Former government propagandist and now State House Director of Digital Media and Diaspora (or something closer to that) Dennis Itumbi has shocked kenyans by making new revelations that he created Army spokesman twitter account and MAY HAVE used it to feed Kenyans with ‘real time’ war events even as he cooled off in a hotel in Nairobi.
This will be one of the biggest information rip-offs ever witnessed in Kenya. It is, to quote a shocked security analyst this writer just interviewed, “outrageously new” in military warfare.
At the start of the Al shabaab war, Kenya’s military spokesperson Major Emmanuel Chirchir unusually made a forceful entry on twitter, relaying the events going down in Somalia with marked precision, ‘news breaking’ about Kenya forces each and every takeover. The Major Chirchir account was a hit, but kumbe it MAY HAVE NOT been the Major!
Here is Itumbi’s post which, if true, should condemn the former lowly propagandist to a life in Kamiti:
Dennis Itumbi: I salute Chief of The Defence Forces Julius Karangi. A few years ago, when Kenya Marched into Somalia he resisted the voices that said the Military should Not be on Social Media. Major Emmanuel Chirchir called me and told me to meet him and I told him it is possible and immediately created the Chirchir accounts that became a hit. Karangi allowed a liberal approach on Social Media and as a result Kenya went to its first war with Bullets and Tweets. The Tweeting Major was Born. I salute him too. Congratulations and Thank You Karangi.
After this post, the comments that followed could send a coward straight to hell; some accused Itumbi of being an imposter (meaning he twitted as Major Chirchir while he was not, others linked it to Westgate, so much for an easy Sunday Facebooking ritual, to sum it all Itumbi got roasted!
Considering the accusations the Somali government has levelled against Kenyan forces, many currently accused of engaging in charcoal business, independent information about the whole war and how it was  waged, its current state and when it will end has been closely guarded.
Kenyans were and are still being treated as jokers by government spin doctors, key among whom includes Dennis Itumbi. However, what courage is this that makes President Uhuru employees reveal every secret of the government? Itumbi’s post will be embarrassing in the weeks ahead, more so because the army, still being accused of bungling Westgate rescue and looting unashamedly, is not currently having the best of institutional images.