Only time will tell if my daughter is lying, Kabura’s father declares

Joshine Kabura's father Mr Wilson Irungu 70 Years -old at his home in Thanju Village in Kiharu Constituency, Muranga County on February 19 2016. [PHOTO:KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD].

"In the fullness of time," Wilson Irungu said, the truth will come out, "and we will know if my daughter is lying or telling the truth".

Mr Irungu is the father of Josephine Kabura, 34, who is in the eye of the storm over the Sh791 million scandal at National Youth Service (NYS).

Meeting him for the first time, he comes across as your ordinary villager. His disarming smile and appealing personality portray nothing of what many may think of him.

In a detailed affidavit, Ms Kabura has thrust former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru at the core of the NYS rip-off.

Either by design or default, Irungu's demeanour does not betray the fact that his daughter is the most talked about woman today.

"I have nothing to hide, Kabura is my daughter and I cannot disown her just because she is in the news for the wrong reasons," he said when The Standard on Sunday team visited him at his home in Thanju village, Murang'a County.

The retired school bursar, a stout, full-faced man had no difficulty discussing one of her seven children who has captured the nation's attention. He is a father of six girls and a boy.

"I have wanted to keep my identity hidden, but I knew deep down inside that it would not last forever," he said.

He spoke fondly of her daughter saying he doubts if she has "all this money she has been accused of stealing".

"You can tell a person with this kind of money by their face, appearance and even gait. But the Kabura I saw here last December does not fit that bill," Irungu said.

According to him, if indeed this huge sum of money passed through the hands of his daughter, "then she is naïve and gullible."

"How can a person with this mind boggling money live in a rented apartment in Kinoo? She was either just a foolish conduit who agreed to be used or this thing is just a farce," Kabura's father said.

"I don't even know whether or not she owns a car. I don't discuss such things with my children. I'm sure you will be surprised that I have not called her to ask about this issue about the affidavit," he said.

He recalled his daughter's childhood when she walked barefoot to and from school on the dusty rural roads and paths.

"Just like my other children, Kabura went to Kiangatia Primary School some four kilometres from here," said Irungu. She later proceeded to Chania High School in Thika where she completed her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and attained C plain.

He said he was never called to any of the institutions for disciplinary matters against Kabura.

"She has been a well behaved girl since childhood. Very obedient and I don't think anything has changed," he said during the interview. "Even now when she is married, I have not heard of any matrimonial problem. In school I cannot say she was too bright or too poor."

After high school, she joined Kenya College of Accountancy in Ruaraka for a diploma course in Information Technology.

"She was first employed in an outlet that deals with computers in Nairobi before she opened a shop to sell phones in the Central Business District," Irungu narrated.

Kabura's father said he was not aware that his daughter trained in beauty or hairdressing. "Maybe she opened a salon but she has never informed me of such development. So I'm completely surprised when people keep on referring to her as a hairdresser," he said.

He said contrary to what has been reported in the media, police have never raided his house or recorded any statements from the family.

"Leave alone raiding our house, neither a police officer nor any official from the anti-corruption commission has ever visited us," the elder at Sagana Catholic Church said.

The main feature in his compound at the edge of Kiambicho Forest is an old brick house which he said was built in 1996.

It is a three-bedroomed house, with a cleared space besides the main building and rugs spread out on the compound. In one corner of the homestead stands a cowshed where the 70-year-old man keeps two dairy cows for the daily sustenance of his family.

Dressed in a faded blue stripped shirt, a pair of torn black trousers and worn out brown sandals, Irungu was busy feeding his cows when the team arrived.

He retired from the public service 15 years ago and joined his wife, Cecilia Waithera, in small-scale farming on his five-acre land overlooking the Sagana River.

It is a village with no electricity or running water and residents depend on a nearby river.

The roads leading to the village are in poor shape with the residents claiming that the last time they were graded was a year ago courtesy of the Kiharu Constituencies Development Fund.