Former Director of press Service in the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary Salim Swaleh is now asking for forgiveness.
An emotional Swaleh said that he broke an unmatched trust built over the years and he is sorry.
“Your Excellency, you have been my father figure for the longest time that I’ve known you. We've built an unmatched trust between us and for the last one and a half I have served you, served your good office, and served you with unmatched zeal. I broke the trust and I'm so sorry about it. I'm truly remorseful about it,” he said in the video.
Swaleh said the past months have been difficult for him and he has been unable to even get out of his house.
He said this is because of the publicity he received and has even thought about taking his own life.
Let's take a look at who he is
Background and Education
Salim Swaleh was born in Bondeni, Nakuru County. His late father and mother hailed from Bondeni and Gilgil, respectively.
His father had three wives, and Salim's mother had two children, Salim and his sister.
Salim attended Bondeni Primary School up to class four but had to drop out due to financial constraints.
He then moved to Gilgil to live with his grandmother, where he learned to make and sell various dishes.
Later, he returned to Nakuru to live with his mother and stepfather, re-enrolling in school and skipping directly to Grade 7.
After completing his KCPE, he scored 365 marks and was admitted to Menengai High School.
His passion for journalism grew when he got the opportunity to work with KBC E-learning while still at Menengai.
Salim scored a C+ in his KCSE and worked as an untrained primary school teacher in Eldoret while waiting for college admission.
He eventually enrolled for a degree in Mass Communication while working in Iran.
Career
After college, Salim worked at Ghetto Radio without pay before landing his first paid journalism job at Sauti ya Mwananchi in Nakuru, earning KSh 8,000 monthly.
While at the station, he traveled to Iran to further his media career. Upon his return to Kenya, he joined Citizen TV in 2016, where he excelled for two years before moving to NTV.
At NTV, he became an editor and news anchor for the 7 pm Swahili news.
After leaving NTV, he secured a position as the Director of OPCS Press Service under the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs.
Family
Salim is married to Sherry, and the couple has children. He met and married Sherry while working for Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.
Marrying an Iranian woman was not an option for Salim due to cultural differences and the high dowry paid in gold.
Instead, he returned to Kenya, married Sherry, and then settled in Iran, where two of their children were born before moving back to Kenya.
Scandal
According to the charge sheet, Swaleh and four others allegedly conspired to defraud Sh5.8 million from a consultancy company.
The offence is said to have been committed on diverse dates between June 4, 2014, and June 22, 2014, at the Prime Cabinet Secretary's office, specifically at the office of the Director of Press Services, within Nairobi county.
"The five jointly with others not before court conspired to defraud $45,000 equivalent to Sh5.8 million from an engineering consultancy company, by falsely pretending that you were in a position to secure tender for construction of two stadia in Kenya, a fact you knew to be false," reads the charge sheet in part.
Swaleh was supposed to plead to Sh5.8 million fraud charges.
The case had come up to confirm whether the DPP had made a decision to review the charges or have the matter proceed as it is.
But the court was informed that the application for review had been declined meaning Swaleh and his co-accused persons would take plea.
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