CORRIDORS OF POWER

Just why has Governor Mike Sonko’s administration failed to sign an MoU to unlock billions of shillings for the implementation of a project to ease traffic jams in the capital? More than six months after City Hall agreed to sign an MoU with a Japanese agency for the funding and construction of a viaduct (overpass) from Enterprise Road in Industrial Area to Haile Selassie Avenue in the CBD, the county is yet to put pen to paper. Sources whisper to Corridors that the development partner is now threatening to walk out, citing a lack of commitment and goodwill from Sonko’s administration. The aim of the project was to reduce the traffic jams on Jogoo and Landhies roads.

An MP from Nyanza is courting trouble. She has hired only her relatives to manage her county office. Surprisingly, the lawmaker feigns ignorance when confronted by the electorate over this serious matter. Recently, a fraud scandal erupted in her office in what was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. Her staff were caught red-handed awarding bursaries and other forms of funds only to their close relatives, including those who hail from outside the county, contrary to the guidelines. With her eyes trained on a governor's seat in 2022, it would be interesting to see how she will navigate these issues to position her ambitions better than her competitors. In the meantime, some bloggers are tearing her into pieces on social media.

A principal secretary, a managing director, a former CEO and a former woman representative from Central are involved in a nasty love triangle or is it a quadrangle?  It’s said the PS, whose docket has been riddled by controversy, was among the lady's first 'boyfriends'. Then came the former CEO, whose docket was equally engulfed in unsavoury allegations. It was initially thought that the CEO, who registered several properties in the ex-MP's name, would settle down with her as a second wife. But alas! A third man, a serving MD has come into the picture. Those in the know claim the two are openly going out. However, the woman blames the PS for spoiling her name.

A Nyanza governor, who has a penchant for five-star catering services, is under siege. After the Auditor General flagged irregular expenditures he has incurred at a high-end hotel in Kisumu, the governor has devised other ways to satisfy his ego. He hired chefs and caterers who used to work at the same hotel to take over catering services at both his Nairobi and Nyanza homes in a deliberate scheme to outwit the auditors. A little bird within the county, which is reeling from audit queries, tells Corridors that the governor’s lavish lifestyle is becoming a serious concern, with his expenses alone gobbling up more than a half of the budget of the governor’s office. This has forced the county Treasury to transfer funds to maintain his taste for the high life.