In the spirit of transparency! Arama dishes out Sh560,000 'lunch money' at State House
Nakuru Town West Member of Parliament Samuel Arama during a gathering at Shabaab on March 19, 2025.
Wahenga hawakutupa mafuta waliposema, 'Kuku wa mkono hulishwa mahindi ya kuonekana'. That's certainly what happened at yesterday's development meeting at State House with various grassroots leaders who accompanied Governor Susan Kihika.
When the leaders were leaving everyone was kanjwad in the name of mdosi had said that they get bought for lunch and we are not talking about the normal chapo madondo well at least not by MP Samuel Arama’s book.
In a short video circulating on social media, the Nakuru Town West MP is seen asking another person for money, noting that he had been instructed to 'buy lunch' for the leaders.
“Ebu leta hiyo pesa. Mdosi amesema niwanunulie lunch. Kila mtu ni Sh10,000… kila mtu ni Sh10,000,” he said adding that the total amount disbursed was Sh560,000.
His comments were met with a burst of cheers from the men gathered around him, who could be heard ululating, clapping and shouting, 'God bless you!'
As progressive as our society is, ululating isn't a problem, but when they say money can make a man go crazy, I guess it has to start somewhere.
You may have heard stories about people secretly receiving brown envelopes, but Mr Arama says his bold actions were in the spirit of 'transparency'.
And this ladies and gentlemen is as transparent as it gets.
“Amesema transparency. So if you’ve been invited its Sh10,000. So no one should go and say that they were given less money. Kwa sababu ukienda pale upate mheshimiwa mwingine akate ni shauri yao lakini kila mtu elfu kumi,” he says.
The irony wasn't lost on many people online.
In a country where transparency is often preached but rarely practised, handing out bundles of cash under the banner of openness seems to elicit mixed reactions from Kenyans.