Kennedy Kaunda has denied claims that he received a bribe during negotiations that led to the suspension of the nationwide matatu strike.
Kaunda, who is also East Africa Tour Guides and Drivers Association (EATGDA) CEO, said accusations circulating online have left him being confronted by suspicious Kenyans in the streets of Nairobi.
The transport official said he became an overnight public figure after dramatically challenging government officials during live televised talks over rising fuel prices and said he had not received any money from the government or negotiators.
“I was not bribed,” Kaunda said on Citizen’s JKL as speculation intensified online.
“People are stopping me in the streets asking, ‘Boss, tupatie ya brown envelope.’ Others are asking me where we shared the money. But there was no money.”
The allegations emerged shortly after matatu operators agreed to suspend the strike on Tuesday, May 19, afternoon temporarily to allow further consultations with the government over fuel prices and transport expenses.
Only hours earlier in late Monday evening, Kaunda had electrified social media during a tense press briefing in Nairobi attended by senior government officials, including Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi and Transport CS Davis Chirchir.
Inside the packed boardroom, beneath glaring lights, humming television cameras and rows of exhausted transport stakeholders, government officials appeared ready to announce a breakthrough agreement.
Then Kaunda leaned toward the microphone.
“With all due respect,” he began, before publicly contradicting the ministers and insisting no agreement had yet been reached and the strike was on.
Overnight celebrity
The moment spread across Kenya with astonishing speed. TikTok creators remixed the clip into memes.
Matatu conductors repeated the phrase at bus stages. Office workers quoted it in WhatsApp groups.
Within hours, Kaunda had become the unexpected face of public frustration over the fuel crisis.
But admiration quickly turned into suspicion after the strike was suspended.
READ ALSO: “With All Due Respect, CS…”: How Kennedy Kaunda Froze a Government Briefing and Lit Up Internet
On Facebook, X and TikTok, some users accused negotiators of accepting “brown envelopes”, a phrase commonly used in Kenya to suggest secret pay-offs or political inducements.
Kaunda, however, insisted the decision to pause the strike was strategic rather than financial.
“We are giving room for negotiation,” he said.
“If we are unable to agree, we will resume the strike.”
He also rejected suggestions that his televised confrontation had been staged or insincere.
“I was not confronting him,” Kaunda said in a separate interview.
“I was trying to pass a message.”
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