Sudi: I'm not a castaway in President Ruto administration

Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi appeared to be one of the most powerful people in Kenya in the first few days of the Kenya Kwanza government.

The third-term lawmaker accompanied the President everywhere and took to social media when he landed for the Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting in Naivasha in a military helicopter on September 17.

The MP said he was using the copter because “I have freedom which I was denied by the former government”.

Before the August 9 General Election when Mr Sudi’s relationship with President Uhuru Kenyatta had soured, then Deputy President William Ruto would be accompanied by the Kapseret MP on business trips abroad.

When Dr Ruto was stopped from flying to Uganda in August last year, Mr Sudi was in the delegation that included businessmen David Lagat, Harun Aydin, David Muge, Simon Mogun and Nelson Kisalit.

Also Read: Farouk and Sudi - The rise of Ruto's blue-eyed boys

Mr Sudi was part of the entourage of President Ruto’s visits to Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania.

When the President addressed Parliament on October 5, the Kapseret MP arrived slightly ahead of Dr Ruto. Mr Sudi was spotted with Dr Ruto and the Presidential Communication Service team at State House earlier in the day.

Many MPs have been scrambling to talk to Mr Sudi in and around Parliament.

In the last one month, however, the Kapseret MP has been missing in action. He resurfaced on Thursday.

Mr Sudi said he wanted to take a break until February but came out in public “due to the many questions about my whereabouts”.

Also Read: Sudi, President Ruto’s power broker

“Some hustlers have been asking why I have gone silent. Others have criticised me. But such criticism made us form the government,” he said at the annual Kimalel goat auction, where Dr Ruto was the chief guest.

When bloggers associated him with a report doing rounds that a Rift Valley MP conned people eyeing Cabinet and Principal Secretary slots, Mr Sudi distanced himself from the reports.

Social media has been his preferred way of engaging the public. Said Mr Sudi on Facebook on November 20: “Kindly report the matter to police. I cannot succumb to blackmail.”

It was in response to a post by Kileleshwa Ward Representative Robert Alai linking him to the job scam.