A Nairobi hawker has called out President Uhuru Kenyatta over a 20 bob chewing gum he offered during last year’s election period.
Dennis Murimi Wachira who a vendor in the city has since never been paid has asked the head of state to pay the debt in kind.
The incident happened in September 2017, when Uhuru made an impromptu visit to Burma market along Jogoo road.
[caption caption="David Murimi Wachira"]
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Murimi was among the hundreds of people who had come to give an audience to the president and ended up offering the chewing gum to him.
“I lifted an orange PK chewing gum and shouted while gesturing to him ‘Mr President, can I sell you this,” he revealed in an interview in 2017.
The security detail tried to shove him but he managed to hand the gum to the Head of State.
Uhuru accepted the humble offer and whispered something into his ear.
“He simply asked me what I wanted from him. I was in shock and I could not believe that I was talking to the head of state. I couldn’t talk,” the hawker later revealed.
One year later, Murimi has noted that things have turned haywire for him since that rare occurrence.
“That incident has turned me into a laughing stock among my peers and colleagues. They mockingly ask me why my life hasn’t changed for the better even after meeting, speaking to and offering a mint gum to the president.
[caption caption="President Uhuru with Murimi"]
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“Life has become tougher for me,” he was quoted by the Nation.
The trader now wants a job as payment for his chewing gum.
“I understand when I met the president he was out of a job, following the Supreme Court’s ruling. But he is now the sitting head of state and he has all the powers to offer me a job, any kind of job,” he remarked.
