The office of former President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday refuted claims that he enjoyed a fully furnished office and brand new cars complete with fueling financed by the state.
Addressing journalists in a televised event, Kanze Dena, the director of Communications at Uhuru's office, revealed that no repairs were done at the office.
She further noted that vehicles Uhuru was using were not new and accused State House of blocking fuel cards for the motorcade.
"On the issue of the retired President enjoying a fully furnished and maintained office space as alluded to in the statement, this took us by surprise because it is public knowledge that State House has been very clear on the position of the office in Nyari as the only office that the President should use based on the fact the office has been bought by the government," Dena told the press.
"The statement that the former President enjoys a fully furnished and maintained office of his choice provided by the government is incorrect. To date, the office matter has never been addressed and has never been resolved."
Kanze further explained that the cars Uhuru is using are the same ones he left in during the September 2022 handover ceremony. He was allocated two Toyota Land Cruisers, one Mercedes Benz and one Range Rover for his personal use. These vehicles were not new.
"What the government spokesperson did not clarify is that the vehicles allocated to the former President for personal use were not new, they were part of his motorcade when he left Kasarani during the inauguration ceremony," she added.
"It is the position of the office of the third retired President that the government of the day has not undertaken nor facilitated any repairs, maintenance of any vehicles under this office nor fueled any cars under this office."
She explained that the fuel and repair cards were blocked in March 2023 and the situation remains the same to date.
According to Dena, the Head of State was entitled to two new vehicles with an engine capacity of 3000cc replaceable every three years. He was also entitled to two others with an engine capacity of between 3000cc and 4000cc.
She noted that former President Daniel Moi and Mwai Kibaki had received more cars after retiring, each one's doubling that of Uhuru.
She further revealed that State House refused to renew her contract as Director of Communications in Uhuru's office and that of a colleague and no explanation has ever been given to them.
Further, she claimed that some of the staff were being intimidated through phone calls running as late as midnight.
"The office still awaits the confirmation and communication on why they refuse to renew the contracts of two professional staff members. The administrator Mr George Kariuki and Mrs Kanze Dena Mararo who is the director of communications," she explained.
"There is also the issue of unceremonious withdrawal and intimidation of staff via phone calls at midnight. We have provided a list of staff serving in the office of the retired President and we would also like to clarify that the list Mr. Mwaura presented in his statement had the wrong tally."
Dena further revealed that since leaving office, Uhuru has been financing his own office and international travel as the office awaits word from State House.
Uhuru's Office Official Position
"On the issue of the office. Before retirement and during his retirement, the former president has been sought to undertake various international roles especially within the region in his capacity as a former Head of State and among them was his appointment as a peace facilitator by EAC heads of State during the 22nd ordinary meeting of EAC Summit on July 22, 2022 in Arusha.
"With no response from State House and a lack of commitment to finalise the issue of the office space, the former President identified a suitable office space and went ahead to fully furnish and equip it from his pocket.
"A formal letter was written to State House requesting a valuation of the office that was identified by the former President Kenyatta as suitable for him to carry out his duties. However, the office did not receive a response on the issue, and instead, a response that the office received was via a text message and in his statement, he indicated the estimates of the property in question.
"To date, this office runs on the President's goodwill as it awaits a response from State House."
"On the issue of vehicles. The former President is using vehicles given to him on a transitional basis. The office would like this to go on record that after the transition, a conversation on the purchase of vehicles as required by the Act commenced between the two offices. The conversation notes that the identification of vehicles was done down to the colour and then the conversation froze. To date, no discussions have been revived. We don't know if the cars were purchased or not.
