Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport, Kipchumba Murkomen, has dismissed leaked chats insinuating that he tried bribing an influencer to pay off anti-Finance Bill protesters.
The Gen Z-led protests, which began on June 18, have since come to a standstill after President William Ruto declined signing the Finance Bill on June 26, offering to engage in dialogue with the younger generation instead.
The leaked chats, which have gained traction on social media sparked widespread discussion and reactions online.
In his response to the chats, Murkomen has denied having offered the influencer money and labeled the claims as propaganda.
“Good people, ignore this propaganda,” he posted on X.
The screenshotted chats show a message inbox thread with a user with Murkomen’s profile allegedly chatting with an influencer asking him/her to mobilize some youths to stop the protests and get Ksh500,000 in return.
“I see you have a significant following. I would like us to work together for the betterment of our country. I have 500K and would like you to mobilize some youths and influencers to stop the protests. Please do this for the sake,” the chats show.
Also Read: Murkomen Left Speechless in Heated Twitter Space as Kenyans Confront Him
The influencer under the username MAITRE replied to the offer in a sarcastic way stating, “I will do this for the sake of my country and better future. How about you make it Ksh1 M so we can buy bulletproof vests and make it to the statehouse?”
If we succeed you won’t be forgotten. Otherwise, I’m not making a deal with you to sell out our company.”
Netizens Reactions
The chats first appeared on X and were circulated a couple of times by different people on the platform making it hard to identify the source.
The chats that have been screenshotted and reposted as Fake by Murkomen, have garnered over one thousand comments on X and nearly two hundred retweets, with most comments from netizens being negative.
One netizen wrote saying, “Why would you post it though? Meaning its true.”
“Ni wewe (It’s you), we know you,” another netizen commented.
Others followed with the same line of comments as well.
“The only problem is that we don’t trust you.”
“We are watching you.”
Also Read: Murkomen Left Speechless in Heated Twitter Space as Kenyans Confront Him
This comes days after his interaction with the Gen Z on space on June 22, hosted by the X influencer Sir-Rap-A-Lot (@Osama_otero), who facilitated the conversation that provided a platform for the youth to express their thoughts and worries.
One of the notable moments in the discussion was when Osama asked about the whereabouts of “Crazy Nairobian,” a notable but currently absent figure in the local social media scene.
Murkomen admitted his unfamiliarity with the individual, responding, “I didn’t know anything about Crazy Nairobian.”
His attempts to digress from the issue, however, failed as the convener of the space insisted that he was only allowed to comment on the whereabouts of Billy.
Despite his initial lack of knowledge about Crazy Nairobian, Murkomen assured the participants that their voices were being heard.
After days of tension in the country, the momentum of antigovernment protests slowed down on Thursday with only a fraction of the expected protesters showing up in Nairobi for the planned #OccupyStateHouse march.
Some Kenyans on social media blamed the low turnout on threats and attempts by the state to compromise mobilizers.
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