Lee Njiru was the late president Daniel Moi’s pressman for a record 24 years. He also had the privilege to work with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta before he died in 1978.
During his tenure at State House, Njiru interacted with numerous politicians, particularly those who were allied to KANU like Deputy President William Ruto.
In his account of who Kenyan politicians are and what the public should expect from them, the consummate scribe advised that most of them were political cousins and would continue working together for a very long time.
He particularly singled out Ruto whom he noted was still young and would be around for the next 40 years.
“Ruto is now 55 years old. The people of Kenya must learn to like his face because they are going to see it for a long time, for the next 40 years because he is not going anywhere,” said Njiru during an interview with Citizen TV.
He argued that the DP will be well financed and protected by the state after the end of his term and will have sufficient resources to continue politicking.
“When he leaves office, he will get two cars, 3000cc and 2000cc. He will get 80% of the salary of a sitting deputy president. He will get medical coverage and will have passports and access to VIP lounges in all international airports,” added Njiru.
Ruto is eyeing to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in the upcoming General Election and is running a well-oiled campaign across the country.
Although he has been trailing his main opponent, Raila Odinga, in recent opinion polls, political pundits opine the margin is too small to rule him out of the state house race.
“This is still an open race and It can go either way. Azimio may be having a higher popularity rate but it is still not convincing,” said lawyer Steve Ogolla.
Two leading opinion polls have ranked Raila ahead of Ruto with an average of 42% and 38% respectively.
However, Njiru warned Kenyans against being divided by the two politicians, noting they were political cousins.
“Moi had taken Oginga Odinga’s job when ascended to power in 1978, he made the chair of the cotton and seed marketing board. Later Mzee Moi greeted Raila and made him the secretary general of KANU and minister for energy although he had jailed him,
“9President) Uhuru has greeted Raila and they now call each other brothers. Kalonzo said he would be the most stupid person if he joined Raila, he changed his mind and joined Raila. Kimunya said I would rather die than resign, he resigned. So when you look at these people they are political cousins,” said Njiru.
“These people are not going anywhere, just reorganizing themselves. It’s the people of Kenya who should think about themselves, not those people, they are already taken care of by the taxpayers,” he added.
