“Resign from KTN and Concentrate on Politics” Dennis Itumbi Tells Mohammed Ali

It’s no secret that Jicho Pevu’s Mohammed Ali is a Raila supporter. He has declared his interest to vie for a parliamentary seat in Mombasa on an ODM ticket. He has been spotted several times in meetings organized by Raila or ODM officials, especially at the coast. 

State House digital strategist Dennis Itumbi had enough of Moha, and on Monday told him to quit his media job and officially join politics.

He wrote on Facebook,

“Mine is a simple message, if you want to join politics, you are welcome to exercise your democratic right, but first leave the Newsroom.

That is objectivity.some of us did exactly that.”

Following Itumbi’s post, ODM supporter and occasional critic Gabriel Oguda wrote this lengthy reply.

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I have seen Dennis Itumbi tear into Mohammed Ali on his Facebook page. The photo that started this conversation features some media personalities sharing a roundtable with ODM party leader, Eng. Raila Odinga, one of his deputies, Emir Ali Hasan Joho, and nominated MP, Dr. Oburu Odinga. While the photo depicts a harmless sit-down with the unwavering statesmen, Dennis Itumbi has spun the narrative by creating the impression that the meeting was plotting a dangerous mission deadlier than the battle of Iwo Jima.

And this is the reason why he must be called out.

If you ask anyone what Itumbi is known for, they’ll be hard pressed to mention any meaningful contribution to the profession of journalism. Before Itumbi was hired at State House, he used to run a hurriedly-assembled, badly-configured, contraption of a blog. Little kids called him a Twitter bigwig – he, like his borrowed friend Robert Alai, used to pick fights with everyone online and because Kenyans love gossip and gutter, Itumbi made a name from being hounded in the back of police vehicles, spending his petit bum in cold cells, and making a name from backstreet journalism.

To say that Itumbi’s blog had grammatical errors is to give grammar a bad name. That blog was painful reading, it is the reason he keeps walking with huge papers whenever he’s invited to media houses. He has struggled to camouflage his dubious academic background, at one time the national intelligence service revealed that he is unfit to serve in the President’s office for he was not literate enough, neither was he of sound judgement. He still cannot construct an English sentence without referring to a pre-written script. If ever you find yourself debating Itumbi on television, you’re better off sending Spongebob squarepants to take your slot. He’ll drag you down to his pidgin level, and beat you down with experience. The case of Dennis Itumbi is, therefore, that of the elephant on top of a tree – no one seems to understand how it got there, but everyone knows it will come down hard.

Which is why Dennis Itumbi is picking out Mohamed Ali.

Journalism in this country has immensely suffered from a crisis of confidence. Our men of the pen, and mic, aren’t the best paid for the risky job they do. Just last week, there was a journalist who was found murdered somewhere in Kilifi and the murder trail pointed to his dedication towards seeing justice prevail. Journalists, in this country, constantly live with threats to their lIves and property. Thieving politicians don’t like being exposed. Those on their pay roll with do all they can to buy your objectivity, or, in the case of those who stand firm, take you down.

Every journalist in this country, therefore, has a price. Francis Gachuri, of Citizen TV, left being objective a million years ago. Same to Jackie Maribe, Faizah Wanjiru and Sylvia Chebet. You could also add Farida Karoney to that long list of media personalities who have openly shifted from being the public watchdog to the politician’s handbag. Every media house has those journalists who come onto your screen and you want to ram your television set off the wall. KTN have socialite Sophia Wanuna and her morning breakfast twin Michael Gitonga. Daily Nation have Gitaru Warigi. Perhaps the most unapologetic Jubilee newsman is Oliver Mathenge. You will scour the four corners of this country to find a more biased journalist worse than Mathenge and your search will come a cropper. If Oliver Mathenge has survived the purge at The Star, then objectivity long ceased to be the centrepiece of media coverage in this part of the world.

Which begs the question why Dennis Itumbi is obsessed with Mohamed Ali.

The answer is simple. That despite Jubilee taking advantage of the transfer window to pocket all influencial journalists in this country, Mohamed Ali belongs to the few who have refused to subscribe to the narrow philosophy of brown envelope journalism. And that makes him a marked man. “If they can’t beat you”, Jalang’o always says, “they’ll arrange for your beating.”

Dennis Itumbi is obsessed with journalists who cannot be bought by State House blood money because it keeps Kenyans distracted from the cancer patients sleeping on the cold floor of Kenyatta National Hospital waiting for their chemotherapy turn, or death, whichever comes first. Jubilee will want you to forget they promised us fully- edged low-cost diagnostic centres and treatment facilities for persons with chronic or terminal conditions in every county. When you see Dennis Itumbi shifting attention to Mohammed Ali, you know shit has hit the fan and someone has to clothe the naked King.

Dennis Itumbi needs to keep this war on Mohamed Ali going for as long as possible because it keeps Kenyans distracted from asking about the 5 stadia they promised to build in 2013 for which not even a blade of grass has been procured. Itumbi, and his pocketed media friends, are under instructions to keep this war on Mohamed Ali going for as long as possible because it keeps Luhyas distracted from asking where the 1B shillings bailout that was given towards the Pan Parer revival. With the government’s books leaking red ink by the bucketfuls, as confirmed by the Auditor General last week, it is important that Kenyans be distracted from asking who’s been eating money by picking a quarrel with Mohamed Ali.

This war on Mohammed Ali is part of a masterful plan meant to camouflage the Jubilee stench thicker than the Kaloche swamp water. Jubilee government have 99 problems, and Mohammed Ali is not one of them. We now have the precedent of extrajudicial killings that makes banana Republics envious. It is un-Kenyan to incarcerate a large group of people when there is no credible reason to think they are dangerous. The Jubilee mujahideen must tell us why they have chosen to declare war on cancer patients in this country. Anyone who has a relative or a friend suffering from cancer, and sleeping on cold earthen floors at the KNH, should pick the Kenya Constitution 2010 and sue the state for denying them the social rights guaranteed under Article 43. Yesterday it was Willie Kimani and those lawyers who stand for truth and justice. Today it’s Mohamed Ali and the few remaining journalists who mean well for this country. Tomorrow it will be you. And you know how the story goes, don’t you?

If you see a government associating with the China Communist Party, you should begin applying for citizenship to the tiny island of Vanuatu. Or remain right here and fight back for your country. The pumpkin, and the knife, are still in your hands. But it won’t be for long. When the dust, finally, settles and there’ll be no one else to speak out for all the atrocities meted on innocent Kenyans, it will be too late to turn back the clock.

I leave you with my all-time best quote from Thomas Sowell, who said, that; “If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference, and choose their news sources accordingly.”

We are at war.