Corridors of Power

Has a popular Nairobi MP abandoned the TangaTanga squad due to the fast-changing political dynamics in the country? Well, the flashy MP known for his deep pockets and open generosity over the weekend played host to a dozen of his colleagues from the rival Team Kieleweke at a Nairobi Hotel around Ngara area. One of the Kieleweke diehards who attended the three-hour Saturday night session said the writing was on the wall and that it is just a matter of time before the embattled lawmaker switches camps. One of the reasons said to have informed his decision to ditch the high-flying group pitching for Deputy President William Ruto's 2022 Presidential bid is a land tussle he is embroiled in within Parklands area. It had become clearer by day that the DCI sleuths were closing in on him a few weeks ago over land grabbing before he retreated and allegedly sought some protection from a veteran politician from the city. The well-connected and seasoned politician could have reached out to people with the connections to salvage his colleague after an out of court settlement was entered recently.

Some opinion leaders are waiting with bated breath so see how Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang will handle the audit queries facing his home county. Kajwang chairs the powerful Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee that has been questioning governors over audit queries. He has been pushing governors including Kiambu’s Ferdinand Waititu whose county the senate discovered “incurred” bizarre expenditure. Corridors has learnt that Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti is appearing before the same committee on the 14th of this month. The opinion leaders said Kajwang strongly supported Awiti's  re-election. The Auditor General has raised many queries regarding expenditure in the county.

Just why did business mogul and Uasin Gishu politician Zedekiah Bundotich alias Buzeki disembark from Deputy President William Ruto's political juggernaut? The sudden announcement caught many Kenyans by a surprise but not politicians from the region. It has emerged that there were murmurs that Ruto's allies were uncomfortable with Buzeki and were already plotting to teach him another bruising political lesson in 2022. The politicians, who include a couple of MPs from the county, had hatched a plot to sponsor one of their own to run for the seat on a Jubilee ticket, a move that would have locked out Buzeki from the region's most popular party. It has emerged that the MP had been holding night meetings and sending covert political signals to the effect that the businessman was not welcome in Jubilee and therefore they could do anything to stop him. Call it political calculation.

A county assembly is on the radar of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Reason? The assembly, the sleuths believe, used public money to bail out some MCAs from the county who were recently charged with corruption. The detectives are said to be gathering and set to camp at the county assembly to look for evidence. Sources have intimated that the officers will question the speaker, clerk and other members of the county assembly service board to establish if indeed taxpayers' money was used to bail out the corruption suspects.