Goldenburg: Story of a whistleblower

At the CBK, the Pattni times are still remembered with fondness. Many are still living off pesa ya Pattni.

So this was the kind of place David Sadera Munyakei, a young man with large ambitions, found himself: “When I went to the Central Bank I was supposed to go to college but it was decided that this young man should be recruited at the Central Bank and after three years that he should be given a scholarship because he was qualified to go to university. I was very qualified to study economics and it was agreed by the bank that I should be recruited and after three years I should be given a scholarship which is within the banking provisions for training. That’s why I joined the central bank; otherwise I wanted first to go to school and finish my education, get my degree, get my Masters degree, get my PhD degree and now come and settle.”

But though this did not come to pass, David immediately realised he was lucky to get the job.

It is not clear whether he got the job without any political canvassing — a cousin claims that David got the job through the influence of the man David would claim is his father, a local Maasai politician.

David would deny this, saying he got the job fair and square, an unlikely occurrence but not impossible.

David conceded that “there was a lot of political patronage,” adding: “If you were qualified you could easily get the job. I was very happy because my ambitions were very high. I had a very big vision. I joined banking in 1991. I admired banking and decided to be a banker. It is a suitable profession. Okay especially at that time. It was also a place where one could advance.”

Like many boys, David had always wanted to become a pilot when he grew up.

Now 23, he was a clerk in the Central Bank. The boy’s dreams had been replaced by the man’s need to survive in the real world, in Nairobi. “After completing school things change. Reality changed. Becoming a pilot was a childish dream,” he would say.

By coming to Nairobi, Munyakei had stepped way outside the protection of the Maasai nation where he had grown up.

Though he realised there were different rules to Nairobi and the larger Kenya, he probably didn’t realise the degree to which this was a reality.

This has happened to many a Maasai who has had dealings outside the Maasai nation.

“I was very happy at the Central Bank when I started and I was very young. I joined CBK and only knew something was wrong after a whole year. I realised that something was wrong … the working procedures. Something was not right.”

The following is an unedited transcript of David Sadera Munyakei’s recorded account of what took place from the time he discovered something was wrong in the department he worked for, then exposing it and being arrested. It also contains his account of fleeing Nairobi for Mombasa.

Munyakei: When I realised things were not right, I consulted Onyango Jamasai who was a friend of mine.

He was senior and was available. I often discussed with him what was going on and he agreed that something was wrong.