SAKAJA OPENS UP ABOUT HIS LATE MUM WHO WAS AN ATHLETE AND FRIENDSHIP WITH PRESIDENT UHURU

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja opened up about his late mother Emily Ayoti Kubasu. Speaking during an interview with Daniel Ndambuki, alias Churchill, the Senator disclosed that his mum died aged 41 while working at the Lang’ata Women’s Prison. 

Emily was a track legend who won medals in the 100 metres sprint for Kenya in the 60’s and 70’s. She won gold in the 100 metres at the East and Central African Championships in 1971, “My mum used to work in goverment but unfortunately in 1994 she passed away. My mum was a champion, she was one of the senior most ladies in Langata Women’s Prison and she was Kenya’s fastest runner.

She represented Kenya in many races, 100m and 200m. She was very ambitious, maybe that’s why she died at a young age, she was extremely ambitious and loving. Many of my aunties and those who knew her say I’m very much like her, I think I even look like her,” said the Senator. 

Sakaja, popularly referred to Super Senator by locals also spoke on his relationship with President Uhuru Kenyatta and how he came to work with him. He said he won the heart of Uhuru during a retreat in Naivasha after his presentation on how to draw constituencies. 

“I came up with a formulae on how to draw constituencies, PNU brought me to present it in Naivasha, I was 24 years old then. I did my presentation and that’s what is in the constitution, from then, Uhuru told his people Sakaja must come and work with him, I refused because I had my small company and I didn’t want to be a civil servant but he insisted.

We started working together but the best thing with us was we became friends and he was more than just a boss. He’d come home, I would go to his place and talk about family, so we just developed a friendship and a bond,” said Sakaja. 

The father of two also spoke on his involvement in the TNA-URP merger resulting to the inception of ruling party Jubilee. Sakaja disclosed that he suggested Deputy President William Ruto to be Uhuru’s running mate in a retreat in Naivasha. 

“I did a presentation on numbers and I told them for us to win, we’ll need at least 60 percent of Rift Valley but they laughed. It was unthinkable because how could we work with Ruto at that time. I later told them the numbers in the presentation have not changed, the 60 percent is still 60 percent.

Later that evening, Uhuru called me and asked me to show him the presentation once again. We went through it and I told him we need William, at that time Eugine Wamalwa was suppose to be the running mate. Good enough he had a personal relationship with Ruto and thats how we formed the Jubilee Party,” he said.