![It Is Impossible To Work Elsewhere- Ex-NTV Anchor Salim Swaleh Begs For Help After Scandal [VIDEO]](https://i0.wp.com/bouncenationkenya.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/It-Is-Impossible-To-Work-Elsewhere-Ex-NTV-Anchor-Salim-Swaleh.jpg?fit=870%2C580&ssl=1 "It Is Impossible To Work Elsewhere- Ex-NTV Anchor Salim Swaleh")
Swaleh, a former journalist and news anchor at NTV, lamented that all has not been well on his side since he was arrested alongside high-ranking government officials linked to alleged involvement in corruption activities.
On Sunday evening, August 25, a video went viral showing former Director of the Press Service at the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary (OPCS) Salim Swaleh in tears while appealing to Kenyans for help.
In the clip, Swaleh, a former journalist and news anchor at NTV, lamented that all has not been well on his side since he was arrested alongside high-ranking government officials linked to alleged involvement in corruption activities.
The Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs (PCS-MFDA) confirmed the arrest on June 23, stating “Those arrested include Salim Swaleh, Director of OPCS Press Service, in whose office the swindlers were found nested with fake door switch-nametags.”
So bad has been the ordeal that according to Swaleh, it has been difficult for him to even get out of his house to take a walk.
Here is the video:
Just like most Africans, former high-flying journalist Salim Swaleh, who served as Director of Press in the Prime Minister’s Office before his untimely ouster, let power “enter his head,” na akajisahau.
He thought he was untouchable na akaingia “mambo ya uwanja” to maintain an… pic.twitter.com/teyQ3cdts3
— Thirsty Kipsoiwet ???????? ???????? (@Makiadi_) August 26, 2024
Swaleh went on to disclose that efforts to reach Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi for forgiveness on the back of severing their relationship bore no fruit, hence resorting to recording the video.
“Good morning Your Excellency, I hope this video finds you well. I decided to record this video because I have looked for you for the last couple of weeks but I could not reach you. I sent several people to talk to you but I have not received any feedback,” he stated.
“Your excellency, you know you have been my father figure for the longest time that I have known you. We have built an unmatched trust between us and for the last one and half years, I served you with unmatched zeal. I broke the trust, I did and I am so sorry about it. I am truly remorseful about it and the last one month has been so difficult for me.”
“I have been unable to walk out because of the kind of publicity and the things people said about me just threw me into uncharted territory,” he added.
Swaleh revealed that since his arrest, the case filed against him has been at a slow pace with lawyers and police targeting him, and extorting him based on the belief that he earned a plum salary while working at Mudavadi’s office.
With his salary frozen, he lamented being unable to repay loans and bills. Even worse, he argued that he was unable to find work elsewhere, and thus appealed for the case to be expedited so that he could continue with his life.
“I lost everything in the blink of an eye but moreso the court process. Every time we go there, everybody is on my neck, lawyers are on my neck, police are on my neck and everybody is extorting me left, right and centre. They think I have a lot of money,” he explained while struggling with tears.
“It has been 9 months, bills are piling up because salaries stopped abruptly. I have loans. Please find it in your heart to forgive me. And secondly, please help end this so I can pick up the small pieces that are left and see where I can begin. With the kind of bad publicity that I got, it is almost impossible to get another place to work. Please have mercy on me.”
Kenyans online however turned on Swaleh, claiming that the government position had altered his personality to the point of believing that he was “untouchable”.
The officials alongside a “cabal” of fraudsters whose operations were facilitated by the officials at OPCS-MFDA at Kenya Railways building were arrested on Saturday, June 22, 2024.
The arrests followed a tipoff that alerted OPCS-MFDA security, who then mounted intense surveillance at the OPCS-MFDA Railways Office to disrupt the reported nefarious acts of impersonation and misuse of the facility by the fraudsters.
The surveillance involved tracking a group masquerading as visitors, who would individually gain entrance into the Railways Building on different dates and times by falsifying their identities (as VIP guests or Government Officers), and the officers they purported to be visiting.
Swaleh and his co-accused were later released on bail after they were charged with conspiring to defraud a consultancy company of Ksh5.8 million, with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Renson Ingonga, approving the fraud charges but later calling for a review of the case.
The suspects failed to take pleas after the DPP’s action and the court gave the DPP until September 12 to conclude the review.
Mudavadi went ahead to appoint seasoned journalist Jacob Ng’etich as his new Director of Press Service. Before his appointment, Ng’etich built an impressive career in journalism, most notably with the Standard Group, where he served for over 12 years.
Jacob Ng’etich, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi’s Director of Press Service. /FILE