By Bogonko Bosire
When President Uhuru Kenyatta told Star newspaper dynamo Oliver Mathenge at State House that he knew him when the journalist was picked to ask a question, perhaps the president was deflating the journalist’s ego and silently sharing the pain of losing a girlfriend he so much cherished.
Of course President Kenyatta knows so many journalists excluding this writer but by out-pointing that he personally knew Mathenge leaves much to be desired, and I have painstaking gathered pieces behind that drama that might have activated the president to make the statement. And this is a very sexy tale.
The known fact is that at one time, Mathenge dated the Jubilee fishing princess, Citizen TV’s Jacque Maribe, one of the top TV journalists in Kenya and their relationship was bumpy to say the least, with all kind of allegations flying around. And there was too much booze, love and all warts.
In 2011, when the affair was on the sky, journalist and blogger Dennis Itumbi threw a birthday bash for Maribe at the politically famous Rift Valley Lodge in the headquarters of the century-old Happy Valley set known for hedonistic tendencies. Naivasha. Of course President Kenyatta knew the two miniature journalists were bonking. That did not stop him. It was not his business. He was a man who wished to guide them. As a great man he is, Kenyatta who happened to be lounging in the neighbourhood after chairing a KANU meeting, attended the birthday and gave Maribe a bottle very treasured wine. And a word of advice.
And then he serenaded her with a poem.
From a man who is 50 to a girl who has just started life; This (a bottle of wine) is for you. Do not let life pass-by. From a man, who is aged, I missed my chances in life to the maximum; do not waste yours. Grab them, utilize the opportunities and do not waste them. Happy Birthday.
The president then a respected minister for finance grabbed her hand and joined it with Mathengeâ them and said: GOD BLESS YOU. If God blessed the relationship is for historians to debate.
Several months later, after what appeared to be a close-knit relationship, Maribe decamped from Kenyatta’s K24 TV and to the then teenage sensation, KISS TV. One thing led to another, and so ended the relationship that was blessed by the then finance minister.
No doubt Maribe is a smooth operator. At Citizen TV where she is a top-rated political journalist, she has impressed many, including the editor of this website and other hungry politicians. Indeed she was a jubilated reporter at Jubilee campaign rallies. And the great Maribe, an annoyingly successful overachiever, is reportedly mulling moving to the Deputy President Press Service.
My advice to Maribe; do not leave TV journalism; as to repairing ties with Mathenge, think about it, it’s not a secret what you guys did when the lights went down. In order to forget this little tragic-comedy, join me and my gang as we go fishing through our midlife crisis. And to Mathenge, let’s have a serious Jameson whiskey “not whisky” soon