Kenya Films Classification Board boss Ezekiel Mutua has been forced to kill a Ksh50,000 financial aid deal he had offered a youthful unemployed Kenyan man over his Facebook account’s Arap Mashamba pseudonym .
According to Mutua, the 33-year-old man had made a very personal and touching comment under Mutua’s post on his commitment to progressing in life.
However, the lad recalled lots of financial restraints which he said were delaying his success.
The KFCB CEO having been touched, reached out to our guy and engaged him in a chat through social media to learn some more about him.
Mutua offered to support the guy with a Ksh50,000 donation out of his own pocket, an amount the guy said he needed as capital for a business idea he had already identified and planned for.
However, since they were communicating via online platforms only, Mutua decided to run checks on his new friend’s social media accounts.
“The gentleman said he needed KSh 50,000 to start a business. I engaged him further and he seemed to be clear on the kind of business he could do with the money. I made up my mind to sacrifice KSh 50,000 out of my salary this month to help this young man but since we were only communicating on social media I decided to do due diligence,” the media police stated.
According to Mutua’s statement, he thoroughly scrutinized this man’s profile until he saw his Facebook account username; Ndungu Arap Mashamba.
“I realised the fellow uses a very strange name – “Ndungu Arap Mashamba… But he chose to recklessly use “Arap Mashamba” a tag used scornfully for a top politician in Kenya. It hurts me to the bone when I see young people jumping into the foolish bandwagon of mocking national leaders or using derogatory language,” he went on.
The young man’s effort to explain himself bore no fruits as Mutua said he had made up his mind about the offer saying it was no longer on the table.
“May this serve as a lesson that your personal branding on these streets can open or close doors. I was so moved about the plight of this young man until I saw his account name,” he advised.
The retired journalist went on to advise people to understand the importance of personal branding and etiquette instead of promoting hate speech against others.
“You can use social media to grow your brand and social capital. It’s therefore important that you behave yourself and do not hide behind anonymity to insult people or do stupid things. I do not engage any further with such people. These are my personal values. You can live with them or block yourself,” he added.
“Arap Mashamba” is a title that is shamefully linked to a senior government official.