Hello and welcome to the Evening Brief Newsletter where years-long political beef is about to be quashed
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Trickster's Game Play
After a month of enduring detention in Nigeria, a Kenyan tycoon believed to be behind the movement of trillions of shillings in transactions worth of funds has escaped police custody.
The Intrigues: The executive who led the Africa-wide wing of the crypto trading company is believed to have flown out using his Kenyan passport.
He reportedly escaped from a guest house he shared with his co-accused under the guise that he had been allowed to attend Ramadhan prayers in a nearby mosque.
During his arrest, his United Kingdom passport was confiscated but the West African country's security personnel insisted that he did not have his Kenyan passport on hand at the time of arrest.
Earlier reports had indicated that the continued detainment of the cryptocurrency executive was illegal since the detention period elapsed on March 12. The Nigerian court had only approved a detention period of 14 days.
Catch Up Quick: The executive was taken behind bars when he touched down in the country at the tail-end of February where they were seized by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Family Heartbreak: “I'm completely heartbroken. I was holding on to the hope that (the executive) would be home in time to celebrate our son’s first birthday and I am devastated this won’t be happening," stated the executive's wife.
Sore Stat
The amount of untraceable money the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission claims Binance, the organisation that the tycoon represented, suspiciously helped move around the country.
Bloomberg Magazine estimates that Binance has an annual revenue of $12 billion and boasts of 120 million users, 50 per cent of the market share.
From Foes to (Maybe) Friends
After a froth two-year relationship, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is ready to bury the hatchet and is hoping former President Uhuru Kenyatta will too.
During a roundtable with journalists, Gachagua expressed his unreserved apology to former First Lady and Uhuru's mother, Mama Ngina
He explained that he engaged in a heated exchange of words with the former Head of State but insisted that Mt Kenya unity will always take precedence.
What Rigathi is Saying: "2022 politics had become so dirty. It had reached a point, where we had lacked respect, hurling insults at Mama Ngina. I wouldn't again, like the Mt Kenya community, for us to get to that point again of lacking respect for our elders. I would like to ask for forgiveness from Mama Ngina."
When asked whether he would seek former President Uhuru Kenyatta for a truce meeting to chart the future of Mt Kenya region's politics, Gachagua responded that 'These things solve themselves.'
Catch Up Quick: Although she has never stepped into the political arena, Mama Ngina seemingly angered leaders belonging to Kenya Kwanza when he asked voters to follow Uhuru's endorsement, who was Raila Odinga at the time.
"He (Uhuru) didn’t have a problem (with DP Ruto), but if your deputy shows you disrespect, would you stick there? You will move on," the former First Lady advised at the time.
“I wish she would keep off politics. If she decides to play politics when the field becomes crowded, stay in the firing line,” Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei fired off.
Here are five other stories we are keeping an eye on for you;
1.Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki on early Monday morning ordered the closure of all small illegal artisanal mining sites across the country.
2. Two police officers died after a bomb exploded at a hotel outside a Kenyan police station.
3. After a lot of hullabaloo over Sakaja's plan to increase skyscrapers' height to 75 floors, I compare Kenya's Affordable Housing to that of Hong Kong started in the 1980s (in photos of course).
4. Nairobi Expressway and Kenya Railways among the services affected by floods in Nairobi.
5. JKIA temporarily shut down its terminal after a fire broke out.
This newsletter was written by Derrick Kubasu and edited by Brian Muuo.
Washington Mito contributed to the content.
Graphics prepared by Adongo Kyalo.
