Deputy President William Ruto's close ally and business partner, Patrick Osero on Wednesday, August 10, clinched the Borabu parliamentary seat on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party ticket.
The win saw ODM clinch a vital seat in Nyamira county - an area considered to be Azimio presidential candidate, Raila Odinga's backyard.
The two enjoy a close business partnership that dates back to the 1990s - the newly elected MP is a director at Weston Hotel.
In 2015, Osero claimed sole proprietorship of the controversial Weston Hotel, insisting that Ruto frequented the place as his friend.
At the time, the establishment had come under national criticism after it was linked to an attempt to grab land belonging to Lang'ata Primary School.
"You think I cannot own such a property? Why are Kenyans doubting?" Osero inquired.
The Deputy President later clarified that he also had a stake at Weston Hotel after pressure from political and civil rights activists.
In a past interview, Osero narrated that his friendship with the DP dated back to the early 1990s when they were both members of the Youth for Kanu 1992.
The outfit, christened YK92, was a lobby group of politicians under the KANU wing and was tasked with rallying support for former president Daniel Arap Moi.
“We met during YK’92 and he has been my very good friend and business partner since then. I am the chairman of the Agricultural Finance Corporation and therefore, he is also my boss as the Deputy President," Osero stated as quoted by Nation.
In 2012, when Ruto was arraigned in court over fraud charges relating to the sale of Ngong Forest, Osero came to his aid, where he stood surety worth Ksh6 million for his longtime business partner.
The Weston Hotel matter is still in court as the hotel is fighting the government's push to have the facility brought down and the land handed back to the public.
Court documents revealed that the land initially belonged to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
This was corroborated by the Chairman of Wilson Airport Aircraft Operations Committee, Gad Kamau, who stated that Weston Hotel was grabbed in 2002, prior to the General Election that saw Narc take over the government.
Weston Hotel has asked the court to allow it pay KCAA a market rate for the land it sits on - arguing it was an innocent purchaser from those who grabbed the strategic piece of land.
