Sakaja, however, stopped short of announcing a political defection, saying he is still consulting and weighing his options before making a final decision on the party he will use to defend his Nairobi seat.

Speaking during an interview with Radio Citizen on Wednesday, August 26, the governor acknowledged that he had held discussions with various groups linked to ODM, including youth, women leaders and Members of Parliament.

“There has been that call. Some officials and party members have said that they want me to move to their party. I have had meetings with the youths who met the other day; women leaders and MPs were also present; you can’t ignore that,” Sakaja said.

The governor said he was taking the calls seriously but maintained that there was no official date for his departure from UDA.

“There is no official date for when we will leave UDA, but the call is there. It is something I am observing, we must also look at what people are saying. If that’s what they want then I am their employee,” he said.

Sakaja linked the renewed speculation over his possible move to ODM to his close relationship with the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who died in October 2025.

The governor described Raila as a father figure and said the former ODM leader had also wanted him to join the party before his death.

“In October, we will be marking one year since Raila left us and we were very close, he was like my father, and he also wanted that (to join). We were in touch a lot before his death,” Sakaja said.

The remarks come amid intensified political realignments in Nairobi ahead of the 2027 elections, with ODM leaders openly courting the governor.

In July, ODM Director of Elections and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed told Sakaja to join the party if he wanted its backing for a second term, arguing that ODM remained a dominant political force in Nairobi.

Sakaja was elected governor in 2022 on a UDA ticket and has since worked closely with President William Ruto’s administration. He has also repeatedly expressed his intention to defend his seat in 2027.

The governor said political decisions must also take into account continuity in governance, arguing that frequent political transitions can disrupt development programmes.

His latest remarks came a day after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua claimed Sakaja was considering moving to ODM, saying the ruling UDA was losing key political figures.

For now, Sakaja remains a UDA member, leaving his next political move as one of the key questions likely to shape the battle for Nairobi ahead of the 2027 polls.

The post Johnson Sakaja Breaks Silence on Possible ODM Move Ahead of 2027 appeared first on Insider Bits News.

In a notice dated 18th November 2025, the governor announced changes affecting several Chief Officers, stating that the reshuffle was done:

“In accordance with Section 45(5) of the County Government Act 2012…”

Among the movements, Mosiria, who had become one of the most visible faces of the county’s war on garbage and public disorder,was moved from Environment to Citizen Engagement and Customer Service.

“The changes take effect immediately,” the notice signed by H.E. Hon. Sakaja Arthur Johnson, CBS, EGH, Governor reads.

The decision has sharply divided opinion among Nairobians and online observers.

Some city residents and social media users see the move as punishment for a fast-rising county technocrat whose profile, they say, has grown “too big” within the Sakaja administration.

“People feel like he’s being sidelined just when Nairobi was beginning to see real impact on garbage enforcement,” one resident Moses Ogolla said.

Others argue that the shift might be part of a broader strategy to re-energise how City Hall interacts with the public, placing a hands-on operator in a frontline, people-facing docket.

“Citizen engagement is a powerful docket if used well. Putting someone energetic and visible there can actually be an upgrade, not a demotion,” another observer Micheal Mikechi noted.

While serving as Chief Officer for Environment,Mosiria cut a reputation as a no-nonsense enforcer, often on the ground supervising operations himself.

He spearheaded crackdowns on illegal dumping sites across the city, including the closure of a notorious dumping ground along Bins Road in Mukuru Kwa Ruben.

On several occasions, he publicly read the riot act to rogue garbage operators, warning that their licenses would not be spared if they flouted the law.

“Any waste collection company found dumping illegally will have its license revoked. We cannot allow Nairobi to be turned into a dumpsite,” Mosiria said during one of his enforcement operations.

His stance won him praise from residents frustrated by mounting piles of waste and chaotic collection practices.

“He is one of the few officers who actually shows up on the ground. You’d see him at night, in the rain, supervising clean-ups,” a Mukuru resident said.

Mosiria has not shied away from talking about the cost of that hard-line approach.

He has previously spoken about facing threats and harassment while enforcing environmental and public order laws, particularly during late-night operations targeting illegal dumping and disorderly businesses.

