By Wanja Waweru
The finer points of blogger Dennis Itumbi’s major falling out with former president Uhuru Kenyatta have been made public.
The retired Head of State became friends with Mr. Itumbi, a former journalist, before he started his political career through the internet, according to Mr. Itumbi.
“We became friends and I got into politics through the digital space. I became a consultant for his (Mr Kenyatta) campaign. And the rest they say is a good tweet,” Itumbi told Citizen TV.
However, the digital strategist claims that he had a disagreement with President Kenyatta when the former head of state requested him to cease endorsing William Ruto, who was the vice president at the time, on social media.
“The fallout with President Kenyatta happened because he wanted me to stop supporting William Ruto. I told him that I would not do that. I believe in this cause and in this journey, and that is what I was going to do,” said Itumbi.
True to his word, Itumbi switched to Dr. Ruto’s side after parting ways with Mr. Kenyatta and assisted in the creation of the Hustler Nation Intelligence Bureau, or HNIB, an internet lobbying organization.
The blogger further said that after President Kenyatta broke his commitment to back his then-estranged deputy, he decided to endorse Dr. Ruto.
“I was in the room when President Kenyatta promised to support Dr Ruto for the presidency. When he asked me to stop writing about President Ruto and I told him no because it would amount to betrayal,” he said.
And that is how, between 2018 and 2022, Itumbi, who enjoys a huge following on social media, transformed himself from a loyal supporter of President Kenyatta to a fiercest critic who jumped at every opportunity to lambast the then head of state
