Dennis Itumbi tweeted about my burning house 16 minutes after the fire broke out, political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has said.
In a tweet on Wednesday morning, Ngunyi seemingly accused Itumbi of having prior information about the fire that started at 1.45 am.
Ngunyi suggested that the fire could have been started by his political enemies, who felt uncomfortable after he spoke about the Kiambaa killings in his show, The 5th Estate.
“My FREN @OleItumbi MY house in Runda for 27 years WENT on FIRE at 1.45 am. You TOLD the Hustlers at 2.01 am. About 16 minutes LATER. That is after I talked about KIAMBAA violence of 2008 on 5th Estate,” he tweeted.
In response, Itumbi said he would ignore Ngunyi’s allegations, claiming that he was using the tragedy to market his channel.
“I note the attempt to tie in mischief, but I ignore. If you ever witness/suffer such tragedy, text real time if you can, I will TWEET before the 16th minute. Not withstanding what you have talked about hours before. BTW, it takes courage to market your channel, at such moments,” tweeted Itumbi.
Itumbi was the first to tweet about the fire at 2.01am on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, calling upon the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to rescue the house.
However, Itumbi’s message seemed to lean into politics, after he asked NMS “to rescue a man who supports them”.
“Dear Fire Brigade, please rush and save @MutahiNgunyi Runda House from FIRE. @NMS_Kenya quick action for a guy who supports you if nothing else. Hope the man is safe and family OK. Other than the tweet, I can only pray that you suffer the LEAST damage and be safe!” tweeted Itumbi.
The cause of the fire was not immediately established.