On Friday, Kajiado Governor, Joseph Ole Lenku opened up on how painful and stressful life was after he left the Interior CS position, following the aftermath of the Westgate terror attack in September 2013.
Ole Lenku, during an interview with Citizen TV, revealed that it hurt him how people trolled him by his hotelier profession, abusing him for being a cook and an unfit man after he made massive blunders while handling the Westgate siege.
During the attack, the then CS stated that a smoke emitting from the building was due to the terrorists burning mattresses. A theory that would, later on, be refuted.
“In the face of all the insults and innuendos, I knew I was giving my country my all. It didn’t quite bother me the sideshows, the accusations, the burning mattresses story. The most important thing to me was that Kenya wins against terrorists,” Ole Lenku decried the public jury attack.
The Governor, went on to reveal that he gave up when the jokes persisted.
“Some people were saying this is a cook and even an unfit man.
“People said I was fired and even later accused me of being paid out of office. However, I maintained a good relationship with President Uhuru Kenyatta,” Ole Lenku revealed.
He further disclosed that he was not sacked, as people thought.
“The truth is I approached the President, informing him that the country was under an immense attack. It was set to look personal and the pressure on the government was becoming unbearable because of the accusation levelled against me.
“When it reached to that point, I asked the President for the sake of the county and even for and his own sake, to allow me to step aside,” Ole Lenku divulged.
The jokes and reproach from Kenyans would later haunt him as he gunned for Kajiado votes in the 2017 gubernatorial elections.
“When I went to politics and I would ask for votes, people would say ‘This is the Lenku wa TV’ (This is the Ole Lenku we saw on TV), even some went on to call me the Westgate Ole Lenku,” the Governor emotionally recalled.
He further revealed that he had been appointed to the CS post unexpectedly as he had applied for a different post, a Permanent Secretary (PS) position.
Here is the video, courtesy of Citizen TV.
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