A familiar scenario has played out in the last two weeks.

Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria said he would be issuing the legal instruments needed to allow duty-free maize imports and a few days later, a ship with 10,000 tons of maize docked at the port in Mombasa.
The coincidence was not lost on observers and political commentators. It seemed, like it has happened in the past, that someone had a loaded ship waiting in the high seas for the legal notice to be issued to turn their vessel in the direction of Mombasa.
Similar situations play out whenever there is an acute food shortage, and there is always a hint of unfair business practices in the offing. It did not help Mr Kuria’s case that he has also been advocating for the import of
GMO food to help alleviate the crisis now affecting 20 counties in the arid and semi- arid lands (ASAL) and 45 wards in 9 non-ASAL counties. His assertion that there are so many hazards Kenyans face that adding GMO would
not have an impact came off as brash and uncaring. Mr Kuria is among the straight talkers in the Kenya Kwanza administration (the Deputy President is the other) and it is too early to tell whether they will affect the
perception of the government. The straight talkers argue that they talk in the language
of their constituency, the so-called hustling men and women.
Still, it would perhaps be a good idea to reflect on what the eventual effect of their approach could be if it turns out they have presided over opaque activities or issues that would raise audit issues. Already, there are whispers in the corridors about Mr Kuria’s decision to have his ministry’s headquarters at the compound of a mall.
****
Reviving election ghosts a new source of conflict President William Ruto and Raila Odinga are at loggerheads over the fate of the four electoral commissioners who disagreed with the result of the presidential election. The
petition for the removal of Juliana Cherera, Irene Masit, Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang’waya is currently under consideration by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly.

Mr Odinga attended a hearing of that committee and later, lawyers for the four and Azimio Coalition MPs staged a walk-out. Mr Odinga has strongly criticized the petition. Given that the committee is led and dominated by Kenya Kwanza, and the embarrassing dysfunction at the IEBC, it is likely to recommend the creation of a tribunal on the four commissioners. The commissioners appeared to have been on the same wavelength as the officials in
the former administration who were reported to have been against President Ruto’s
candidacy and eventual win.

A tribunal would expose the underhand activities at the IEBC as it processed the results, a discussion that has not been concluded in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. While President Ruto has worked to unravel the ills of the last administration, the reconstruction of the IEBC and the resolution of the issues there will long remain on the agenda, so the petition against the four is really just the