Sakaja’s Late Athlete Mother Honored With National Heroes Award

Emily Ayoti Kubasu Sakaja, mother to Johnson Sakaja, was awarded the National Heroes Award on Friday, December 6.

The Nairobi Governor received the award together with his siblings on behalf of their mother, who was conferred the prize posthumously.

Sakaja took to his X platform to reveal this development, thanking President William Ruto, Culture, Arts, and Heritage Principal Secretary Ummi Bashir, and the National Heroes Council for recognising his late mother, a sporting pioneer in Kenya.

“Received the National Heroes Award posthumously together with my siblings, honouring the late Emily Ayoti Kubasu Sakaja. A Kenyan athletic great and our mom. Thank you, William Ruto, PS Ummi Bashir, and the National Heroes Council, for acknowledging our champion,” he stated.

Although much is not known about her, Emily Kubasu won gold in the 100 metres at the East and Central African Championships in 1971, considered her most memorable victory.

Emily set the pace for short-distance running, providing a foundation upon which the likes of Ferdinand Omanyala, Mercy Chebet, and Collins Omae have built their sprint careers. 

Before becoming defunct in 1990, the annual international athletics championships ran for 32 years and featured several countries from the region.

After her years in athletics, Emily later became a prison officer, working her way up to the senior ranks up to her demise in 1994 when Sakaja was nine years old. 

Sakaja has credited his mother with playing a crucial part in his formative years, shaping his character and the person he is today. Notably, when he was a Nairobi senator, Sakaja referenced his mother when his position in the Jubilee party was under threat.

In August 2020, then Jubilee Party Vice Chairman David Murathe threatened that leaders, which included Sakaja, that opposed the party’s position on the revenue allocation formula would be kicked out.

In response, Sakaja stated that he was unafraid of threats or intimidation, citing the champion spirit that runs in his family. 

“Now that I have come here and I have voted, those who want to arrest me, please go ahead. I am not one to be intimidated; I am the son of Emily Ayoti Kubasu, a champion, and I am ready for whatever consequence it is for the price of this country,” he stated in the Senate on August 5, 2020.

The National Heroes Council is the state corporation responsible for honouring national heroes and operating under the core values of patriotism, integrity, innovation, diversity, and professionalism.