Upset comptroller chose to go on leave

State House Comptroller Hyslop Ipu opted to go on leave after being frustrated by a member of the First Family during the festive season, the Nation has learnt.

Sources said contrary to reports that he had been sent on indefinite leave, Mr Ipu decided to take a rest following events on December 31 in Mombasa where the First Family spent Christmas and New Year.

The last straw

It is understood the last straw for Mr Ipu was when the First Family member told him off over a room at the Mombasa State Lodge that was to be used to record the President’s New Year message.

“Mr Ipu asked Presidential Press Service director Isaiah Kabira to prepare the room but out of nowhere, the First Family member emerged and demanded to know why the room was being used without the member’s consent,” the source said.

Mr Ipu, the source added, was so frustrated that he informed the President.

“The President told him to take a rest and that they would meet in Nairobi,” the source said.

It is reported that Mr Ipu, who was former President Daniel arap Moi’s speech writer, has been uncomfortable in his job because of interference by a member of the First Family.

Mr Ipu, the source also said, “has no peace at all as he is also fighting those who want his position”.

Retain him

“But the President should retain him because he is the man who knows all the Government secrets,” the source told the Nation.

The source claimed that Mr Ipu should be in charge of the President’s diary, but it was controlled by a member of the First Family, who decides who sees the President.

Mr Ipu becomes the second State House Comptroller to face problems since President Kibaki came to power in 2003.

The first Comptroller, Mr Matere Keriri was sacked after falling out of favour with First Lady Lucy Kibaki.