I Worked at State House for One Year without Pay, Dennis Itumbi Says

Dennis Itumbi claims he worked at State House for one year without receiving pay after he fell out with former State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu.

Itumbi, through a chain of Facebook posts, shared the behind-the-scenes drama that characterized his spell at State House starting in 2013.

Itumbi was a member of the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU), where he served as the Director of Innovation, Digital, and Diaspora Communication before his unceremonious exit in March this year.

Itumbi says his trouble with Esipisu, now Kenya’s High Commissioner to the UK, was triggered by his push to have the president’s communication team rebranded from the Presidential Press Service (PPS) to Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU).

Esipisu did not like the idea, forcing Itumbi to bypass him and directly approach President Kenyatta, who gave him the go-ahead. This did not go well with Esipisu. 

“I then went ahead and named all those appointed to senior positions and departments in the unit as agreed earlier. Armed with a release, I was advised that either Kabira or Manoah must sign for it to be sent.”

“I rushed to the field, on handing them the release, they both declined, saying that can be done later,” he added.

 “I activated gear two and waited for the President, who signed it off. I did not even go back to the duo. They saw it as Breaking News on their phones as they took their stroll in the Gardens. For a whole year, avoiding the details, we worked without a salary and accessed State House only on the strength of a News Release. The System was fighting back. But we won,” Itumbi wrote.

Itumbi says changes he proposed aimed at redesigning the president’s communication unit to suit the modern, digital era. “The idea was that the Presidency, in the modern era did not need to be covered but communicated,” Itumbi says.

Itumbi lost his job at State House in March this year after the Public Service Commission declared his position at PSCU, and several others, redundant.