This archive report was first published on 14 September 2019.
It's been four years since Peter Mangiti, the former Devolution principal secretary, was pushed out of office and charged in court after the first National Youth Service scandal broke.
On a sunny day at the Royal Golf Course on Nairobi's Ngong Road, where he spends most of his days, Mr. Mangiti shared his story with The Nation.
‘I am alone, my phone never rings anymore,' he said, a sentiment that has become a harsh reality for many bigwigs battling graft charges.
Mr. Mangiti, a career civil servant who rose through the ranks as a civil engineer to the post of director of Water Services, before he was made the principal secretary in the Devolution ministry, has had to adapt to a new life.
‘I have all the time in the world to do things I was never able to do when I was in office,' he said, as he teed off at the golf course, his handicap 13 and now a pensioner.
Despite the isolation, Mr. Mangiti says he is not bitter with anyone, attributing the burden of betrayal to his fake friends who vanished the minute they heard he was in trouble.
‘The burden of betrayal rests on my fake friends who vanished the minute they heard I was in trouble. It’s not on me,' he said.
However, he has come to realize that the absence of his friends has been a blessing in disguise, helping him to sieve out the genuine ones from the fake.
‘I take a different view. My phone never rings anymore, but this is a blessing in disguise. I now know my fake friends from the genuine ones. This experience has helped me sieve a lot of fake friends,' he said.
Not everyone left, though. Mr. Mangiti says a few genuine friends have stood by him and have come to support him.
When asked about the challenges he has faced, Mr. Mangiti admitted that life has been hard, having to sell two of his three cars and now relying on taxi-hailing apps or matatus to get around.
He has also had to adjust to a significant reduction in income, from earning Sh1 million a month to just Sh68,000.
‘You can imagine coming from earning Sh1 million a month to just Sh68,000. How do you survive? But I have learnt not to be bitter. If you are going through such challenges and you add bitterness, you could easily die,' he said.
Mr. Mangiti says he now just looks at the positive side of the experience and this helps him move on.
‘It is better to have one or two friends than a bunch who sing your praises but are happy to see you go down. You have to battle with perceptions. Some family members whom I turn to when I am financially struggling, wonder how daft I was if I didn’t leave government as a rich man,' he said.
