Itumbi Reveals Actual Role In Ruto’s Government

Digital Strategist Dennis Itumbi opened up on his integral role in President William Ruto’s administration despite not having an official government role after he spearheaded his campaigns in the run-up to the general elections.

Speaking in a Citizen TV interview on Thursday, December 29, Itumbi explained that his role required him to be a hands-on person where he would be deployed to certain areas to assist the Head of State in service delivery to Kenyans in line with the Kenya Kwanza promises.

He reiterated President Ruto’s campaign wish that he wanted the government as a whole and not specific positions, a matter which allowed him to structure it to how he envisioned it prior to the August 9 general elections.

“My job is ‘come here, go there’, a very interesting job. The contract is with the people of Kenya through the President of the Republic of Kenya. 

Dennis Itumbi with President William Ruto and DP Rigathi Gachagua. /FACEBOOK.DENNIS ITUMBI

“When the president was campaigning he said that we are asking for government not for positions nor for delivery of staff so it's not about positions it's about what we are doing,” he said.

Itumbi further revealed that he led two committees; one that saw the entire technology community worldwide coerced into attending the Jamhuri Day tech-themed celebrations on Monday, December 12 and a committee that was tasked with enhancing the image of the Hustler Fund loan kitty.

“I was the chair of the technical committee for the Tech and Innovation at Jamhuri…we brought the entire Tech Community in the world to Kenya. I was in charge of the committee that delivered the branding and the communications experience for the Hustler Fund so the ‘come here go there’ thing is working very well and I’m happy,” he said, adding that the role is voluntary.

On conceptualising the idea of the Hustler National Intelligence Bureau (HNIB) reports where he reportedly worked with over 500 influencers and bloggers to mastermind Ruto's victory, Itumbi explained that he had managed to set up an alternative means of media consumption, one which would cover stories that would otherwise be rejected for consideration by mainstream media.

“That we managed to create an alternative media house which was our biggest challenge. To be fair, the mainstream media happens in most transitions in many countries was either not too friendly to us or was removed from the content which you are trying to put out due to their own house policy. To be fair, we didn't get as much mainstream support and coverage as you would expect from a campaign. 

“What we ended up doing is creating alternative means of communication; by the way most of the time I met my sources in hospital wards because then that was the most unimaginable place to meet. If anywhere else you were heavily tracked and traced but we knew if we meet in a hospital at the lounge before you get into the wards and sometimes in the wards we met and people gave stories there,” he added.

The HNIB worked in such a manner that very few topics were off limits and through it, he rubbed prominent personalities, including Cabinet Secretaries (CS) the wrong way. 

According to him, none of the CSs under former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime took legal action against HNIB was because the allegations against them were “true”.

“The first defence in a defamation case is truth. Had we defamed people to a level where they felt we were neither in the system neither are we in the Deep State, we were outsiders in government. When you hear the then Head of State getting into a meeting and telling people that before you leave this meeting I know HNIB and Itumbi will have the message means that it had got to the seat of decision making,” he added.

Itumbi admitted that it had been a process transitioning the storytelling that made HNIB famous across the country’s social media into storytelling for the government but teased an entirely different outfit that will bring a new way of telling government stories.

HNIB was formed after Itumbi’s falling out with former President Uhuru, which he explained was due to his refusal of an order stopping him from supporting Ruto’s presidency. In 2018, Itumbi left his role as the State House Secretary for Digital, Innovations, and New Media Communication.

Digital Strategist, Dennis Itumbi. /FILE

Due to the redundancy of roles in the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU), Itumbi was fired as the Digital and Diaspora Communications Senior Director two years later, in 2020.

In December 2021, he made headlines after he claimed to have been kidnapped by six rogue undercover police officers along Thindigua along Kiambu Road. 

According to Itumbi, his abductors told him to change his political stance. Besides being handcuffed, he was roughed up with crude weapons.

He alleged this was a reward for his loyalty to Ruto.

“It has taken me time, but I can now say…and this is the first time I’m saying it, I forgive these people. I sincerely do,” he said.