Lee Njiru: State House employees used witchcraft to protect their jobs during Moi’s rule

The late retired president Daniel arap Moi’s Press Secretary Lee Njiru has opened up about how some State House employees allegedly resorted to witchcraft to keep themselves in office during his tenure as the official government mouthpiece.

Landing a job at State House, Njiru says, was almost impossible at the time but the lucky few who were able to secure employment at the house on the hill did everything in their power to ensure that they were not ousted from their positions and this, in some cases, saw them turn to mysticism in the form of witchcraft.

According to Njiru, a State House job came with many perks and privileges, as such many employees could not fathom the idea of simply missing out on the job which was perceived to be one of great affluence and influence.

"Working in State House is very lucrative; the allowances are fat and there is a lot of influence overall. People respect you when you work there because you are technically near power. People thought that when you worked at State House you could make a call on their behalf and they would be given waivers," Njiru narrated on Citizen TV’s JKLive show on Wednesday night.

"Nobody wanted to be removed from State House. So if they felt inadequate or that their positions were threatened, some would turn to divine interventions. They would go to the occult, dark forces…it used to happen."

Njiru went on to chronicle an instance in which he allegedly directly witnessed witchcraft at play in State House.

It was sometime during Mzee Moi's tenure, when the then Head of State arrived at State House earlier than usual because he had visitors.

One of Moi's guests, Njiru claims, asked the country boss for a photograph but unfortunately State House's in-house photographer had not yet arrived at the time and since Njiru did not want to keep the Commander-in-Chief waiting, he was forced to intervene.

"We had to break into his (State House photographer’s) cabinet and we found his camera tied to the tail of a squirrel, but because I do not believe in witchcraft I used the camera and I took some great photographs," he said.

Njiru would later confront his colleague about the purported witchcraft paraphernalia albeit behind closed doors far away from the prying eyes of Moi.

"I told the man to stop the nonsense when he came. I did not tell Mzee Moi because you do not destroy people because of such things," he said.

Njiru likewise stated that the practice would later become so popular at State House that Mzee Moi would come to know about it.

"I have written about witchcraft in State House and the people that don't believe there was witchcraft in State House should remember that in 1984, the president himself - Moi - established a commission on devil worship and it was chaired by archbishop Nicholas Kurema. Even Mzee Moi knew there was witchcraft at State House," he said.