Corridors of Power

Was an opinion poll commissioned to gauge the popularity of Deputy President William Ruto and a Cabinet Secretary? A source in the administration has whispered to Corridors that three months ago, sub county commissioners from Mt Kenya and Nairobi were told to conduct interviews in their regions. The administrator, who was in a Whatsapp group where the poll results were shared, said all the commissioners returned results showing 97 per cent of the people back Ruto. A week ago, the social media platform was shut down after a CS was dismayed with the outcome.

That ODM nominated MP and Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Wilson Sossion is in a fix is not news. However, the studious silence by his colleagues in ODM at this hour of need portrays a man who has been abandoned to his own survival tactics. While there were reports that ODM leader Raila Odinga tried to intervene, Sossion’s friends, who met over the weekend at a popular drinking joint in Nairobi, expressed dissatisfaction with how the party has handled the tribulations of the firebrand trade unionist. Some have taken to social media to question the sincerity of ODM MPs, who are expected to stand by their man.

Just what stopped investigations into an incident where a man was stabbed by goons associated with a controversial politician in Nyanza? Corridors has been told that the case may not take off after all. This is amid allegations money changed hands to silence police officers probing the heinous attack. The culprits, well-known to the police, are yet to be arrested. A vehicle, impounded carrying weapons believed to have been used in the attack, remains parked at a police station. Relatives of the victim want the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters to take up the matter and dispatch a new team of investigators from Nairobi as those in the county are moving too slowly.

And still on matters to do with Nyanza. Did a politician from the region lie to President Uhuru Kenyatta that a vessel that could be used in Lake Victoria would cost the government Sh200 million? A mole who is aware of the matter says the politician almost convinced the President to endorse the purchase of the vessel, only for Uhuru to seek a second opinion from the Kenya Navy who told him the cost would be in the region of Sh37 million. The President is said to have been so infuriated and for weeks, Kenyatta would not take his calls. It is understood the President has already cautioned the Ministry of Transport to be very careful when dealing with the man.