Coming from a modest background in Ngeria, Uasin Gishu County,
to patronising the corridors of power must have given the feisty
Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi something to crow about.
Mr
Sudi, a one-time matatu tout whose academic qualifications are the
subject of a court case, has in recent weeks attracted attention
following his attacks on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s war on corruption,
and his staunch support for Deputy President William Ruto.
Raised
with his siblings as squatters on a prominent farmer’s land outside Moi
University Main Campus in Kesses in the 1990s — a world away from his
current massive house speculated to have cost Sh100 million — those who
know the MP say he dropped out of primary school for lack of school fees
and at one point worked as a tout in matatus that plied the Moi
University-Eldoret Town route.
That was until he suddenly disappeared from Kesses to seek better prospects, with some saying he ended up in Mombasa.
WEALTH
The
gods must have smiled on him, because when he returned to Kesses a few
years later he was not wearing the forlorn face he left with, but was
now driving a luxury car.
Friends and foes marvelled at his sudden wealth, and to the inquisitive ones he unconvincingly evaded their questions.
What was not in doubt was his generosity, giving people money and buying them a bottle or two of the devil’s drink.
Ever
in a combative mood, he was often in the company of a retinue of
hangers-on who did not take kindly to questions about the boss’s sudden
wealth.
It was during this time that Mr Sudi, a polygamist, became a close business and family associate of Kisii politician Don Bosco Gichana, who was released from a Tanzania prison last year after being jailed for five years for money laundering.
FICKLE
The
nouveau riche Sudi has never looked back since then, crowning his rise
from grass to grace by capturing the newly created Kapseret
parliamentary seat in the 2013 General Election and retaining it in
2017.
Perhaps it is the story of his improbable rise
against all odds that has given him a bullish character — standing up to
the powers-that-be and making statements many a politician would deem
too explosive.
Mr Sudi has always portrayed himself as a
staunch supporter of his fellow self-declared “hustler”, Deputy
President William Ruto.
But at one point he
surprisingly broke ranks with the DP and joined the aristocratic Baringo
County Senator Gideon Moi to campaign for Kanu’s losing candidate in
the 2016 Kericho County Senate by-election.
He also
preferred the company of anti-Ruto rebels like Alfred Keter (Nandi
Hills). Before that, he had nothing but contempt for Senator Moi.
"If
it is Gideon you are telling us about, just let him go back to school,”
he said at a press conference last year in response to claims that the
Senator was preparing to run against the DP in 2022. “He's just like me,
despite his good English.”
FORGERY
But Mr Sudi would again worm his way into the DP’s inner circle.
By then he was facing investigation, and was eventually charged in court, for forging academic certificates
he presented to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission
(IEBC) to be cleared to contest the parliamentary seat in 2013. The case
is ongoing.
Mr Sudi has a reputation of being the DP’s
most ardent — some say sycophantic — defender, and recently took on
President Kenyatta over the perceived selective war on corruption.
Last
Sunday, Mr Sudi accused the President and ODM leader Raila Odinga of
acting holier-than-thou in the war on graft yet their families too had
been mentioned in the past.
CORRUPTION
It
was a remark that irked the President so much that during his speech at
the annual devolution conference in Kirinyaga, he responded by saying,
“If you have evidence against me” report to the Directorate of Criminal
Investigation.
But Mr Sudi was unrepentant. “I have
heard you repeatedly say the fight against corruption is not against any
community or individuals,” the MP posted on his Facebook page on
Wednesday.
“In fact, your so-called fight against corruption is targeted at individuals and a community.”
Ever-ready
with a choice insult or put-down to the DP’s political opponents, this
is not the first time the MP is sparring with President Kenyatta on
matters corruption.
AUDIT
Last
year when the President said public servants should undergo lifestyle
audit to ascertain the source of their wealth, the MP said the exercise
should be extended to how the Kenyatta family acquired its enormous
wealth, to which the President responded: “That's perfect. We can even
go back to my grandfather, to my great-grandfather.”
Only
time will tell how far the “Sonko of Eldoret”, as his acolytes call
him, will fly close to the sun before being burnt and forced back down
to earth.
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