Return the favour, hawker tells President Uhuru Kenyatta

Dennis Murimi Wachira, the hawker who sold chewing gum to President Uhuru Kenyatta last year, goes about his business. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • For 22-year-old Dennis Wachira, a chewing gum hawker on the busy Jogoo and Landies roads, the day started like any other.

  • The father of one laments how tough getting by in the hawking business has become following the influx of hawkers on the roads he plies his trade.

  • He also regrets being unable to fully provide for his two-month-old son, who lives with the mother in Kakamega.

For many Kenyans, September 1, 2017 remains significant for only one reason: It is the day the Supreme Court made an unprecedented landmark ruling nullifying the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The ruling touched off heightened political activity of seismic proportions, further extending what had already been a prolonged electioneering period and unexpectedly plunging Kenyan voters into another round of the presidential vote.

It is also on the same day that an incensed President Kenyatta made the infamous “we will revisit” statement that was perceived by many as a thinly veiled threat to the Supreme Court bench led by Justice David Maraga for overturning his election victory of August 8, 2017.

However, for one young man struggling to eke out a living on the harsh streets of Nairobi, that Friday evening remains etched on his mind for a totally different — if not very special — reason.

It is the day he not only met, but also shook hands and had a brief chat with the President in very interesting circumstances.

CHEWING GUM

For 22-year-old Dennis Wachira, a chewing gum hawker on the busy Jogoo and Landies roads, the day started like any other. “I had no idea that the President would be visiting the area adjacent to where I operate,” Mr Wachira told Nairobi News in an interview last year.

As it were, Mr Kenyatta would that afternoon make an impromptu stopover at Burma market off Jogoo road, just about the same time that fate had placed Mr Wachira within the vicinity as part of the crowd that had gathered to catch a glimpse of the President.

So when the unexpected opportunity presented itself, the hawker seized the moment for what he genuinely believed would he a life-changing encounter.

In a daring move that breached the usually impregnable presidential protocol, Mr Wachira did the unthinkable, if only to stick out from the crowd and draw the President’s attention. “I held up an orange PK chewing gum and shouted while gesturing to him ‘Mr President, can I sell you this?'” he narrates.

As you would expect the President’s security detail attempted to block him by shoving him out of the way.

LAUGHING STOCK

But it was to be his lucky day. The President, who was addressing the crowd from the sunroof of his vehicle, had already taken notice. He quickly gestured to the security personnel to let go off the young man. “Everything happened so fast. I couldn’t believe it. When I got close to his vehicle, all I could do was to offer him a mint gum worth Sh20,” he recalls.

The President graciously accepted the humble offer and cupped the hawker's head in his hand and whispered something into his ear. “He simply asked me what I wanted from him. I was in shock and I could not believe that I was talking to the Head of State. I couldn’t talk,” Mr Wachira says.

Hawker Dennis Wachira when he offered President Uhuru Kenyatta chewing gum on September 1, 2017. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

And that was it. His 15 seconds of fame came and passed, just like that. Almost one year down the line, he still hustles and shuffles, hopping from one Umoja-bound matatu to another with his precious wares in hand. His perceived life changing encounter with the President seemingly never came to pass.

“Life has become tougher for me. In fact, that incident has made me the laughing stock among my peers and colleagues. They mockingly ask me why my life hasn’t changed for the better even after meeting, speaking to and offering mint gum to the President,” he tells the Sunday Nation.

TEAM UHURU

But when contacted on Saturday, PSCU Director in Charge of Digital, Dennis Itumbi, said: “We will follow up on this issue and Team Uhuru, the political charity of the President, will engage with him to ensure that we see what can be done, especially to ensure his business and livelihood are sustained.”

The father of one laments how tough getting by in the hawking business has become following the influx of hawkers on the roads he plies his trade. “There are days I hardly make any profit even after toiling for a whole day. There are too many of us in this business. Also, the completion of Outering Road has greatly eased traffic along Jogoo Road. Our business only thrives when traffic is heavy since you can easily manoeuvre from one matatu to another in a traffic jam,” he says.

Furthermore, he says, his job is fraught with many perils and challenges. “My job is very risky. You can easily get knocked down by a speeding vehicle. We also have to be constantly on the lookout for Nairobi County askaris (kanjo) who often harass us,” he said.

CHEWING GUM

He also regrets being unable to fully provide for his two-month-old son, who lives with the mother in Kakamega.

Mr Wachira, who grew up in Bahati estate in Nairobi’s Eastlands and attended St Theresa’s Primary School and Highlink Secondary School, is now seeking to draw the President’s attention, yet again, to his plight.

He wants the President to "pay" back in kind for the chewing gum he offered him during their brief encounter by giving him a job. “I understand when I met the President he was out of a job, following the Supreme Court’s ruling. But he is now the sitting Head of State and he has all the powers to offer me a job, any kind of job,” he says.

But if the help won’t be forthcoming from the President, he says, he will appreciate help securing a more decent job from any Kenyan of goodwill.

For now, though, he has to make do with his hawking job in matatus.