The Star Kenya Politics Gossip

Close associates of suspended Higher Education minister William Ruto are bragging that their man will emerge politically stronger and more powerful once the ongoing cases against him are concluded. They are so confident that they are now claiming the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo does not have evidence to prosecute him over the post-election violence. They are saying they have got their hands on whatever little evidence Ocampo may have had on their man.

***

Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka reportedly held their recent meetings in the dark in Libya because Gaddafi is afraid of being assassinated. Street lore has it that Gaddafi's obsession with his personal security started in the 1980s when a US attempt to assassinate him resulted in the death of his daughter. According to our moles in the VP's delegation, the street lights are switched off whenever the self-proclaimed Brother Leader is passing and are switched on after he has gone his way.

***

A foreign company on Thika Road in Nairobi subjected its staff to humiliating body searches and illegally held them overnight after some Sh378 million in UK Sterling Pounds went missing from the premises. The company security personnel locked in all the staff, strip-searched them and did not allow any of them to go home until morning. But the missing money was not found. The workers are afraid to report to the authorities as they fear losing their jobs.

***

Two clans in Mandera — the Murule and the Garre — are wrangling over the awarding of tenders for the construction of roads in the district. One clan which lost out on the tenders claims a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Roads who comes from the rival clan influenced the awarding of the tenders to his clansmen. They claim that a company associated with the former PS was awarded a Sh200m contract even though it had not presented the lowest bid.

***

There was high drama at the African Union headquarters last month when the commission chairman Or Jean Ping publicly clashed with Prime Minister Raila Odinga in Addis Ababa after the latter held a Press conference ahead of the Peace and Security Council Summit convened to discuss the situation in Cote d'Ivoire.

According to the story posted on the All Africa.com website, Raila was supposed to brief his superiors in the Peace and Security Council first after which they would deliberate on his report and any other reports pertinent to the Cote d'Ivoire crisis before holding a Press conference to announce their decision.

Ping who had received a rapping from the leaders over his handling of the Cote d'Ivoire issue was peeved by Raila's breach of protocol and summoned AU security details to stop the press conference.

"There was some shouting, pushing and shoving with the clearly discomfited Kenyan premier attempting to rush through his statement before handing out copies to journalists who were being dispersed after which he left the scene in a huff," the story says. It is strange that none of the Kenyan media who were present at the AU summit picked up on this.

***

Spotted in a Nairobi yesterday: The CEO of a prominent media house, his top managers and a senior manager of the Central Bank of Kenya enjoying lunch at a city hotel. This set the rumour mills turning as speculation grows that the CBK official might soon be shown the door.

***

A board member of a foreign company which was recently awarded a multibillion-shilling contract by Communication Commission of Kenya is under siege from creditors who are demanding that he pay his debts. The individual has accumulated debts in excess of Sh 100 million and spends much time and resources trying to fend off his creditors who want to have him declared bankrupt.

***

We are told the Party of National Unity is grappling with the dilemma — will the Attorney General appeal against the High Court ruling that declared that President Kibaki breached the constitution in announcing his nominees for the new Chief Justice, Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions? Remember Amos Wako signed the Judicial Service Commission statement that condemned the nominations as null and void. The PNU has enlisted a senior lawyer who is friendly to the Judiciary to appeal against Justice Daniel Musinga's ruling. The top lawyer who has represented top politicians in high-profile cases is said to be favourable to the Bench.

***

The government will find itself tied down to a contract with a foreign company having the monopoly of printing the country's currency and other security documents. The deal is expected to be sealed soon. According to our moles, while some government officials involved in the negotiations were opposed to the 10-year contract, they were persuaded to accept the deal when they were informed that the foreign company would form a joint venture with local representatives.

***

PNU politicians are bragging that they will soon "teach" Prime Minister Raila Odinga a political lesson. The politicians believe that the moment they have been waiting for to fix Tinga (Raila) once and for all has come since the political pendulum has swung in President Kibaki's favour. They plan to push through the names proposed by President Kibaki before they introduce a motion of no confidence against Raila.

***

Are the decisions being made by the Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura being coloured by the fact that he is one of the six people suspected to have masterminded the post-election violence? Those working with him say the man is annoyed with some senior government officials who he claims gave information to ICC chief prosecutor which was used to fix him.

***

A well-known city lawyer is in trouble after he threw his wife and child out and married another woman. The man has been sued by his wife, whose lawyers are convinced they have a credible case against their flamboyant and uncaring colleague. The woman intends to air all the dirty linen in public once the matter comes for hearing in court.

***

JUSTICE and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo was surprised when he confronted by a Star journalist who wanted to get his comment on the re-insertion of a controversial clause in the re-published Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Bill, 2011. "I'm shocked because no other journalist has realised it or is likely to!" said Mutula before confirming and taking full responsibility for the same.