A politician who recently graduated from a top university is still supposedly floating somewhere between the moon and the stratosphere about his new degree. He can’t  resist reminding anyone within earshot that he is now an “expert”—whether they asked or not. At a recent meeting, he allegedly proudly flashed his qualification like a VIP pass, even explaining to a bemused Cabinet Secretary that his degree had automatically upgraded his wisdom. There is a joke if you bump into him at a petrol station, he’ll still find a way to link the price of fuel to his coursework.

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Allies of a senior political figure in the country are increasingly getting frustrated by his confrontational attitude, saying it’s making it difficult to defend him. One of the allies said he is reportedly causing negative reactions from what should be the backyard, creating cracks that the rival camp is exploiting. A number of politicians who used to be vocal in the camp have either gone quiet and are not accompanying the politico.

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Could a critical institution in the country be behind a series of social media narratives that have been taken up by some mainstream media? Well, this is what some key advisers in a political outfit say. They argue that a plan has allegedly been hatched to discredit certain leaders, after the initial strategy of demonstrating the various projects government had undertaken failed to bear fruit. The advisers now supposedly say more character assassination will be witnessed in the remaining months toward the year end.

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A former top government official was granted a soft landing in one of the multilateral diplomatic postings is reportedly struggling to settle in the new role. The former high-flying official is reportedly either incompetent at their new job or disinterested, and allegedly  using the job as holding room before jumping back to politics. The official has already expressed interest in one of the elective seats in their home region.