For decades, the corridors of Kenya’s business elite have been navigated by those who understand a simple fact, that political access translates to commercial opportunity. Mary Wambui Mungai understood this simple mathematics. From humble beginnings as a clerical officer at the Ministry of Health, she built a sprawling business empire that at its height included multi-billion-shilling government contracts, a luxury hotel and the chairpersonship of one of Kenya’s most powerful regulatory bodies. Today that empire could be in ruins.