Even before his demise, speculation was rife among curious Kenyans on the type of relationship that retired president Daniel Moi shared with his long-serving press secretary, Lee Njiru.
Apart from being Moi’s close confidant, Lee, who coincidentally shares his first name with Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui, who is also rumored to have been the late president’s child, bears a shockingly close resemblance to the former head of state.
Speaking on Citizen TV‘s JKL Show on Wednesday, Njiru, however, dispelled the possibility of having been Moi’s illegitimate child.
”This man (Njiru) looks more and more like Moi…is it just me?” show host Jeff Koinange teased at the beginning of the prime time discussion.
According to the journalist who served Moi for 42 years, logically speaking, he could not be the late politician’s child since at the time of his birth, they were both living in different parts of the country.
”I was born in 1949 in Embu, Mzee Moi had not been to Embu during that time,” Njiru explained, adding that the closest biological link he might have shared with Moi, if any, could only be parents.
“I was born in 1949 in Embu, Mzee Moi had not been to Embu during that time. I look like a younger brother not like a son…” – Lee Njiru #JKLive pic.twitter.com/CQ5rgZwY9w
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) February 5, 2020
”I look like a younger brother not like a son,” he said, adding that he was sure that even a DNA test would prove that he was not the late leader’s son.
Mzee Moi, during his 24-year rule, managed to keep his personal life out of the public light.
He divorced his late wife, Lena, in 1974, and he died a father to eight children.