The entry of Mobicom to the Orange family has caused waves in the mobile phone firm. Mobicom reportedly placed an order for Sh70 million worth of airtime recently catching the Orange operators off-guard as they did not have the airtime immediately available. A flurry of top level meetings by the Orange management saw them get together the airtime requested to satisfy their customer.
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An insignificant visit by Joe Nyagah to President Kibaki's Othaya backyard on Monday has set tongues wagging. Reason? People believe there is more to the visit by Nyagah than a mere inspection of development projects in the constituency. They say the visit by the Cooperatives Development minister is significant as it comes soon after talk of a possible alliance between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.
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Some top lawyers are not hiding the fact that they are interested in taking up the many new jobs available as the country sets about implementing the new constitution. Some of them want to be in the team that will vet judges, others are angling to be appointed to the Bench while many others are lobbying to be appointed to the nearly ten commissions and authorities that will be established. The competition is getting so intense that some of the lawyers have sought the services of politicians to try and lobby for the appointments.
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Stephen Okoth Mwanga cut a flamboyant figure with his Hummer and other outward signs of a successful budding politician during the 2007 campaigns. Mwanga made his political debut after leaving the huge Harambee Sacco on November 22, 2007 where he had been working as a clerk in the Sacco's FOSA Nairobi office.
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President Moi once told Kenyans that the then ruling party Kanu had its owners. Former Juja MP Stephen Ndichu believes that it is not just Kanu but PNU also. Ndichu, who is eyeing the Juja seat in the September 20 by-election, has been complaining that PNU shortchanged him and handed direct nomination to immediate former MP George Thuo. For Ndichu, the direct nomination confirms what he has always suspected, that PNU too has its owners.
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The wife of a top Cabinet minister from Nyanza was awarded the tender for printing T-shirts for the Yes camp during the referendum campaigns. The Sh20 million spent on printing and supplying the T-shirts is now a subject of discussion by the Yes secretariat staff who allege only a handful of the T-shirts were printed. They claim the orders were then recycled to justify the millions spent.
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A politician has fallen out with his personal assistant whom he accuses of being his wife's spy. The big man who is keen on the 2012 presidential race has now gone ahead and assigned one of his security men to spy on his PA. The security man is also supposed to keep track of all discussions the PA holds with the big man's wife. As a precautionary measure, the politician has opted to keep the PA out of all important trips.
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An ODM MP from Rift Valley never uses his car while travelling to his constituency in South Rift because he says the roads are so bad, they may damage the vehicle. Instead, the MP has been relying on a PSV shuttle from Nairobi to Eldoret town whenever he wishes to travel home. From Eldoret, he hires a taxi to his rural home which is more than 70 kilometres away. He uses the taxi to make sure he does not meet with his constituents who might recognise him and ask for handouts.
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The senate will be the most hotly contested election in 2012 instead of Parliament. Already, a number of sitting and former MPs are strategising on how they will become senators. In Nyeri, Mathira MP Ephraim Maina is leading the team of four key politicians who want to take the senator seat. Former Internal Security minister Chris Murungaru who represented Kieni constituency is eyeing the same seat as is former minister for Information Mutahi Kagwe. Kieni MP Nemesius Warugongo is also weighing on whether to go for the senate seat or defend his seat in Parliament. The toss-up is on which of the two— Parliament or Senate— is going to be more powerful.
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We are informed that a commissioner with Committee of Experts has been eyeing the job of Director of Public Prosecutions after President Kibaki promulgates the new constitution on August 27. Our mole informs us that the commissioner has been spending time in offices of senior politicians in government hoping to impress them and land the plum job currently held by Keriako Tobiko. There are transitional clauses in the new constitution that state that the office will be taken over by the Attorney General Amos Wako until the new director is appointed. We are told that it is this loophole that has sparked intense lobbying for the job.
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Our mole informs us that Makadara former MP Reuben Ndolo was handed a poisoned chalice through an ODM direct nomination. We are told that Ndolo would have to cut a deal with Nairobi City Deputy Mayor George Aladwa for the party to reclaim the seat it lost in the 2007 General Election. Supporters of Aladwa, the councillor for Kaloleni Makongeni ward, have now vowed to vote for either PNU candidate Dick Wathika or Narc Kenya's Mike Mbuvi aka Sonko in protest. This could hand the seat back to PNU, which has its votes in one basket.
