Sakaja quits UDA for ODM and says he will defend the Nairobi seat on its ticket
ODM says he will still have to win the party's primaries, where Makadara MP George Aladwa is also seen as a contender.
Based on 3 sources, listed at the end of this story.
Central Nairobi, with the City Hall clock tower in the foreground. File photo, 2025. Photo: Clinton Nyabuto / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has left President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and joined the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), saying he will seek a second term in 2027 on the ODM ticket. He announced the move on Monday at ODM's headquarters, Chungwa House, in Nairobi, where party officials including deputy party leader Simba Arati received him, Kenyans.co.ke reported.
Sakaja had hinted at the switch for weeks. At an ODM event at Jacaranda Grounds on Saturday, held in memory of the late party leader Raila Odinga, he asked the crowd which party he should run on, and supporters called for ODM. "The voice of the people is the voice of God," he told party leaders.
Sakaja, who has described Raila as having been like a father to him, said in August that ODM officials and members had asked him to join the party. Dawan Africa reported that he said he would keep supporting the broad-based government, under which ODM works with President Ruto's administration.
ODM officials have said a direct nomination is not guaranteed and that all aspirants must face the party's primaries. Makadara MP George Aladwa is seen as a likely rival for the ticket, and Dawan Africa reported that party delegates had earlier backed Aladwa for the governor's race.
Sakaja won the Nairobi governorship in August 2022 on a UDA ticket, defeating Jubilee's Polycarp Igathe. UDA had not publicly responded to his move by Monday afternoon.
