A weekend of multi-million shilling grassroots drives led by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed has ignited an intense political storm across the Nyanza region.

While billed as economic lifelines, the massive cash splurges have drawn sharp scrutiny over the true source of the funds and a bitter local rebellion over political representation.

The economic campaign reached its climax at Kasembo Primary School grounds in Suna East, where Junet Mohamed hosted a delegation to raise over Sh35 million for women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The lawmaker made a huge personal donation of Sh10 million, complemented by an additional Sh1.5 million from CS Mbadi.

This followed an earlier sweep across neighboring Homa Bay and Migori counties, where the Treasury chief directly disbursed at least Sh5.5 million in direct cash and financial support to various traders.

While organizers hailed the drives as critical financial empowerment, transparency watchdogs, economic analysts, and disgruntled voters are raising hard questions about the high-end logistics and the stark departure from formal state channels.

Philanthropy under fire

During a heavily attended economic forum at Ndiru Primary School in Homa Bay Town, Mbadi fiercely defended the cash injections, aligning them with the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

“Globally, women have proven to be the primary drivers of poverty eradication,” Mbadi told the gathering adding that, “They occupy a special space in financial reinvestment, and their workforce injects millions back into the economy.”

However, civil society groups quickly pointed out a glaring irony in the Treasury boss’s grassroots philanthropy: the massive auxiliary costs required to deliver it.

A private helicopter has been ferrying the treasury boss across the two counties, and the aviation experts estimating helicopter charter costs in Kenya at between Sh150,000 and Sh250,000 per hour, critics argue that the cost of operating the aircraft may soon rival the actual empowerment capital being given out to the women on the ground.

The national spotlight vs. the ‘absentee MP’

Nowhere has the friction between high-end political maneuvering and harsh ground reality been more palpable than in Suna East.

On the national stage and within parliament, Junet Mohamed remains a towering, indispensable figure, famed for his sharp wit and strategic positioning within the country’s political elite.

Yet, step outside that national spotlight, and the mood among his constituents turns somber.

Disgruntled voters are increasingly labeling their representative an “absentee MP,” claiming his high-flying national profile has come at a steep cost to those who elected him.

Local residents point to stalled development projects, poorly managed local infrastructure, and a general lack of direct legislative engagement as evidence of his absence.

“We only see him on television screens defending national party positions, but when it comes to the ground, we are on our own,” lamented one voter from Suna East, “We didn’t elect a television commentator; we elected a representative.”

Open ground discontent

The label of “absentee” has proven politically explosive, particularly as local leaders begin to sense vulnerability ahead of the 2027 general election.

Following the Sh10 million Kasembo Primary School event, the undercurrent of anger boiled over into open rebellion, with some residents accusing the lawmaker of political betrayal and questioning the sudden appearance of massive campaign funds.

“This habit of coming near the election with money… now you’re coming to fool Suna East residents that you are empowering them? What are you empowering?” asked an angry resident.

The sentiment was echoed in the local dialect by another constituent, who unfavorably compared Junet’s long tenure to that of newer, more visible first-term lawmakers:

“Be nitie moro amora ma Junet Mohamed osegero, sani Koro owuondo mine gi empowerment ma fake after 15 years down the line?” (Is there really anything tangible that Junet Mohamed has built for us? Now he is just deceiving women with fake empowerment programs after 15 years down the line?)

The massive spending sprees by both the Treasury CS and area MPs come just weeks after the National Assembly approved the Sh 4.8 trillion national budget.

In that fiscal plan, the financial and production economy sector was allocated Sh 56.9 billion to bolster MSMEs through formal, structured channels like the Women Enterprise Fund and the Hustler Fund.

The growing trend of senior government officials bypassing these established institutional channels to disburse bulk funds directly at public rallies has sparked widespread unease among economic watchdogs. Critics argue that using unitemized or personal funds blurs the lines between structured state programs and political patronage.

As the National Treasury pushes for stricter tax administration and wider digitization of public spending to reduce waste across the board, Mbadi’s chopper tours and the multi-million shilling political handouts are bound to remain under intense scrutiny.