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Is a new onslaught against the ICC investigation of post-election violence through the Africa Union in the offing? We hear that some senior politicians in the Kenya government are pushing the AU to intervene at the Hague, claiming there is no more cause for Ocampo's intervention in Kenya with the new constitution in place. They intend to convince the AU to impress on the court that the new laws would bring forth major changes to the Judiciary and the police, enough to handle the business the ICC would have handled.
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What happened to the inquiry against a senior police officer accused of pocketing some money from one of the G4S heists in Nairobi? We are now told that the investigation was closed soon after orders by senior officers to have it opened. We are informed the officer being investigated and the investigator were spotted together in Mombasa. Speculation is rife the two may have cut a deal to shelve the matter.
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A prospective presidential candidate for 2012 who is not quite certain about his chances recently visited a seer to tell him what was in his future. The man's aides have now noticed that their boss has developed a peculiar habit of turning to face the direction he was coming from when he reaches the door, pretending that he is issuing instructions to those outside. It seems he was advised the by the well known "seer" to do this so that he changes his fortunes.
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An MP has gone through a successful civil marriage with a white woman in North America without the knowledge of his first wife. Some of his many Kenyan friends living in that region have got wind of the event and rumours are flying that the man might eventually find himself in trouble once his new wife finds out she is not the only one. The nuptials are likely to add fuel to speculations about the man's citizenship.
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A group of elders from Busia have another plan for the outgoing Attorney General Amos Wako. They want the smiling AG to consider running for governor under the new dispensation. According to the wazee Wako's 19 years in the civil service and his experience internationally give him an added edge and is proof that he can become a governor. They are now waiting for an opportune time to inform the AG of their decision.
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Will Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohamed accept the offer of becoming the next Attorney General or not? Some Cabinet ministers and MPs from the PNU side have hinted that they will prevail on the President to appoint Mohammed as the next Attorney General. They believe that Mohammed's appointment would be a trade off with their coalition partners who are likely to present their own nominee for the Chief Justice's job. The formula they are working on is simple: support Mohammed for AG and we support your man for CJ.
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Elders from Bureti constituency now want Roads minister Franklin Bett to reconcile with his Higher Education counterpart William Ruto as quickly as possible. The leaders feel that the parallel political paths the two leaders are taking is not good for the Kipsigis community. They want Bett to focus his energies on taking control of the South Rift where the elders think there is a leadership vacuum.
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Three MPs on a KQ inaugural flight to Luanda, Angola decided to stay on for another day to take in the sights and sounds of that city because they were having a very good time. By the time the rest of the party on the KQ freebie departed, it was not clear whether KQ would cough up an extra $1,000 (Sh80,000) per day for the MPs.
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An MP from the Rift Valley, whose love for beer is well known, is causing concern for his security detail for habitually sneaking out of Parliament to go to a bar frequented by youth on Accra Road, Nairobi. The MP's driver and bodyguards are worried that they will be blamed if any harm comes to him at the bar.
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A powerful PS who was reportedly the man behind the demotion of Hassan Noor Hassan as a provincial commissioner is back on his track. The same PS has reportedly now gone to the Head of the Public Service Francis Muthaura to complain that the workaholic administrator should be removed as chairman of the Mau Secretariat. The PS's concerns are that Hassan might soon be promoted to a higher position in government.
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A commissioner with the soon to be defunct Committee of Experts has reportedly been lobbying senior politicians for a key job at Sheria House. The COE's term of office comes to an end on August 27. The know-it-all source says the man is angling himself to take up the Attorney General's job as the current holder Amos Wako is expected to quit immediately after the new constitution comes into effect.
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A senior assistant commissioner of police, who is suspected of hiding part of money recovered from one of the G4S heists in Nairobi is in trouble again. His seniors have raised questions about how he handled a drug trafficking case after it came to light that he has been collecting protection money from some of the city's drug lords.
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A top ODM Cabinet minister is in the crosshairs of some officials at the party secretariat who suspect him of pocketing millions of shillings which had been set aside for the printing of campaign T-shirts for use by the Green team during the referendum campaigns.
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