Talk of Town: Uninvited ‘guests’ in lawmakers’ forums, night meetings unsettle VIP’s handlers

Parliament Buildings in Nairobi County in this picture taken on August 8, 2024.
MP demands broad-based video clips
An MP from the Nyanza region who has been loud in supporting the broad-based government arrangement is the talk of parliamentary officers. Reason? The legislator often walks into the editing room of Parliament and demands for his videos anytime he speaks on the floor of the House in support of the arrangement that co-opted allies of opposition leader Raila Odinga into the government. It is not yet clear what the MP does with the clips but our mole in the corridors of powers has whispered to Talk of Town that the man sends the videos to a senior government official to show loyalty and earn a token of appreciation.
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CS abandons his people on WhatsApp
Close friends of a Cabinet Secretary in a powerful docket are crying foul after the man abandoned them in a WhatsApp group he formed in order to assist them get jobs. The man, who joined the Cabinet last July after the Gen Z pro-reforms protests, had assured his friends that he would not abandon them and suggested that they should be in a WhatsApp group for easy coordination in case of a vacancy. However, when a parastatal under his docket advertised jobs, members of the group learnt that the CS picked people from elsewhere who were not in the group. The CS has since left the group and no longer picks his friends’ calls.
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Night meetings unsettle VIP’s handlers
A member of an independent commission and a senior politician from Central Kenya have recently held several meetings that have reportedly unsettled their close aides. However, sources in the know insist that there is no romantic involvement between the two but rather a business deal in the making. The commissioner is said to be selling about 1,000 acres of his farmland in Western Kenya, and the politician is reportedly interested in acquiring half of it. What has baffled their handlers is the cost of selling the parcel and plans to pay for the huge acreage in cash.
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Tussle for roads billions angers top MP
The allocation of billions of shillings for roads in the Nyanza region in the 2025/2026 budget seems to have not gone down well with the chairman of a powerful committee. The chairman is said to have threatened to scuttle the process on the floor of the House, saying his region has been ignored. The legislator was, however, told to go ahead with his threat but with a warning from a powerful office that he stands to lose even his position if dares to. The chairman has since coiled back to his cocoon after being called to order by influential individuals in Parliament and Treasury, who told him the cake is big enough for everyone.
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Business mogul under pressure
A business mogul is under intense pressure from powerful individuals in the government to partly cede ownership of his empire. The deal is a plan to save the tycoon from takeover by another powerful business entity that they have been tussling in court with. Those aware of the plan said powerful forces now want to take advantage of the situation in order to cut down to size the mogul through partial ownership of his empire. Our little bird whispers that the man is already considering the lucrative offer in exchange for freedom from numerous endless court cases.
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Uninvited ‘guests’ in lawmakers’ forums
A multi-billion-shilling building housing MPs is now the Talk of Town after lawmakers were overheard complaining of how they are now forced to share rooms and offices with rats. During a committee sitting last week, the uninvited “guests” freely crisscrossed the room causing consternation among invited witnesses. The rodents are now a permanent fixture in the building, which is not new to controversy.
It's only a matter of time before the looming health hazard becomes full-blown.