Fresh grapevine out of Kakamega paints a picture so chaotic that even seasoned operatives are shaking their heads. Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera is now at the centre of a storm after whispers began circulating that he may have staged his own abduction on Sunday to escape a wave of furious youths who were demanding answers about a missing Sh5 million campaign facilitation fund meant for the Malava by-election.
It started quietly, with murmurs among the Ndakwa campaign foot soldiers that something had gone horribly wrong with the cash that was supposedly released by the State to oil the ground in Malava. By mid-morning the rumour mill had erupted. The youths, some of whom had reportedly been promised a slice of the money for mobilization, were said to be moving around looking for Nabwera and his handlers, convinced that the team had swallowed the cash and left them high and dry. That is when the bizarre twist came in.
Sources who spoke in low tones insist the MP suddenly went off the grid and later resurfaced with a dramatic story claiming he had been abducted by unknown men who even threatened to torch his vehicles. The tale grew stranger when word spread that former CS Rashid Echesa had miraculously “rescued” him from his captors, a development that only fuelled more suspicion among insiders. Many within Kakamega political circles are treating the so-called kidnapping as nothing more than a poorly executed stunt meant to distract from the money mess.
Tension rose further when whispers emerged that Kakamega Woman Representative Elsie Muhanda was also being accused of doing little to help the UDA campaign despite early promises. Operatives say she vanished when things got heated, leaving the ground teams frustrated and exposed. Nabwera, they say, was no different. Instead of guiding the operation, he and his allies allegedly showed up at the last minute handing voters Sh100 instead of the Sh500 that had been planned, a move that nearly collapsed the Ndakwa campaign entirely.
Insiders now claim the situation only stabilised after Governor Fernandes Barasa quietly stepped in with serious logistical support that turned the tide in favour of the eventual victor. Without Barasa’s intervention, some say, the operation would have been dead on arrival and the bitterness now erupting over the Sh5 million would have been even worse.
Behind the scenes there is growing pressure on the new Malava MP to keep his distance from leaders who are accused of using his name to enrich themselves. Advisers are quietly warning him that some of the people milling around him are more interested in making money from his rise than helping him build a stable political future. The grapevine is buzzing with claims that if the new MP does not cut loose from these figures early enough he may find himself trapped in deeper scandals than the one currently swirling around Nabwera.
For now the abduction story remains the talk of market centres across Kakamega. Most locals are laughing it off, saying the only thing that was truly kidnapped that day was the campaign cash that never reached the ground.
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