Former State House Digital Strategist Dennis Itumbi has distanced himself from claims that he was in any way involved in the disappearance or death of renowned journalist Bogonko Bosire.
Bogonko, considered a genius journalist in Kenya has been missing for close to over eight years, with several conspiracy theories being coined to explain his disappearance.
One of the biggest victims of the theories has been Dennis Itumbi, a man considered to have been his closest friend before he disappeared.
Bosire was one of the elite journalists turned blogger in the wake of 2013 general elections, and was used to a greater extent by the Jubilee administration to spread propaganda against the opposition.
However, a month after the elections, Bosire went missing without a trace. His disappearance coincided with the Westgate Mall terror attack of September 21, 2013.
According to Itumbi, the fact that Bosire’s blog, The Jackal News, did not cover the attack was suggestive that he was among the 68 that were felled by terrorist bullets.
Itumbi, in a Facebook post says that he remained so close to Bosire until he disappeared.
“Then Westgate happened. We could not understand how Jackal could be silent on such a major issue and our friend was nowhere to be seen. Our friend was nowhere to be seen,” says Itumbi.
According to Itumbi, he, his friends, and family tried all they could to trace Bosire’s whereabouts without success, despite employing the help of elite policemen to unravel the mystery.
“We searched for him. We used our networks to trace him. We got data from cellphone companies. We followed up every rumour and fact. We hang on every tip. We got a great Police officer at Industrial area who kept us hopeful. We ignored the naysayers. Still we could NOT trace our friend,” says Itumbi.
However, before that, Bosire was vocal in the International Criminal Court (ICC) case against President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto in the 2007-8 post-election violence.
Before the case died down in December 2014, several witnesses and people with knowledge about the case went missing in suspected cases of murder.
Read: List Of Witnesses Allegedly Corrupted By Lawyer Paul Gicheru and the Amounts Involved
However, Itumbi believes that Bosire had no knowledge of classified information about the ICC cases, that many people believe led to his disappearance.
“Ignore the rumours, Bogonko only knew what was in Public domain on ICC. He had little detail on the case,” added Itumbi.
On September 17, 2013, days before he disappeared, Bosire published a tweet that allegedly revealed the identity of ICC Witness 536, whom he said “could be “Grace Nyakero Githuta,” whose testimony was rejected by a Kenyan judge.
ICC Witness 536 Could be “Grace Nyakero Githuta,” Whose Testimony Was Rejected by Kenyan Judge -… http://t.co/BVf17RlPKc
— Bogonko Bosire (@bogonkobosire) September 17, 2013
This was considered a fatal mistake by Bosire, as Kenyans felt that this could have led to his disappearance.
After the tweet, his Twitter account went mute until January 28, 2014, when a tweet was published about how he worked for ‘them’ before his mysterious disappearance.
On February 2, 2014, an alarming tweet was published using the same account, claiming that Bosire was “eliminated after becoming a loose mouth”.
“Bogonko died… And I know because I am posting from the phone he had… He become a loose mouth at the end and had to be eliminated,” the tweet read.
Bogonko died… And I know because I am posting from the phone he had… He become a loose mouth at the end and had to be eliminated…
— Bogonko Bosire (@bogonkobosire) February 1, 2014
In another tweet from the same account, it was claimed that Bogonko had become irritant and a drunkard blackmailing people.
“Bogonko Bosire at the end become an irritant.. A drunkard whose income was all about blackmailing everyone,” the tweet read.
Bogonko bosire at the end become an irritant.. A drunkard whose income was all about blackmailing everyone he… http://t.co/oLSzAm2ju5
— Bogonko Bosire (@bogonkobosire) February 1, 2014
The account has been in use and had its last tweet on January 20, 2020. It is not yet clear who still uses Bogonko Bosire’s accounts.
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