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Renown political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has sparked mixed reactions after taking to his official social media accounts to allege a political assassination on Jubilee nominated Senator Victor Prengei.

Senator Prengei who became popular among Kenyans when Jubilee party wanted to kick him out alongside Senator Millicent Omanga over disloyalty last year, died in an accident on Monday night August 16, at Gioto area in Nakuru County.

He was a close ally of Deputy President William Ruto.

His death was death was confirmed by area police boss Beatrice Kiraguri.

Reports indicate that Prengei was heading towards Kabarak direction from Nakuru Town, when the vehicle he was driving lost control and careened off the road before landing in a ditch at 9:45pm.

According to police, it was a self-involved accident, meaning the legislator’s vehicle did not ram an oncoming vehicle or one headed the same direction.

Prengei was rushed to Nakuru War Memorial Hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment.

However, Mutahi Ngunyi has read malice in the manner in which the accident occurred.

Taking to his official Twitter account, the political analyst argued that there is someone who was going to benefit from the death of the lawmaker.

According to Ngunyi, Prengei might have been assassinated through an accident. He further argued that the political beneficiary is the one who killed the senator.

“The QUI BONO question: Who BENEFITS if Senator Victor Prengei is ASSASSINATED through an accident? The political beneficiary is the one who KILLED him. Simple,” he tweeted.

Mutahi Ngunyi’s remarks have sparked mixed reactions, with a section of netizens telling hi off. Some urged him to stop politicizing the death.

Below are some of the reactions.

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Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen has alleged that Deputy President William Ruto’s Turkish associate Harun Aydin has not been deported.

Instead, the former senate Majority leader through his official social media accounts says that the government only asked the businessman to leave the country voluntarily.

According to Murkomen, this was meant to help things cool down and to save the state’s face.

Murkomen went ahead to allege that there is pressure from the Turkish government which is demanding answers from Kenya on the treatment of the investor.

“Turkish Businessman Harun Aydin was NOT DEPORTED he was “requested” to leave the country “voluntarily” to help cool things off and for the desperados to save face. The truth however is that the pressure from Turkish government was unbearable.Questions were asked & answers are a MUST,” Murkomen tweeted.

Harun who was part of DP Ruto’s entourage to Uganda in the aborted trip was on Saturday morning arrested at Wilson Airport in Nairobi while re-entering the country.

He was detained by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), and was expected to be produced at Kahawa Law Courts today (Monday) to be charged with terror links.

However, that did not happen as reports emerged that he had already been deported to Turkey in the morning.

His lawyers, among them Ahmednasir Abdullahi took to social media to condemn the move, claiming that they had been kept waiting at Kahawa Law Courts when their client had already been deported.

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Deputy President William Ruto has spoken on why he is still in the ruling Jubilee party even after forming the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

Speaking on Thursday August 5, 2021 after hosting a UDA party Parliamentary Group at his Karen residence in Nairobi, the second in command said that no one should dictate him on whether to leave Jubilee or not.

According to DP Ruto, he is not a guest in the President Uhuru Kenyatta-led party, maintaining that he has his own choice whether to leave the party or not.

The DP noted that people make choices at the opportune moment when they think different choices are necessary, and therefore nobody should be bothered on why they are still there.

Ruto who was flanked by his allies also said that people should stop mocking their bottom-up economic approach.

“We welcome criticism but don’t mock our bottom-up economic model..” said the second in command.

Ruto’s allies who also addressed the press at the same event termed Jubilee as a “collapsed” political outfit that had “abandoned its agenda.

They also accused the defunct National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition of hijacking the Jubilee agenda.

DP Ruto’s political opponents have been calling him to either resign or quit Jubilee since he has a new political outfit which he has been using to directly compete with President Kenyatta during by-elections.

The opponents who include ODM leader Raila Odinga’s allies and President Kenyatta’s loyalists have maintained that the DP has been disrespecting his boss.

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Days after Deputy President William Ruto aborted his trip to Uganda, the Yoweri Museveni-led country has issued a statement to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Ruto was set for a private trip to the neighbouring country on Monday, which was to be his second trip in a month but was blocked by immigration officials at Wilson Airport.

After waiting for clearance for about five hours, the DP is said to have given up and returned to his office.

Ruto’s communication secretary David Mugonyi said Ruto was asked to seek clearance from the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Joseph Kinyua.

The incident stirred mixed reactions, with some Kenyans arguing that Uganda was meddling into Kenya’s affairs.

However, Uganda in a statement has said that it had not arranged any protocol for DP Ruto.

