring the chaos. Babu called the goon attacks cowardly and said they go against everything a civilised society stands for.
In a strong message directed at Sakaja, Babu said that leadership is not about using violence or intimidating innocent people.
According to him, such actions only show a lack of respect for the rule of law.
What makes this case worse is that the young men who were used to carry out the violence are now speaking out. Their confessions on national television are not just damaging to Sakaja’s image but also raise serious concerns about who is really running the streets of Nairobi.
When thugs say they were sent, promised a large sum, and then dumped without pay, it shows just how careless and dangerous this system has become.
The fact that people are being used like pawns in political games and then abandoned speaks to a broken leadership that hides behind lies and public relations stunts.
Sakaja’s denial may hold up in his office, but outside in the streets where blood was shed and shops were looted, the damage is already done. The people affected by the violence, and now the very thugs who were involved, are pointing fingers at City Hall.
No amount of church visits or flight tickets can erase that reality.
