Former minister Soita Shitanda was my best customer ­— Waitress

 Hilda Muhanda has been Soita Shitanda’s waitress for 10 years. Muhanda showing where Shitanda used to rest

The cold hands of death have robbed Hilda Muhanda of a dedicated customer, the late Soita Shitanda.

The Nairobian caught up with Hilda who has for the past 10 years served the former MP drinks at her joint.

“For the last 10 years, I have been serving Mheshimiwa with his favourite drink. He was my best customer,” Hilda recalls as she serves guests at Shitanda’s homestead.

“Before Shitanda stopped drinking because of health reasons, he loved taking Tusker Malt,” she says, adding that, “but he stopped taking hard drinks in 2013. He turned to white or black coffee which I serving him till his death,” she said.

Hilda finds it hard to believe that Shitanda is no more as she remembers the year 2013 when he opened his hotel and asked her to work for him.

“He approached and told me to work for him in his hotel. I accepted and now I am a cashier at his hotel. The last time he visited the hotel was in mid-April this year. He was jovial and greeted everybody before leaving. Little did we know it would be the last time we will see him alive,” she said.

The former MP loved ‘boiro and ‘kunde’

The Nairobian has established that the former Minister for Housing loved eating boiled meat and cow peas (kunde). He also preferred local vegetables and shunned fried food due to his medical condition.

His driver, Barasa Lumukwana, said he used to send him to the market to buy vegetables to be cooked in a hotel.

Despite fighting for the rights of cane farmers in the region, Shitanda was a large-scale banana farmer.

“He has a 20-acre farm of bananas. He used to sell the bananas in Eldoret and other parts of the country. He would visit his farm every weekend to check on his crops,” he said.

Shitanda trusted me with his money

The former Housing minister trusted his driver of 21 years more than he did anybody else.

“Mheshimiwa trusted me to the extent of making me an agent to his personal bank accounts. I am his bank agent for his accounts at KCB, Family Bank and Cooperative Bank,” says Lumukwana.

He recalled a day when Shitanda was leaving for Canada and authorised him to withdraw and bank Sh2.5 million, something Lumukwana still finds hard to believe.

“I still cannot believe he trusted me to the extent of giving me his bank accounts PIN,” he said.

“I knew all his account numbers and their PIN numbers because he often called me for assistance. He gave me his suitcase PIN and I used to get crucial documents for him.”

Before his death, Shitanda told his people “to always fight on the government side and at no point did he support the opposition,” said Lumukwana.

He also confirmed that Kakamega Senator Dr Boni Khalwale was Shitanda’s long-time doctor who gave medics direction on how to handle the late politician.

He recalled a day when Shitanda collapsed at Butali Sugar Company before being rushed to a private hospital in Webuye.

“Dr Khalwale used to instruct medics on how to handle Mheshimiwa when he was sick,” he said.

Reacting to the death, Dr Khalwale said: “It pains me to mourn my long-time brother, friend and patient.”

His former principal at Malava Boys, Luvaha Partis, said the late Shitanda was disciplined, diligent and a submissive student.

“He exhibited leadership qualities in and out of school and that is why we appointed him House Prefect,” he said.

Malalu Festus, Shitanda’s childhood friend said: “We used to look after cattle together, attended the same primary and secondary schools (Tande and Malava Boys’ High School).

In 1970, Shitanda and Malalu got circumcised. When Malalu married, Shitanda told him, “It is your time, mine will come and I will also have a beautiful wife.”

Lumukwana added that his boss was an ardent supporter of Manchester United and AFC Leopards.

“He was an AFC Leopards die-hard fan in the local premier league. In the European football he was once a Chelsea fan, but changed and started supporting Manchester United.”

Shitanda’s lowest moment in life was in 2007 when ODM and Shitanda’s supporters from PNU side clashed. Six cars were set ablaze by unruly youth. This marked Shitanda’s lowest moment in politics and life.

“He was so stressed by the damage to property and resulting injuries. He was a man who loved peace,” said Lumukwana.

Dr Shitanda died on May 24 at Nairobi Hospital, just three days after his elder brother died.

Shitanda leaves behind a widow, Betty Glorious Shitanda and three children.