Police hunt Governor Sakaja after failed arrest attempt

Police in Nairobi have launched a manhunt for Governor Johnson Sakaja after an attempt to arrest him at his City Hall office on Monday evening failed.

Regional Police Commander Issa Mohammud told journalists that officers were camping at the premises to execute an order directing them to produce the governor before the Senate.

The Public Accounts Committee on Monday directed Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to intervene after Sakaja repeatedly ignored summons to appear before it and answer questions regarding Nairobi County’s finances for the 2024/2025 financial year. 

The committee said his defiance amounted to contempt of parliament.

“The governor and his Chief of Staff were informed. The only honourable thing for him to have done was to go to the Senate, but he failed to do so. We will look for him and do the needful. It is for the dignity of the office that he presents himself,” Mohammud said.

He added: “There is no need for any further impunity. We just need him to comply before we get him.”

According to police, the search for Sakaja had been underway for much of the day. He repeatedly evaded officers before they received a tip that he might be at his official address, but he managed to slip away again.

Had the evening ambush succeeded, the governor would have spent the night in police custody.

Mohammud dismissed suggestions that the late-evening operation amounted to a witch-hunt, insisting officers were acting within the law.

“This operation is legal. The Senate has powers to issue summons and we also have an arrest warrant. We will present the governor to have his day before the committee,” he said.

Last week, the committee fined Sakaja Sh500,000 after he failed to appear for a scheduled sitting.

Police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga, speaking during the operation, said a similar exercise was simultaneously targeting Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit, who has equally failed to honour summons from the committee.

The standoff comes as the committee has only until Tuesday to conclude its review of county accounts for the 2024/2025 financial year.

Several governors have raised concerns about the Senator Moses Kajwang’-led committee, accusing it of extortion and public humiliation, with some threatening a boycott. 

They are calling for the committee to be reconstituted and four of its members dropped.