Corridors of Power

Wednesday, 20 April 2011 00:01 BY MOSOKU GEOFFREY

What do a Kenya Revenue Authority senior official, two Nairobi businesswomen and an MP from the Coast have in common? They are reportedly members of a cartel fleecing millions of shillings out of the Kenya Ports Authority. The cartel is so wired into the system that they have even got a mole within the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission who warns them when the commission officers are sent to investigate complaints of corruption. The cartel has become so entrenched that it has become almost impossible for the KRA or even KACC to crack open its web of corrupt deals.
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Former Vice President Moody Awori is not one to be left behind. Uncle Moody cannot by any stretch of the imagination be said to be of the dot-com generation. This notwithstanding, the octogenarian has opted to go back to school to learn about computers. Our tipster says the former Funyula MP has enrolled for computer classes at the Institute of Advanced Technology (IAT) Westlands campus for ICDL/computer package. He attends two-hour classes on a daily basis from 10 am to 12 noon. The next place you are likely to find Uncle Moody is on Facebook, Twitter, etc or maybe he will even start his own blog!
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Two Nairobi City Council askaris came in for a rude shock last week when they attempted to arrest a man who was smoking outside the Trattoria Restaurant which does not have a designated smoking zone. The man told off the askaris saying that he and Town Clerk Philip Kisia are personal friends and the askaris would pay for harassing him. True to his threat, the man made a telephone call and the two askaris found themselves in the clerk’s office where they were made to kneel with their hands raised for a full 30 minutes before they were told to leave. Since the incident, the council askaris have been very careful on whom they try to arrest for smoking in undesignated places.
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Among the coterie of 40-plus MPs who accompanied the Ocampo Six to the Hague was a lawmaker from Meru who amazed his colleagues by the extent he was willing to go to show his loyalty to Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta. The man rushed forward to shake Uhuru's hand and congratulate him on his performance before Justice Ekaterina. Uhuru's wife and family members looked on bemused as the man hugged and vigorously shook Uhuru's hand.