A political heavyweight from Mt Kenya is on the spot for using his fringe party as a bait to win over the handshake team. The honcho has been positioning his party for a coalition with ODM boss Raila Odinga (pictured) in what has triggered jitters within Jubilee quarters. Those inside Jubilee believe this is a shortcut by the politician to claim credit and raise his profile ahead of the 2022 polls. Some of the Jubilee leaders are accusing the politician of trying to hijack the process of Mt Kenya sealing a political deal with Raila. One of the Jubilee pillars in the Kieleweke wing was overhead protesting that all parties must go through Jubilee to get a deal with Raila.
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The crazy season of defections is here. An impending mass switching of camps could be earthshaking. A politician from one of the counties in Nyanza, and who has been a pillar of Deputy President William Ruto's camp, is planning a landmark defection. There is talk that the ranking politician is moving to ODM boss Raila Odinga's camp. The politician's reception by the former prime minister has been delayed over questions of loyalty. Nevertheless, there could be a ceremony in the coming days to officially receive the politician back to Raila's team. However, there are concerns within Raila's camp that they should be wary since he might turn out to be a Tangatanga mole.
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That there are aspirants riding on the UDA wave is not news, but of interest is how a county seat aspirant in Mt Kenya region was bashed on Sunday night for 'portraying the party and its aspirants as cheap'. The politician had organised a medical camp in a town in the county but brought medication for barely 50 people. Residents turned up in huge numbers and it did not take half an hour before medical personnel to run out of drugs. The man had to leave the venue early as residents got agitated, accusing him of playing politics with people's health.
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A senior official within the education sector is a man under siege. The administrator is accused of being part of a cartel of influential wheel-dealers holding the sector hostage. It is said that in one of the contracts recently awarded for printing textbooks, fishy deals could have occurred. In fact, it is alleged that the man has interests in an influential publisher at the centre of a recent controversial tender. Some publishers are jittery that there is no transparency in how some of the contracts are awarded. There are reports that dissatisfied firms could be planning to move to the appeals board to overturn a recently awarded tender, alleging favouritism.
(Edited by V. Graham)