“There are people who are not happy when we enforce the law. We have faced intimidation and harassment during night operations, but we shall not be deterred,” he is on record saying.

Despite the challenges, he remained visible and vocal, something his supporters say may have made some senior figures uncomfortable.

“There are concerns that his popularity sometimes outshines that of his superiors, and in government that can be dangerous,” a City Hall insider claimed, requesting anonymity.

Under the new structure, Mosiria is expected to bring his activist style and enforcement energy into Citizen Engagement and Customer Service, a docket central to how Nairobians experience county services.

Critics see it as moving him away from the “action” on the ground.

Supporters, however, frame it as an opportunity.

“Wherever he is posted, he works,” a supporter Irene Nyaboke commented online.

“If he applies the same discipline and visibility to citizen engagement, we might finally see a county office that actually listens and responds.”

The governor’s memo lists Mosiria among several senior officers moved across strategic sectors such as Housing, Mobility, Smart Nairobi, Medical Facilities and Digital Economy, signaling a broader re-organisation meant to “make Nairobi work”.

As reactions continue to swirl, most agree on one thing: Geoffrey Mosiria has become a recognisable public servant in Nairobi politics, and his next steps will be closely watched.

To his supporters, he is a bright and capable leader who has been unfairly slowed down just as his impact was being felt.

To others, his new appointment is a test of whether he can transform citizen service the way he tried to transform Nairobi’s environmental enforcement.

For now, Nairobians will be watching if the man who chased garbage trucks and shut illegal dumpsites will bring the same energy, innovation and discipline to County Hall’s front office, and whether the reassignment turns out to be a setback, or a launchpad into a more powerful public-facing role.

The post Nairobi Environment Chief Officer Mosiria Moved in Surprise Shake-Up, Sparks Talk of “Demotion” appeared first on Insider Bits News.

Justice Prof. (Dr.) Nixon Sifuna, sitting in Nairobi, ruled on Tuesday that the request for a blanket injunction against the Daily Nation amounted to an attempt to impose a “rolling gag order” on the press and failed to meet the strict legal threshold required in defamation cases.

“This Court is not satisfied that the Plaintiff has established a sound enough and legally sufficient enough basis for a grant of the injunctive orders sought in this Motion. The Motion is therefore for dismissal,” Justice Sifuna held in a ruling delivered on September 30, 2025.

Governor Sakaja had filed a libel suit against NMG, journalist Evans Habii, and reporter Nyaboge Kiage over a June 19, 2025 Daily Nation front-page story titled “How Chaos Was Planned.

” The article, which carried his photograph and attributed statements, linked him to goons accused of attacking protesters in Nairobi.

In his motion filed the same day, Sakaja sought interim orders restraining NMG from publishing or disseminating any further stories suggesting he organized, planned, or funded the violence.

He argued that without such orders, the defendants might publish similar allegations during anniversaries of the protests.

The defendants opposed the motion, insisting that granting such injunctions would violate press freedom guaranteed under Article 34 of the Constitution.

Justice Sifuna stressed that courts must balance two constitutional imperatives in defamation cases, press freedom and an individual’s right to reputation, but that restrictions on the mainstream media should only be issued “sparingly and in exceptional circumstances.”

“Pre-trial injunctions against the mainstream media platforms ought to be issued very sparingly and only in exceptional and most deserving circumstances,” the judge noted.

He further cautioned against issuing speculative or anticipatory gag orders.

“In the pre-trial period, a rolling gag order such as the one the Plaintiff is seeking in this Motion, is most undesirable. At its worst, such an injunction can in its terms be rather speculative, hypothetical and remote,” He said

The court held that Sakaja had failed to demonstrate evidence of any imminent or immediate threat of another defamatory publication, adding that any fresh defamatory claim could still be remedied through damages.

“The higher the privilege, the higher the responsibility and scrutiny… Courts should refrain from the mere gagging of the media and silencing of journalists. Press freedom and journalistic expression is a necessary evil,” Justice Sifuna said

The motion was dismissed with no order as to costs.

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