Uganda’s ministry of foreign affairs said the Protocol Department has no record that there was a request for them to provide protocol services to Ruto.

“I was not informed by the chief of protocol being requested by the Kenyan High Commission in Uganda to provide protocol services to the Deputy President,”  State Minister for Foreign Affairs Okello Oryem said.

Oryem said Ugandan foreign policy is very clear that they don’t interfere in the internal affairs of any country whatsoever.

“We have no authority, we have no power over Kenyan government, they have their own reasons why they prevented Ruto from coming to Uganda,” he said.

during an interview with Inooro FM on Wednesday, Ruto said he has previously travelled without obtaining clearance.

“What happened at Wilson is part of the onslaught on me in the supremacy fights in the ranks of Jubilee,” the DP said.

The deputy president said he has been sidelined in government for quite some time.

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Over 100 Members of Parliament allied to Deputy President William Ruto on Thursday August 5, 2021 flocked his Karen resident in Nairobi for a ‘hustle nation’ meeting.

The ‘hustler nation‘ spokesperson Dennis Itumbi had on Wednesday August 4 given hints about the meeting, with discussions on the bottom-up economic approach set to dominate the meeting.

Itumbi through his official social media handles had hinted that the DP will host a hustler nation legislators parliamentary group meeting to take the bottom-up economy conversation to the next level.

Photos seen by this writer as at the time of publishing this article show several lawmakers allied to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) already at the venue.

The newly sworn-in UDA MP Wanjiku Njuguna, Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa, South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro and nominated MP David Ole-Sankok are some of the notable lawmakers that had already lined up to take photos at the venue.

More than 140 people are in attendance, with the Ruto-allied lawmakers expected to use the platform to evaluate their reach in the grassroots mobilisation and strategise how to navigate the political environment.

Njuguna who won the Kiamba parliamentary seat through a by-election was sworn in on Wednesday August 4 while in the company of MPs Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) and Kimani Ichungwah (Kikuyu).

The DP Ruto brigade has been telling Kenyans that the bottom-up approach is the only way that will heal the country’s eceonomy.

The DP is banking on the narrative to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in a race that will pit him and the ODM leader Raila Odinga in 2022.

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Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho has torn into Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua over what he claimed as peddling lies.

Kibicho who was speaking during a televised interview on Wednesday night also told the lawmaker to cease from dragging him and the interior CS Fred Matiang’i into his woes.

According to Kibicho, Gachagua who is allied to Deputy President William Ruto was using the PS and CS Matiang’i as decoys and scapegoats in the case. 

Gachagua who served as Molo District Officer in the late President Daniel Arap Moi’s government was blamed for insinuating that the Interior Ministry was on a witch-hunt of DP Ruto’s allies. 

“Gachagua is an old DO who used rungus during their regime. He has forgotten that when we changed the Constitution, everyone was poised to be accountable for their actions,” stated Kibicho.  

“He keeps thinking that the recklessness continued. I want to tell him that it stopped. He needs to grow up and stop being reckless. He has issues with his own people of Nyeri who stated that he embezzled funds. Let him deal with that and desist from dragging Kibicho and CS Matiang’i in it.”

He, however, declared that no action would be taken against the MP as the Ministry had decided to avoid being dragged into the affair. 

“That is what he is looking for. We will not engage him even as he keeps telling lies on TV,” the PS added. 

Ruto’s allies were accused of creating tension in the country in an attempt to allegedly appease their master. Kibicho claimed that the MPs at times rushed to the DP with fake news and lies on how the police were planning to threaten or assassinate them. 

Kibicho dubbed these politicians as reckless as they seize any advantage to push the DP to find relevance in their allegations. 

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Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua has claimed that he spent millions of money to fund President Uhuru Kenyatta‘s presidential campaigns during the 2013 and 2017 general elections.

Gahagua who spoke during an interview on Monday August 2 alleged that it is President Kenyatta who approached him in 2012 to ask for the funding.

He went further to claim that he is the one who funded Uhuru’s campaigns in the entire Nyeri county during the 2017 October repeat polls.

Without revealing the exact amount he spent, the lawmaker noted that he acquired campaign cars, erected billboards, mobilized people to campaign for the re-election of President Uhuru.

He stated that he offered to sponsor Uhuru and his Deputy William Ruto‘s campaigns as a friend.

“In 2013, Uhuru came to me and I asked me to fund to his campaigns and nobody had an issue with me. I gave money to him as a friend. In 2017 during the repeat Presidential elections,  I told DP Ruto and Uhuru and leave Nyeri for me, where I used my money. I used millions to get cars, I erected billboards and mobilized people to run the campaigns,” he argued.

