• Were the organisers of this year’s national prayer breakfast not expecting Deputy President William Ruto in yesterday’s event?
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Were the organisers of this year’s national prayer breakfast not expecting Deputy President William Ruto in yesterday’s event? The omission of Ruto’s name from the official programme has not been taken lightly by two legislators from Rift Valley who interpreted it as an intentional move to embarrass their man. The DP has of late been on the receiving end from a section of Jubilee Party members and opposition leaders, who have a closer working relationship with President Uhuru Kenyatta through the handshake. One MP was overheard blaming the omission on the handshake politics and internal Jubilee wars that recently rocked the ruling outfit.
It seems former Uasin Gishu gubernatorial candidate Zedekiah Bundotich, popularly known as Buzeki, is gaining ground in areas once under the tight grip of Deputy President William Ruto. A small bird whispered to Corridors that most MCAs and a number of MPs from Rift Valley are silently reconsidering their stand in Jubilee. They argue that they are yet to see any meaningful development under the Jubilee administration and have gone slow on early campaigns. The once outspoken lawmakers are reading President Uhuru Kenyatta’s body language on the call for development, instead of premature 2022 campaigns. Corridors has learnt that they are seriously considering following Buzeki to his new home (Chama Cha Mashinani party), which is led by former Bomet county boss Isaack Ruto.
A lawmaker who campaigned for a governor in Nyanza must have completely fallen out with his boss if his latest moves are anything to go by. The politician is lately excited by his clamour to be the next county chief, with his colleagues saying he buys lunch for anyone who calls him ‘governor’. He campaigned for the current governor with a view to being in the county’s kitchen cabinet but fell out with him barely months after the poll. Critics say they have given the ‘short-tempered’ parliamentarian a few days before he runs out of cash, especially with observations that the era of handshake politics has been dry.
Just to what extent can a county vehicle be used by officers in whose hands such assets are entrusted? Well, residents of one of the Western Kenya counties are surprised by how a senior officer in the devolved unit has deployed his assigned vehicle to run private errands, including carrying building materials to a private site where the officer is said to be building a mansion. One such vehicle was spotted transporting culverts, which are assumably beyond the recommended capacity. It's time the Traffic police or the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission reined in this blatant misuse of state vehicles.