Senator Khalwale Blasts Sakaja For Misplaced Priorities
The drama around Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and President William Ruto’s ambitious commitment to provide chapatis to Nairobi schools reached the Senate on Thursday, March 14.
On Thursday, March 14, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale took a shot at Sakaja, accusing the governor of having misguided priorities.
During Senate hearings, Khalwale advocated that the country embrace contemporary infrastructure, such as electric trains, which he saw as a bold method to revolutionize regional trade.
In his speech, Khalwale criticized Sakaja for his recent travel with President William Ruto.
You (Sakaja) have totally lost focus. Your purpose is not to feed people but open up the economy of Nairobi. He should not be talking about chapatis. He should be talking about underpasses, overpasses that's the future ~ Boni Khalwale pic.twitter.com/guO5rliLxZ
— The Kenya Times (@thekenyatimes) March 13, 2025
“Governors, you are not doing us a favour. “I want to address the Governor of Nairobi,” Khalwale began.
“I can see you have lost focus. The purpose of the Governor of Nairobi is not to feed people; it is to open up the economy.”
Khalwale continued, “The Governor of Nairobi should not be talking about chapatis. He should be talking about underpasses and overpasses.
“That is the future. The people you will employ in those areas will feed their children.”
On Tuesday, March 11, Sakaja visited St. Teresa Girls’ Secondary School in Mathare and spoke to children about the county’s school food effort, Dishi na County.
President Ruto promises to buy chapati-making machine to make 1 million chapatis in a day to boost Governor Sakaja’s Dishi na County school feeding programme pic.twitter.com/YvKRP0usOY
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) March 11, 2025
The Nairobi Governor decided to include chapatis on the menu at the students’ request.
“Do you like Dishi na County? How is the food, and what do you want us to add? Chapati? Let me talk to the President so he can get us a chapati-making machine,” Sakaja said.
In response, they promised to support this proposal by funding a machine capable of making up to one million chapatis each day for the school food project.
Kenyans took to social media to mock the President’s ‘one million chapatis’ idea, sparking a wave of criticism against him.
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President Ruto and Sakaja continued their Nairobi tour on Thursday, stopping at Toi Primary School in the Kibra Constituency in an open display of defiance.
During their tour, the two leaders took the opportunity to serve chapatis to kids, prompting much criticism.
Notably, this is not the first time Khalwale has targeted Sakaja for poor governance.
Khalwale lambasted his counterpart in January 2024 for the chaotic nature of the Capital’s transportation infrastructure and the recent surge in mugging cases in the Central Business District (CBD).
Senator Khalwale Blasts Sakaja For Misplaced Priorities
