Corridors of Power

Tuesday, 29 November 2011 00:07 BY POLITICAL DESK

Bonny Khalwale and member Julius Kones.

A Nairobi ODM aspirant is said to have supplied new pangas and hammers to some supporters during the party’s grassroots elections on Thursday. The supporters, who numbered around 10, terrorised people who had queued to vote for the aspirant’s opponent. The thugs showed up at the voting centre early, positioned themselves strategically and when they realised that their opponent's ‘mlolongo’ was more than a kilometre long, they swung into action. They manhandled the returning officer before hitting women with hammers and cutting a man, who was treated at a nearby hospital.
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Still on matters ODM, we are told that a woman who wanted a senior position in Nairobi county has a son who chairs another party called Nuru. The young man was elected to some position in one of the ODM branches in Nairobi and now questions are being raised as to how he can be an official of two parties at the same time.
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Since Water minister Charity Ngilu made it clear that she will vie for the presidency come 2012, some politicians are rushing to dig up the dirt on her. An aide to one politician was heard saying that their main interest is to establish if the minister is a degree holder and if not block her presidential candidature citing Article 22 (2) of the Election Act 2011. The Article provides that “a person may be nominated as a candidate for election as President, Deputy President, county Governor or deputy county Governor only if the person is a holder of a degree from a university recognised in Kenya.”
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Senior officers at the Ministry of Youth and Sports are in a panic after Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale sought to know how they spent the Sh210 million budget for All Africa Games held in Maputo, Mozambique recently. We are informed that the officers have been in a rush to clear pending bills before Sports minister Paul Otuoma returns to the House with the breakdown this week. The officers have been sending text messages and calling other officials to help them balance the books.
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About 120 passengers flying to Dakar from Nairobi on Kenya Airways over the weekend were shocked upon landing in Senegal when they realised that their luggage had not been loaded onto the plane at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Angry passengers had to wait for hours at the airport in Dakar as alternative means were sought to fly the baggage from Nairobi.