Gachagua earlier worked as Uhuru’s Personal Assistant in 2002 after the current President plucked him from the business world. 

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Alice Wahome

Days after fumbling while trying to explain Deputy President William Ruto’s bottom up economic model during an interview on Citizen TV, Kandara MP Alice Wahome has come out to explain what transpired.

Wahome who is one of Ruto’s strongest supporters and a supporter of his hustler movement last week caused a stir online after saying that the bottom up approach was about empowerment starting from the bottom going down.

This attracted criticism from Kenyans who said she did not understand the model she has been pushing alongside other MPs allied to DP Ruto.

Speaking on the gaffe for the very first time on Monday August 02, the lawmaker said that she just had a slip of the tongue.

“That was just a tongue-twister. I know that the bottom-up economic model discussion bothers the ‘Cerelac’ babies, Kieleweke team and the ODM party,” she told a leading local daily.

She noted thatr trending on social media because of a tongue twist is not bad.

“..the clip was taken out of context. I was attending a show for one and a half hours…I said several things but they chose to bring a seven-seconds clip to show that we don’t understand the model,” she said.

She said the other parties have no alternative model.

“..bring your model let us compete on ideas, not jokes. I will not be finished by a small tongue twist,” she added.

On Sunday, Ruto once again defended his bottom-up economic approach, saying it is a noble approach about helping others.

“People are confused about this bottom-up approach. It is about helping the weak. Christ himself has said blessed are those who help others,” Ruto said.

Ruto is rallying supporters around his hustler narrative, which he says is a “bottom-up-middle-out economic approach” that has been received with admiration and criticism in equal measure.

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Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has formally exited the National Super Alliance (NASA).

The move comes just days after Kalonzo Musyoka-led Wiper Movement formerly exited the coalition that was used by ODM leader Raila Odinga to contest for presidency during the 2017 general elections.

ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna in a statement disclosed that the Orange party held a meeting on Thursday, July 29, and made the resolution to quit the NASA relationship.

ODM held a National Executive Committee meeting to deliberate on, among other things, the party’s 2022 presidential candidate.

According to Sifuna, ODM intends to embark on a programme to build new partnerships. The party will also extend the ongoing talks with its potential partners to the grassroots.

Sifuna added that the party deliberated on the future and its need to build new partnerships.

“To this end regional meetings and engagements have been planned with like-minded parties,” he concluded.

The coalition agreement between the partners indicates that NASA would cease to exist if at least three constituent parties formally exit. 

NASA coalition has faced challenges since 2018 due to mistrust among the parties and competing interests among; Wiper Democratic Movement, ODM, ANC and Ford Kenya parties.

Early this week, the former Prime Minister agreed to share political parties’ funds after four years of a standoff.

Despite all this, Kalonzo has ruled out playing second fiddle to anyone in the next year’s polls despite ODM unveiling the cash. 

At a press conference Monday, Kalonzo revealed that Raila had written a letter informing them of the decision to share the party’s millions.

Raila and Kalonzo have had an on-and-off relationship over the years since 2002.

They teamed up when the late President Daniel Moi endorsed Uhuru Kenyatta for the top seat and left Kanu to support retired President Mwai Kibaki under the Liberal Democratic Party, then an affiliate of Narc—the coalition that decisively defeated Kanu.

As the 2007 general election approached, the two went separate ways, with Raila seeking the presidency on the ODM ticket as Kalonzo flew the ODM Kenya’s flag. ODM Kenya rebranded into Wiper Democratic Party.

Election results were disputed leading to the formation of the Grand Coalition government, with Raila serving as Prime Minister and Kalonzo as Vice President.

The two did not see eye to eye for the better part of the coalition government.

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Norman Magaya and Kalonzo

ODM leader Raila Odinga’s key strategist in the 2017 general election Norman Magaya has joined Wiper movement as Kalonzo Musyoka’s 2022 strategist.

The move comes just days after the wiper leader announced that his party had officially exited the National Super Alliance (NASA), in which Magaya acted as the CEO during the last elections.

According to reports from reliable sources, the Nasa CEO will be Kalonzo’s political adviser and will be tasked with writing press releases as well as being in charge of the party leader’s political strategies.

He will also be crucial in advising Kalonzo on coalition building and management ahead of the 2022 general election.

The Nasa CEO was unveiled on the day Wiper unanimously resolved to leave the opposition coalition for One Kenya Alliance.

Kalonzo who has maintained that he will not act as anyone’s number 2 in the race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta also named Justine Kyambi as the new Wiper executive director.

Kyambi takes over from university don Dr Jared Maaka Siso.

