Sunday, December 26, 2010

Post Ocampo List Political Gossip by The Star

Lobbying is in high gear in the Office of the President where some people are convinced that the best man to become the country's first ever Inspector General of the Police is none other than the KWS director Julius Kipng'etich. The police bigwigs are unhappy with the proposal as they would prefer one of their own instead of an outsider to come in as the head honcho. The cops may get their wish as we are told Kipng'etich has just had his contract at KWS renewed for another three years.

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The wife of a prominent politician, driven over the edge by her philandering husband, decided to put a stop to his extracurricular activities by poisoning him. The man has been spending millions buying houses, cars and expensive gifts for his more than ten city girlfriends as well as scores of others spread out in different parts of the country. Unwilling to continue with the humiliation, his wife confronted him and asked him to break off his multiple relationships. After an argument during which he refused to give up his girlfriends, the wife came up with the idea of poisoning him. Fortunately for the man, he discovered the plot in time and has been very careful whenever he goes to the matrimonial home for the sake of appearances.

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Political rivals of a sitting MP are plotting to start a dirty campaign against him to discredit his candidacy in the 2012 elections. The rivals want to start a whisper campaign creating doubt about the MP's sexual preference and eventually intend to take this up on political platforms to slow down his potential.

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If Parliament decides not to go for Christmas recess, blame it on a few MPs who are afraid of the long holiday. Some of the MPs were overheard talking about the 'dangers' of the long recess—they will come back some time in February. They would prefer to stay on in Parliament and therefore Nairobi to avoid their constituents who make a habit of flocking to their homes to demand "Christmas gifts". With Parliament in recess, they have no excuse to remain in the city for the duration and will be expected to make an appearance at their constituencies if they want to be re-elected in 2012.

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A politician in the Ocampo list has offered a key witness Sh10 million to recant his evidence given to the Waki Commission and later handed to ICC prosecutor Moreno Ocampo. The suspect, with the help of some people, who used to work at the Kenya National Human Rights Commission, has also offered the witness a piece of land if he disowns the evidence and returns home soon. The witness, we are told, has rejected the offer and changed his contacts and address.

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Still on matters ICC, we are told that the same former the KNCHR officials who have been working with the politician in helping trace ICC witnesses, have remote access to the Waki Commission data base. We are told that the men have been getting statements of some of the witnesses who appeared before Waki in camera.

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What were two city MPs doing in a restaurant in Upper Hill, Nairobi, on Saturday? The two controversial legislators met one of the Akasha sons in a private room in the restaurant. They seemed to be in a deep conversation and did not want anyone else to hear their discussions. So what were they scheming to do?

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The thought that International Criminal Court prosecutor Moreno Ocampo could actually be having concrete evidence to prove a case against his six suspects is knocking the daylights off some of them. Corridors has learnt that a memo written by one of the suspects at the height of the post-election violence to another suspect on the same list was intercepted and is causing sleepless nights to the parties involved. We hear the two are crossing their fingers in the hope Ocampo did not come across it.

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When shall provincial administrators take their last bow? This is the question senior police officers appear to be grappling with at the moment as their impatience on the anticipated changes grows. Senior officers were last week overheard questioning why PCs, DCs and DOs continue chairing security committees "yet they have no clue what it takes to maintain law and order in their very own jurisdiction." The officers want the change fast-tracked.

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What is happening at the ministry of Labour? We hear seven years after the completion of the Product Design and Development Centre, which was sponsored by the UNDP, 11 people who worked on the project have never been paid. This despite the UNDP having released their payment. We hear that although the 11 want to surrender the fight, they will not want to go down without dragging the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission into the affair.

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We are told one of the six suspects in the Ocampo list has resorted to heavy drinking in an attempt to drown his sorrows and block out reality. His family and friends are increasingly getting worried he could slump permanently and dangerously into depression as the International Criminal Court clock ticks.

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Talking of Ocampo's list, one of the suspects is distraught and disillusioned as his family is yet to meet to plan his defence strategy. We hear the family is seeking legal advice of leading international legal minds to see how to extricate their man from the fix.

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Last week, we told you of a new Nyanza MP who was left ranting and brandishing a wad of notes after a botched plan to have a threesome between him, his girlfriend and her best friend at a city hotel. We now hear that the mheshimiwa has not let go and has persisted that he is in an irreversible love with her girlfriend's best friend. He wants the girl to "forget the past" and think of the "future of the three of us."

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There is discomfort between senior officials working for a government agency under the Ministry of Finance. We are told that the senior managers of the institution are planning to promote a lady from a tribe that has dominated the management of the agency in complete disregard of the law that bans tribalism. Although interviews have been conducted, those in the know tell us that the decision to give the lady from the slopes of Mount Kenya a job has already been made.

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Even as ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo was striking an international blow against impunity in Kenya, a senior cabinet minister was flexing his muscles to have incitement charges against an assistant minister dropped. The minister called a top cop and instructed him to withdraw the charges against the assistant minister who was caught on tape inciting residents against the police. The top cop's acquiescence to the minister's request renders hollow the police claim at the time of the incident that they would apply the law impartially and fairly and confirms what many have feared impunity is alive and well and likely to last for a long time!

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With the WikiLeaks saga unfolding, some people have become paranoid that the database of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission in particular is not safe. They say that some people who are suspected of leaking the identities and details of witnesses who appeared before the Waki and the Kenya National Com-mission on Human Rights are now able to access the IIEC data base. They are worried that the 'hackers' are up to no good as they could have manipulated the data for their own ends before or during the next elections.

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One of the MPs who have been very vocal in Parliament has been receiving the cold shoulder from his colleagues who suspect him of being in the pay of the National Security Intelligence Service. The MP from Central Kenya has not yet clicked why his colleagues become jittery and change the subject whenever he joins their conversation. It will take him a long time to realise the reason for this as he believes his double-game is still his deep dark secret.

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We hear that Juja MP William Kabogo is determined to auction the entire secretariat of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission to claim the Sh28 million damages claim awarded to him after his successful petition against George Thuo. Our moles tell us that Kabogo served the IIEC with his notice to auction them today if they do not pay up.

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A senior employee at the Auditor General's offices at the Anniversary Towers, Nairobi, is a troubled man. He has not paid his rent for several months and has been hounded by his landlord to make good his promises to pay. The landlord, unwilling to wait any longer broke into the house and is planning to sue the top man to recover the Shl.3 million rent arrears.

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Several members of the AFC football club are unhappy with the office of the Registrar of Societies. They claim some of the officials there may have been compromised by a rival faction. They cite the decision to cancel a scheduled annual general meeting at the request of that faction as an example as they claim it was done without consultation.

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MPs opposed to the International Criminal Court process have now turned to taking their angst against the Chief Prosecutor's hairy face. They were overheard in Parliament casting aspersions on Luis Moreno Ocampo's beard. One of the more vocal MPs from the Rift who is known to be a close associate of William Ruto quipped: "How can a man who cannot even shave his own beard be expected to deliver justice to Kenyans?" Just last week, another MP, this time from Central Kenya, described Ocampo as a "tyrant who needs to be tamed."

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A well-connected lawyer has been speculating that Ocampo's threats to separately prosecute those trying to "affect investigations" and/or "interfere with witnesses" was being directed at a fellow learned friend. He claims that his lawyer colleague had been making frequent forays into neighbouring countries where he has been seeking out potential witnesses at their safe houses to try and 'persuade' them to recant their testimony. Unfortunately for the man, the ICC has tightly secured the witnesses they have lined up to prove their case against the Ocampo Six.

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