Nairobi News

A city hawker wants President Uhuru Kenyatta to fulfill a pre-election promise he made to him during a campaign tour last year.

Dennis Murimi Wachira rose to fame on September 1, 2017 after he managed to breach presidential security detail during Mr Kenyatta’s campaign stopover on Jogoo Road to have an up close interaction with him.

The twenty one year-old hawker shook hands with the then Jubilee presidential candidate, held a brief chat and even offered him a ‘small’ token.

He is a familiar face to commuters who use matatus plying the Jogoo Road route

Mr Murimi, who hawks sweets and chewing gum, claims President Kenyatta had told him “unitafute”.

Four months after the promise, he has been ‘searching’ for the president quite literally.

“He told me to look for him after winning the election, I am doing just that,” he told Nairobi News during an interview.

POUR OUT HIS HEART

Mr Murimi hopes the president will honour his promise so that he can pour out his heart to him.

“I just do not want to meet him, I want to request for a job, any job, as long as it is stable and I am able to cater for my needs and those of my family. I don’t mind being a sweeper at State House,” he told Nairobi News.

On the day of their meeting, just like the Biblical Zacchaeus who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus and in turn got the surprise of his lifetime, Mr Murimi shouted when the president was passing by, “Mr President may I sell PK to you?” he said.

Despite the crowd and mean-looking bodyguards all around, the president summoned him to his vehicle as he addressed a crowd at Burma market.

He gave the president two sachets of chewing gum worth sh40.

“I do not know whether he heard me but I requested from him a chance to work for Kenya Defence Forces. It does not matter what position, even if I will work in the mess, I will appreciate,” he said.

Mr Murimi is however aware of his shortcoming. “I have a condition that I developed while in standard six,” he said.

He developed incessant headaches while at school and a medical checkup revealed that he had hydrocephalus (water in the brain) and had to undergo surgery at Kenyatta National Hospital.

To date, he still has a shunt tube, a device that drains water from the brain to his stomach, which was inserted in his body to control the condition.

Due to the condition, he developed epilepsy while in Form Two at Highlink Secondary School, Nairobi.

“For one year now I have not been epileptic. I believe it is favour from God,” he said.

NOT DOING WELL

He said business is not doing well.

“We depend on traffic jam to sell, but, there is no jam along the road because the Outer Ring Road is already operational. Sometimes conductors do not allow us to get inside the vehicles,” he said.

On a good day he gets sh500, which he uses to restock sweets and chewing gum and help his family of six.

He tried to join National Youth Service (NYS) but was unlucky after being told he could not make it.

“I was disappointed, because all my life I have wanted to give service to my nation.”

Just like the numerous young jobless people in the country, he hopes his cry will reach the highest office.