Kanze Dena Claims Intimidation of Staff at Former President Uhuru’s Office

Former State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena has raised concerns about staff intimidation and late-night calls occurring at the office of Former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“There is unceremonial withdrawal and intimidation of staff via phone calls at midnight,“ said Kanze on Monday.

Kanze also mentioned that the government has declined to renew the contracts of two employees; herself and administrator John Kariuki.

She also noted that the former head of state furnished an office from his pocket despite requests to the ruling administration.

“The former President’s engagements necessitated the need to establish a suitable office for him to enable him to carry out his various roles. With no response from State House, he identified a suitable office space and equipped it from his pocket,“ she continued.

“Yes, former president Uhuru Kenyatta received KSh48 million as gratuity. He is receiving his monthly allowances and has medical cover. However, he’s not enjoying a fully-furnished and maintained office space as alluded to by spokesperson Isaac Mwaura.“

Further, Kanze revealed that Uhuru indeed received four vehicles from the government but their fuel cards have been blocked since 2023.

“Former president Uhuru Kenyatta was allocated two Toyota Land Cruisers, one Mercedes Benz and one Range Rover for his personal use. These vehicles were not new. The fuel cards given by the govt were blocked by State House since March 2023,“ said the former Citizen TV news anchor.

She further noted that parliament allocated Uhuru’s office Sh655 million in the financial year 2022/2023.

“To date, the office can only confirm absorption of roughly Sh28 million spread across payment of allowances for domestic travels as well as facilitation of the two trips mentioned earlier that were honoured,” she told members of the fourth estate.

“…that is approximately 4.4% of the total budget for that particular year.”

In the coming Financial Year 2024/25, the office has been allocated Sh579 million.

“The office waits with bated breathe to see if this will be honored,” she said.

At the same time, the office distanced itself from budget estimates tabled in Parliament.

“Our position is that we had no input on the budget estimates that informed the allocation of Sh450 million that Treasury projects to allocate the office in the coming year 2025/26 and Sh475 million for FY 2026/27,” Kanze said.