A top government Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has recalled how Lawyer Elisha Zebedee Ongoya saved him from a shylock case saving him from auction because of a Ksh10,000 debt. CEO Ezekiel Mutua affirmed this in a statement he posted on his socials, on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
In the statement, Mutua revealed a plot that was hatched to bring us down, “At some point in 2005, I had so many cases against me including one from a shylock for whom I had borrowed 10k but kept compounding the interest on the principal amount until it became Ksh120,000.”
“My situation was so bad that even my friends in the legal fraternity deserted me. At some point I had three matters coming up in court and I had no lawyer to represent me,” Mutua cited.
Further Mutua testified, “Then miraculously I bumped into Elisha Zebedee Ongoya during a radio show on Family FM and he offered to represent me pro bono. He won all three cases in a row and ended up becoming my lawyer for many years.”
Mutua Praises Lawyer Ongoya
Further, Mutua narrated that Lawyer Ongoya was once his lawyer. He went on to praise him for helping him win all the cases in which he represented him. Although they have not met for over ten years, he hinted at blessing him when he saved his young career during the Kibaki administration.
“I had gotten into the Government’s crosshairs and senior Government mandarins as well as media honchos were baying for my blood. I had just been elected Secretary General of the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) and did what I always do best – revive moribund institutions, give them visibility, and create almost an instantaneous impact,” Mutua recounted.
Furthermore, Mutua Continued, “As Secretary General of the Journalists Union, I was a fierce defender of the media and in the beginning, this won me accolades locally and globally.”
In addition, Mutua mentioned that sometimes he would be item number one on all TV stations, and in a short while, he became a household name.
Also Read: Elisha Ongoya: Meet Gachagua’s Moustache Lawyer that Deconstructed Mutuse
Mutua on Journalists’ Welfare
At the same time, Mutua reminisced that in a few years, KUJ was one of the most vibrant Unions in Kenya and Africa and money started coming in from local and international donors.
With the doors open KUJ facilitated robust and timely Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) to improve the welfare of journalists.
“We also created programs for mentoring young journalists in different fields of the important journalism profession. KUJ led the way in mobilizing the media industry to establish a self-regulating mechanism to make journalism more professional and respectable,” Mutua stated.
“Then suddenly all hell broke loose. Our fierce stance on media freedom didn’t go well with the Government and we also lost the goodwill of Media Owners because of defending journalists and demanding better pay for them.”
“Elisha Zebedee Ongoya simply salvaged my career and gave me a new lease of life by getting me cleared of all charges, paving the way for me to become the Director of Information and Public Communications in 2007,” Mutua assertively concluded that the rest is history.
Also Read: Profiles of 14 Lawyers Defending Gachagua in Senate
Lawyer Elisha Ongoya
Lawyer Ongoya has recently become the spotlight in the media of Gachagua’s impeachment trial at the Senate.
His tough cross-examination questions to the mover of the impeachment motion have greatly placed him on the map of the legal fraternity.
Ongoya gained his legal career degree from the University of Nairobi and further advanced his studies at the Galilee International Management Institute in Israel.
Additionally, he has successfully defended various politicians in high-profile cases with the recent one being Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza’s impeachment trials.
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