Siso is venturing into politics and will be contesting the Borabu parliamentary seat on a Wiper ticket during next year’s polls.

The current Borabu MP Ben Momanyi who was also elected on Wiper ticket has announced he will be contesting the Nyamira governor seat.

The Nasa CEO was unveiled on the day Wiper unanimously resolved to leave the opposition coalition for One Kenya Alliance.

Magaya, an advocate of the High Court, served as the national returning officer for Nasa in the August 2017 election at the Bomas of Kenya.

He collapsed at the Bomas of Kenya in August 2017 during the tabulation of presidential votes in the 2017 general election and was admitted to Nairobi Hospital before being flown to India for specialised medical treatment after a heart attack.

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Wiper Democratic Movement deputy party leader Farah Maalim has claimed that Deputy President William Ruto will clinch the 2022 presidential polls.

Speaking on Monday July 26, 2021 during a morning talk show on TV 47, the former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly expressed his dislike against DP Ruto, but maintained that he will win the race should he run against ODM leader Raila Odinga.

According to Farah Maalim, an exposition that has supposedly been the saving grace for former Prime Minister would not be at play in the 2022 General Election.

“If it’s going to be a race between Ruto and Raila, I don’t like Ruto and I will never vote for him but he will win at 10am in the morning,” he said.

He further argued that the support currently enjoyed by Raila stemmed from the disillusionment of other tribes that have had to endure a seemingly unending leadership by pundits from Central Kenya.

He justified this claim by adding that in the event that Raila faced a presidential candidate from a region besides Mt. Kenya, his messianic aura would deplete in a flash.

Maalim also emphasized that Ruto ignited a class war, banking on support by impoverished and disenfranchised groups in his tours across Central Kenya.

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National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has been handed a major boost in his bid to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022.

This is after a section of the Maa community political leaders endorsed his 2022 presidential bid.

The leaders said Mt Kenya elders who crowned the speaker as the region’s spokesman did not do so in vain and may have been guided by the heavens.

They are MPs Kanchori Memusi (Kajiado Central), David Sankok (Nominated), Peris Tobiko (Kajiado East), and former Senator Peter Mositet.

They insisted that the country would be in safe hands under Muturi. Deputy President William Ruto, Amani National Congress (ANC) leadr Musalia Mudavadi and ODM leader Raila Odinga are some of the leaders seeking to succeed President Kenyatta in the next year’s general election.

However, the team which hosted Speaker Muturi for the official launch of Ildamat Boys’ High School in Kajiado Central built by the area NG-CDF committee under the patronage of Memusi maintained that the speaker was best placed to advance the agenda of the pastoralists since he stems from a minority community – the Mbeere.

According to Sankok, Muturi’s candidacy would help propel marginalized communities that have not seen the presidency.

For his part, Mositet asked Kenyans not to look at Muturi as a Kikuyu but a Mbeere “which is a minority community like Maasais, Elmolos, and those straddling the Coast.”

He said it was time Kenyans elected a president from among the minorities adding that the country’s problems arise from being led by big communities.

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Bosire

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) national treasurer Timothy Bosire’s wife Jane Bosire is dead.

The Orange party on Wednesday July 21, 2021 announced that the former Kitutu Masaba lawmaker’s wife passed on while undergoing treatment at the Nairobi Hospital on Tuesday night.

“We are saddened by the news of the death of Ma’am Jane Bosire, wife to our National Treasurer Hon. @TimothyMEBosire last night at a Nairobi Hospital. As a party, we join in the pain that out National Treasurer & family are going through now & pray to God to grant them fortitude,” ODM tweeted.

Leaders among them Kisii Governor James Ongwae have mourned the late Jane.

“On behalf of the people of Kisii county, my family & myself, I convey sincere condolences to ODM treasurer Hon Timothy Bosire ‘Riroba’ for the loss of your dear wife Jane. May God comforts you, your entire family and Kitutu Masaba people as you mourn your beloved Jane,” Ongwae wrote.

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The Jubilee-ODM merger deal that could lead to an Uhuru-Raila 2022 coalition will have to wait longer after the ruling party suspended any coalitions talks with the Orange party.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee had kicked off coalition talks with Raila Odinga’s ODM to take on Deputy President William Ruto in the next general election.

However, the ruling party which has suffered losses in the recent by-elections in the country has decided to halt the merger plan to focus on revamping ahead of 2022.

According to reports, a crisis meeting of the Jubilee secretariat and MPs on Monday July 19 agreed to suspend the proposed deal with Raila over systemic challenges that could hurt the process.

