John Allan Namu, a veteran journalist and founder of Africa Uncensored, took extra caution weeks before the airing of the Pandora Papers exposé that prominently mentioned former president Uhuru Kenyatta and his family in October 2021.
Alongside his wife, the journalist abruptly halted the education of his kids weeks before the exposé was released.
He masked the sudden changes under the false pretense of a family vacation but his kids saw through the charade.
"When the story aired on October 3, 2021, my family and I weren't home. Out of an abundance of caution, it was advised that we should lay low for a few weeks. So we got our kids out of school the week before," the journalist explained.
In the new home, unaware of the impact the investigative piece would have, Namu and his wife cautioned their kids who had resorted to taking online classes not to play outside.
"We cram ourselves into an apartment somewhere and prepared to sit tight. When we walked in and switched on the lights, vermin scurred to whatever dark corners they could find.
"I laugh, but at the time, with the stress of the story coming out and having to move (yet again) with my family, those small inconveniences were magnified,” he expounded.
However, the story that aired internationally had not yet been reported by the local media and Namu had begun to doubt the immense impact he imagined.
"Was I expecting too much? Was the story worth the trouble? What if this lack of attention exposes my family further?" the journalist drowned in a pool of endless questions.
He was also concerned about his colleagues at Africa Uncensored, an investigative and in-depth journalism production house, and the measures put in place before the expose aired.
"At this time, tensions between Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto were high. A lot more went on that I won't share here but suffice to say that it didn't do us any favours in terms of our mental health," the Africa uncensored CEO stated.
During the time, Namu and his colleagues carried out several tasks to keep their minds off the news also they tried not to be so negative about the impact of the piece.
Namu was part of the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that conducted the investigations.
