This archive report was first published on 19 July 2020.
On July 17, 2020, Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja was at the center of a controversy after he was arrested at a bar in Nairobi's Kilimani for allegedly violating Covid-19 pandemic rules. The Senator, who chairs a Senate committee on Covid-19, was later released.
According to police, Sakaja was found at a bar off Dennis Pritt Road, which was still operating at 1:10 am, in contravention of the government's curfew orders. The Senator was advised to leave, but he declined, prompting the police to call their bosses, who also failed to convince him to leave.
Adan Hassan, the Deputy Sub-county Commander - Kilimani, was dispatched to the bar with a reinforcement. Police said Sakaja and his acquaintances refused to leave and dared the officers to handcuff them. Sakaja also told those present not to leave as ordered.
Later, six of the people in the group left, but Sakaja and three others remained. The other three, however, refused to give their names when asked for processing, police said. The three were driven to Kilimani police station, where the Senator was asked to agree to be granted free bond, but he refused to leave, denying that he was drunk and questioning why he was being humiliated.
The Senator is said to have threatened to transfer all the officers involved in his arrest within 24 hours. A video that has gone viral on social media captures Sakaja refusing to leave the police station.
