Raila Odinga’s “Mweupe kama pamba” cliche may soon be a thing of the past if some serious allegations on his conduct as a Prime Minister is anything to go by and he may be banned from setting foot in the USA, Britain and other European Union Countries. This comes as allegations emerged concerning his conduct as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya between the year 2008-2013 . In these allegations, the former Prime Minister becomes the latest high-ranking politician to be entangled in the ongoing revelations of bribery involving British American Tobacco (BAT), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials and Mastermind Tobacco. According to a British newspaper the Independent, Whistleblower Paul Hopkins says in his latest revelations that high-ranking officials in Mr Odinga’s office intervened to stop the KRA from freezing Mastermind’s accounts over non-payment taxes worth billions of shillings. Further, Mr Hopkins told the UK newspaper that the senior officials in Mr Odinga’s office ordered the KRA to freeze multi-million shilling tax demands issued to Mastermind Tobacco – the maker of the Supermatch brand of cigarettes. Mr Odinga’s office wrote to the then KRA boss Michael Waweru asking him to immediately suspend agency notices issued to Mastermind’s bankers. The involvement of Mr Odinga’s office in the BAT bribery scam are contained in a dossier Mr Hopkins forwarded to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), according to the Independent. Mr. Odinga becomes the third opposition leader to be heavily mentioned in the BAT saga after his coalition partners Moses Wetangula and former Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua. The allegations leaves Mr. Odinga with an egg in his face as he has been accusing the government of graft. If the accusations are proved to be true, Mr. Odinga and his team may be banned from visiting most of the Western countries and possibly be charged in court.
By Strive Masiyiwa A few weeks ago I went to the doctor. I will tell you what he said about my health at the end, but first read this: Twenty years ago, I arranged to meet a well-known British international businessman who invested a lot in Africa at the time. We agreed to meet for dinner at a leading hotel in London. After a good meeting, we started to walk out of the restaurant when he suddenly collapsed in the lobby. There was total pandemonium as they rushed to get medical assistance. Being London, an ambulance arrived in minutes. I jumped in the back with him as paramedics wrestled to keep him alive. He had had a heart attack and had to have triple bypass heart surgery. Sadly he died a few weeks later. He hadn't been sick and his sudden death surprised everyone. And yet as I reflected on it, and later discussed it with a doctor friend who knew him, I realized he was very laid back about his health despite having a hectic business life. Even during our dinner...
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