The Nairobi gubernatorial debate went down on Monday July 11 from 5.30 pm to around 9.30 pm at the Catholic University Eastern Africa
The first face of the debate that involved 4 candidates namely; Nancy Mwadime, Kenneth Nyamwamu, Herman Grewal and Esther Waringa, was not as captivating as the second face whereby Former Nairobi Deputy Governor Polycarp Igathe faced his main opponent and the current senator of the county Johnson Sakaja.
Three candidates, Dennis Kodhe, Cleophas Kioo Mutua and Agnes Kagure skipped the debate with Kodhe presenting his apology in writing.
There are several mistakes that Sakaja made during the debate that might jeopardize his ambitions of taking over the country’s capital city. The first mistake he made was coming late for the debate.
The debate began at 8pm without Sakaja which gave ample time to Igathe to express himself well. He arrived 20 minutes later keeping his employers waiting.
After arriving late, Sakaja did not issue an apology especially to the people of Nairobi who will either make him governor or not and even failed to give a valid reason for being late.
“My opponent is used to head starts, I wanted to give him an opportunity and we are here. There is no need of focusing on that much. I look forward to the debate,” Sakaja said when the moderators, Zubeida Kananu of KTN News and NTVs Mark Maasai, questioned why he came late.
The third mistake that Sakaja made was becoming rude towards the moderators at some point when his identity was questioned by his opponent, an issue that was reiterated by Zubeida. Here is how the conversation went.
Zubeida: Is your name Sakaja?
Sakaja: I think you invited Sakaja, Is your name Zubeida?
Zubeida: I’m the one asking the questions and you are here to answer please
Sakaja: If you ask unnecessary questions I give you unnecessary answers!
Zubeida: Your colleague has asked if your name is Sakaja
Sakaja: I think we need to the focus on the the issues Nairobians are facing instead of trivializing this debate as to what my name is.
Eventually Sakaja said that his name is Arthur Johnson Sakaja.
Aside from that Sakaja used his time to bash his opponent for resigning as deputy governor after six months in office. He would have put his time in good use by telling Nairobians why he is best suited for the position especially after coming late instead of slamming and making accusations about his opponent.
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