Jubilee Party deputy secretary-general Joshua Kutuny who spoke to a local daily said that while the decision does not mean a total halt to the coalition plans, it will usher in fresh timeliness.

It has now emerged that the agenda dominated the meeting that was attended by at least 16 MPs, despite not being mentioned at a joint presser made on Monday.

It was resolved that it would be unhealthy for Jubilee to proceed with coalition talks with ODM at a time when it is battling internal revolt.

According to Jubilee joint secretary for the parliamentary group Adan Keynan, the party will instead focus on reorganising, restructuring and revamping its structures before entering into a coalition agreement.

The MP said given that DP Ruto’s camp had left for UDA, the loyal members whom he said are the majority will stabilise Jubilee.

Raila’s ODM had said it was focused on its coalition plans with Jubilee despite the ruling party’s loss in last week’s Kiambaa parliamentary by-election that was won by UDA.

United Democratic Alliance candidate Njuguna Wanjiku got 21, 773 votes to capture the seat, beating Jubilee’s Karuri Njama who garnered 21,263 votes.

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Naisiae Paloshe Tobiko on Monday July 19 was among the three candidates who faced the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission selection panel for commissioner position.

Also interviewed was Prof. Michael Napoo Ilukwol Lokuruka, formerly a Commissioner with the Public Service Commission, and a Professor of Food Science.

In his submission, Lokuruka said his main aim is to fix the failure of the commission to deliver fair and credible elections as well as contribute to the restoration of public trust in the agency which has suffered years of mistrust.

Others who faced the panned were Murshid Abdalla Mohammed an Advocate of the High Court.

Naisiae Paloshe Tobiko has worked in various capacities at the IEBC.

Abdalla Mohammed previously served as a Commissioner of the National Police Service Commission and at the Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission (IIBRC).

Tobiko who has been in the commission serving in different capacities for the last 11 years said the electoral agency needs to have gender balance in decision making positions to balance out soft skills and power.

“I wish we had alternate genders at the two points of decision making. The CEO’s position is a centre of power while that of the Chairperson of the Commission is also a centre of power. I wish we employed a bit more soft skills and a bit more tact in communication so that we differ but adopt a unanimous and common position,” she said.

In addition, Tobiko said that if picked to be a commissioner, she would bring her voice to the table and act as a voice of reason, encouraging a harmonious working relationship.

On IEBC public perception, Tobiko said that she attributed the negative perception to a weak communication link which has failed to tell the electoral bodies story.

“For instance, the challenges in the 2017 election, what the public knows is the illegalities and the irregularities that happened, what they don’t know is that we had staff who were beaten up in the line of duty and that we also lost some staff during the period.”

Tobiko at the same time said that IEBC has very qualified staff both at the field and headquarters adding they work in a very volatile environment.

“Kenyan’s need to understand what we go through during the electoral period, and appreciate the work the secretariat does,” she said.

In finality, Tobiko warned against changing the electoral laws a few months to the 2022 general elections to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2017 polls where commissioners joined months to elections.

She said the appointment of commissioners too close to elections affected the IEBC operations and the management of elections as valuable time was lost in inducting them into the new roles and the finer elements of election management.

She is currently the manager in charge of the Commission Services. The panel’s chairperson Dr Elizabeth Muli said the process will run up to July 22nd.

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The ruling Jubilee party is seeking to overturn the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party’s triumph in the just concluded Kiambaa by-election.

The President Uhuru Kenyatta-led party has expressed dissatisfaction in the manner in which the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) managed the mini-polls.

During the July 15, 2021 polls that sought to replace MP Paul Koinange who succumbed to cancer on March 31, UDA’s Njuguna Wanjiku beat Jubilee’s Karanja Kariri Njama to emerge victorious.

Njuguna overcame stiff competition from Jubilee Party candidate Kariri Njama to emerge victorious with 21,773 votes.

Kariri garnered 21,263 votes in a contest that went down to the wire.

Jubilee party is now seeking a recount of votes, arguing that the electoral agency favored the UDA candidate, a party associated with Deputy President William Ruto.

Njama had on Friday challenged Njuguna’s win saying that his lawyers were following up and would file a case to challenge the win and stop his swearing-in.

Njama had also stated that he would petition the court to compel IEBC to recount the votes. Murang’a Woman Rep Sabina Chege also backed the calls by Njama to have the votes recounted.

IEBC suspended the Kiambaa constituency vote tallying Friday morning after Njama and his supporters stormed into the tallying centre and caused a fracas.

Njama and his supporters alleged that IEBC under Wafula Chebukati were tilting elections in the favour of UDA’s  Njuguna Wanjiku.

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