Uhuru Kenyatta recalls how he hung up on his friend after Alcoblow arrest
By Cynthia Lodite, November 1, 2025Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta has shared past moments when he hung up the phone on a friend who tried mixing their friendship with work.
Uhuru narrated how he handled the situation during the funeral service of veteran banker, the late Frank Ireri, which was held at Karura Community Chapel on Friday, October 31, 2025.
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At the time, the former president revealed how, among his friends, Frank stood out, as he did not like mixing work with other things.
“I remember another friend of mine who we lost, who also tried one time to utilize our friendship, and I’m so glad that even Frank didn’t like those issues of mixing work with other things,” Uhuru recalled.
On his part, Uhuru recalled that his friend once called him after he was caught by the police having overindulged; however, in his defense with the police, the friend took his phone and dialled Uhuru’s number.
“I had a friend of mine by the name of Kassie Waiyaki, who one day was caught by police having overindulged in his uji and tea. And as he was nabbed by one of those breathalyser fellows along the road, he had the nerve to call me,” he narrated.
Uhuru further shared how his friend’s motive for making the call to him was to let the police know how close he was to the president at the time.
“And in his state of mind, you know, reminding a fellow, you know, you know who I know,” he recalled.
The former president cracked up mourners as he narrated how he picked up the call and pretended he could not hear his friend, then quickly hung up on him.
“He’s giving the phone over, so I just sort of pretended that, hello, hello, I can’t hear you, you know, and kind of switched off the phone,” Uhuru added.
Who is Frank Ireri?
The veteran banker Frank Marangu Ireri was also the former Housing Finance managing director who has been celebrated for revolutionising one of Kenya’s oldest mortgage lenders.
Ireri died at 63 on Sunday, October 26, at Nairobi Hospital, where he was recuperating.
The banking guru was honoured for transforming financing models at Housing Finance when he took over as managing director in 2006.
At the time, when he took over, the commercial bank was only known for being a mortgage lender, which was at pains to remain relevant in a fast-changing banking market dominated by aggressive commercial banks and new digital challengers.