Lee Njiru was the longest serving press secretary of the late Daniel Moi’s and even earned the title of Moi’s trusted aide.
Even after Moi’s retirement in 2002, Njiru continued serving Moi as his press secretary and only retired from his position in September last year.
Of late, he has been narrating events of his time as Moi’s employee. In one episode of a publication by the Daily Nation, the 73-year old narrated how statehouse employees did extreme things just to protect their jobs and earn other favors.
“Working for the State House was lucrative. Allowances were fat, foreign trips so frequent, influence so great, that it was devastating and degrading to be transferred from this seat of power,” he recalled.
According to him, junior officers would bribe Human Resource officers with money so that they would not get transferred from the statehouse while women, including the married ones offered their bodies to gain such favors.
“Some ladies, even the married ones, offered sexual favors to remain in State House. Witchcraft and all manner of occult science were employed by those who believed in supernatural interventions,” he said.
At one point a senior lady was caught pants down in the president’s office farting in all directions. She had lowered her underwear for the ritual.
“The lady’s loose morals were in the public domain. She feared that President Moi might get the information and have her transferred. That is why she got the advice of a witch doctor. She was lucky that she was caught doing this unpleasant ritual by a fellow tribesman. They settled the matter their own way,” Njiru said.
In another ritual incident, a cameraman used to protect his job by using a squirrel’s tail. This was discovered one day when the president arrived early at the office for a photo session but the cameraman in question had not yet reported to work.
“The Presidential Press electronics engineer, Wilberforce Onamu, and myself were capable of taking photographs. We broke into a photographer’s drawer to remove the camera.We were shocked to see that the camera was tied with the tail of a squirrel. All the same, I used the camera and took beautiful photos. Onamu got scared and refused to touch that camera,” Njiru recalled.
A security officer also used juju from Zanzibar with the help of a middle aged caucasian man. Everytime they were in Mombasa, he would be seen in the company of the man only identified as Vespa.
At one point, Vespa revealed that he supplies the security officer with juju supplies from the Island and offered to do the same for Njiru. He told the press secretary that he would protect his job and guard him from backstabbing
“I told him in no uncertain terms that my mother would curse me if I got involved in such revolting and repugnant practices. It appeared to me that the purveyor of these magic paraphernalia and potions did not believe in their efficacy, but was capitalizing on the gullibility of officers who felt insecure,” Njiru said
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