Digital strategist Dennis Itumbi has revealed details of an alleged phone conversation he had with retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in which the latter allegedly threatened to “crush and finish” him.
According to Itumbi, his decision to support Uhuru’s the deputy and current president William Ruto’s state house bid was at the centre of it all.
Itumbi who was speaking on TV47’s WabebeXp show recounted that he received the phone call while heading to Nairobi from a funeral in Mwea sometime between 2018 and 2019
"I was somewhere around Mwea when I received the call at around 2 pm. When the President calls and you are driving, there is a natural urge to park the car and speak to him. So I parked the car and he asked why I'm not supporting him.
"He asked why I was supporting Ruto and not him. I was a bit confused so I asked if there was a problem in supporting Ruto since he was still his deputy. Then he (Uhuru) said that I have to stop going to Karen and Ruto's office," stated Itumbi.
He recounted that Uhuru instructed him not to disconnect the phone and he obliged, with the alleged threats coming shortly afterwards.
"Since I had parked the car, I decided to continue driving but I put the phone on speaker so that if he spoke I would receive the call. I kid you not, he did not disconnect the phone. He spoke again while I was in Pangani. Then he told me that he was going to crush and finish me if I continued supporting Ruto," Itumbi claimed.
Itumbi added that after the phone call, he decided to establish the truth on Ruto's relationship with Uhuru who was then the president.
"Ruto told me everything was Okay and that people were spreading rumours of the supposed rift. After a few months, it became clear that there was a divide between the pair but I have no idea what the issue was," said Itumbi.
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"I however think that the problem must have been my friend Uhuru. DP Rigathi Gachagua was his PA but they were not on speaking terms. Kimani Ichung'wah even said that he blocked Uhuru's number. Ndindi Nyoro was also not speaking to Uhuru despite being his friend. Surely the problem could not have been us, it must have been him."
"I, unlike, Ichung'wah have not blocked him. If he calls me, I will pick up but I am not desperate for his call. The only thing that I will never do, and I told him before, was that I would never kneel before a fellow man," he added.
Itumbi placed the blame squarely on Uhuru, noting that he wants nothing to do with the retired president.