Musician Bahati has left Kenyans talking after a much-publicised KSh1 million-per-invitation wedding celebration with his longtime partner, Diana Marua, took an unexpected political turn.
What had been advertised as an exclusive wedding marking the couple's 10 years together instead became the platform for Bahati to announce his intention to contest the Mathare parliamentary seat in the 2027 General Election.
The announcement was made on Friday, November 6, at the Argyle Grand Hotel in Nairobi, where guests had gathered expecting to witness the couple formalise their union.
Taking to the podium, with a large screen displaying his political ambitions, Bahati declared:
“I want to announce, and I want to make it official, that I, Bahati Kioko, will be vying as the next Member of Parliament for Mathare Constituency.”
The announcement caught guests off guard, with the anticipated wedding celebrations taking a back seat to the singer's political declaration.
In subsequent remarks, Bahati acknowledged that the wedding narrative had been deliberately crafted to attract attention ahead of his major announcement.
The event followed weeks of publicity surrounding the couple's planned celebration, which they announced on October 7.
Bahati and Diana had revealed that attendance would be restricted to 100 guests, with each invitation reportedly costing KSh1 million.
The price tag generated widespread debate, with the singer defending the arrangement by describing the occasion as one meant for wealthy guests.
The couple further fuelled anticipation by sharing videos of invitation deliveries to prominent personalities, including musicians, businesspeople and religious leaders.
They also announced restrictions on media coverage, cameras and livestreaming, adding another layer of intrigue to the event.
However, the political announcement quickly shifted the conversation online, with some Kenyans questioning the expensive invitations and others interpreting the entire affair as an elaborate publicity strategy.
Bahati is not new to elective politics.
In 2022, he contested the same Mathare parliamentary seat on a Jubilee Party ticket but lost to ODM's Anthony Oluoch.
Explaining his decision to return to the race, the musician has cited his upbringing in Mathare, arguing that having grown up in the constituency gives him an understanding of the challenges facing residents.