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| Political activist Morara Kebaso (l) faced off with State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed over the former’s claims that President William Ruto called him with a job offer. |
Kenyans were treated to a brief session of dramatic display pitting State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed against Morara Kebaso, a new but fast-rising antagonist of the state. Kebaso had, on the evening of Wednesday, August 28, appeared on the JKL show to outline his new-found cause of putting the government to task over stalled projects across the country and misappropriation of public monies. How Morara Kebaso was approached by government The Kenyan gained traction from compatriots recently after he offered to tour the country on his own accord to unearth the projects President William Ruto launched or relaunched but never kicked off after the publicised unveiling. During the interview, the businessman dealing in furniture revealed the state and its influential operatives had reached out to him, offering him lucrative government jobs, perhaps to silence him in his civic venture. At one point, Morara claimed the president ever called him on his own, offering him plum state posts. “I got calls from people around the president, then; eventually, I got a call from the president. I spoke to him very respectfully because he is our president. He has been given that mandate by the people. Whatever I was offered, I refused, I was offered a state position, but I refused. Being a brilliant person and a person of integrity, I believe that if I go into government I am going there to be corrupt. There is too much demand for you to steal money and give it to certain people. I’ll be depressed working there; I’d rather stay at my furniture shop and do my business,” claimed Morara. How Hussein Mohamed responded to Morara Kebaso on air The sentiment caught the attention of the state house spokesperson, who immediately called in to counter the assertion. While acknowledging the civic venture by Kebaso, and its significance as regards democracy, Hussein faulted the activist for what he said was lying. According to him, the president never phoned Kebaso, so he pressured him to substantiate that he had a phone conversation with the president. “It is unbelievable. I wasn’t following, but I was told about it. I am just shocked at what the gentleman Morara is saying. I wonder why he would lie on national TV that the president called him…for the record, such a call never happened, it is a figment of an imagination,” he said. Morara sought to absolve himself of Hussein’s counterarguments but was still pressured to substantiate that the president had called him. Seeming to play safe this time, he insisted on discussing the pertinent issues while seeking time to extract the call records from his network service provider. This would not be the first time Morara and Hussein got entangled in a spirited battle over the goings-on of the state. Earlier this month, the state house spokesperson countered Morara’s claims regarding the Metembe – Marani – Kegogi – Nyaore Road recently launched by the president. In a post on X, Kebaso said the president relaunched a project that was initially laid down in 2016 by the retired president Uhuru Kenyatta. Seeking to fact-check Kebaso, Hussein said that the project was re-tendered and re-awarded in March 2024, with works starting in June 2024 and that Ruto officially relaunched the project to fulfil his promise of completing stalled roads. He emphasised that Ruto’s commitment to reviving unfinished projects demonstrates responsibility and aligns with the Kenya Kwanza agenda.
by Kai Eli