The Bahatian

Nakuru governor, Susan Kihika, got another feather on her cap in her stellar political career with her recent appointment as the Chair for Lands, Housing and Urban Development at the Council of the Governors the other day.   Many may not know what benefits for Nakuru such a position confers, but they're enormous and could change the face of the fast growing Nakuru city for good.   Coming at a time she had been handling political firestorms ignited by her opponents, the appointment gives her several leverages. For instance, when she said that the Kenya Urban Roads Authority didn't involve her office when cutting down the iconic jacaranda trees along the Oginga Odinga Avenue, and that the county should be the giving the permits, that was kind of a leverage. KENHA and KURA will need to ask for permission from her office first when embarking on road repairs where it necessitates the felling down of trees. And this model will be adopted by all the county governments. Go...

With few months to the 2027 ballot, elected leaders from different offices are increasingly visible on the ground interacting with the electorate and in a frenzy of launching one project after the other. In politics, a project can be more than that physical structure for the community wellbeing. Think of that individual propped up by an office holder as a tool of dividing the vote and deny that aspirant the chance of torpedoing the incumbent from the office. On the national political stage, Ndindi Nyoro is suspiciously viewed as a president William Ruto's mole planted to divide the Mt Kenya region votes in a region currently hostile to the president.  At the constituency level, my area member of Parliament, Irene Njoki, of Bahati constituency, is said to be sponsoring to aspirants to neuter the politician ambitions of one aspirant, Mary Justus Mannabay. Those could be political human projects, but do you know the incumbents from the president down to the MCAs too can be...

Before the recent court ruling that one's mobile phone number is part of their identification and cannot be recycled back into circulation if its not in use for a period of six months, it wasn't unusual to receive creepy calls or texts from a number of someone who long kicked the proverbial bucket. I've on two occasions been victim of same.  Its a weird experience. Think of it like communicating with someone in the afterlife.  The other day, I nearly jumped out of my skin. I saw someone we interred months ago liking my WhatsApp status updates. I was totally speechless, nay, dumbfounded. I decided to test the waters, and engage the number, clearly aware the good book tells us there's no communication between the living and the dead. ME : Hi Frank. How's it being on the other side? (At this point, my heartbeat was at 120 beats per second. Breath suspended. Head dizzy. Mouth dry). " FRANK ": I'm not Frank, I'm using his phone and line as a...

When Ndindi Nyoro unveiled the People Party of Kenya (PPK) as his political vehicle of choice after decamping from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), many Mt Kenya legislators elected under the UDA party ticket saw it as a way of having a political lifeline after their fallout with the former Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua, for voting yes to impeach him. Bahati constituency MP, Irene Njoki, camp was upbeat posting updates that no Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) officials attended Ndindi Nyoro party unveiling ceremony, a hint that the legislator was poised to join the party, with Kenyans interpreting that the PPK party was a president William Ruto cushion for such legislators in his party to have a soft landing. That UDA has lost its popularity in Mt Kenya region is not in contention as was seen during the Ol Kalou by-election when DCP swept the floor clean. And this is what is informing the incumbents and aspirants alike to seek for reelection or fresh mandates fr...

Worldwide, its not unusual to see leaders, once having tasted the trappings of power, will look for ways to cling to that office, and if its the highest in the land, to force constitutional amendments, or even rule through proxies.  Close home, we're seeing those who served at different elective offices reinventing themselves for a political comeback. Be it the first cohort of MCAs to governors and senators.  A look at Nakuru county political landscape illustrates this. Lee Kinyanjui, the second governor of Nakuru county, has set his sights for a political comeback, this time to recapture the seat he lost to the incumbent governor, Susan Kihika. The prospects of his reelection aren't promising. The online streets could be where his candidacy is highly amplified, but the ground is telling a different picture. The business community, for instance, is the unforgiving one. It vowed to send him home in 2022 and mobilized support for then senator Susan Kihika, who resoun...

The decision by the former Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua, to endorse CPA Geoffrey Gitau Mwangi for the Nakuru county gubernatorial seat will prove to be a costly gamble. This is likely handing the incumbent governor, Susan Kihika, a victory on a silver platter. With former governor, Lee Kinyanjui, angling for a comeback, the race will be a two horse affair, with CPA Mwangi a fringe race outsider. Riggy G, as Gachagua is fondly known as, looks like ruffling feathers with every of his perceived political enemies, and this will be exploited to the advantage of Susan Kihika or Lee Kinyanjui, depending on ground shift when campaigns commences proper. Riggy G, during his recent tour of Nakuru county, didn't hide his disdain for Mr Kinyanjui, while at the same time landing digs at Ms Kihika. He cultivated the figure of a bully and his mantra of gather all and scatter none got scuttled in Nakuru. Pundits had expected him to back Tabitha Karanja Keroche, a known...