This follows claims by a woman who called a radio station during a phone-in show that the former speaker of the 10th Parliament secretly grows bhang in his home.
When contacted by The Nairobian, Marende who was known for his ‘Solomonic wisdom’ during his tenure in office, laughed off the allegations.
“That is not true since I have police officers guarding my home in Vihiga. Even nearby local authorities could have known that I have the illegal plant in my compound. Do you want to tell me that the officers are guarding bhang? Anyone is free to go and confirm if I have them, even you,” Marende told this writer on phone.
The young woman had called the radio station on April 24 alleging that she is an immediate neighbour of the former speaker in Vihiga, and that she has the illegal plants in her compound.
She claimed since marijuana, known in Western Kenya as nyasi, ‘grows uncontrollably’ in Vihiga, there is a possibility that Marende “grows the grass too.”
The FM station usually allows its audience to call in during their breakfast show, known to dwell mostly on relationships gone south, and marriage problems.
The woman was responding to a topic of the day that emerged out of a claim by a male caller, who alleged that some of the woman who cannot be trusted for marriage include those from Bunyore in Western Kenya.
The woman, who did not reveal her name, called the station in rage to defend the Bunyore women, before linking Marende to the illegal drug.
“Let me contribute on behalf of Bunyore women. It is true that we smoke because bhang grow everywhere in our gardens, even our former Speaker, Kenneth Marende, knows that because he is my neighbour. I am very sure even his garden has some weed too,” she claimed.
“I used to smoke too, but at some point I decided to quit and focus on better things in life. You can judge men from our area too, they seriously smoke the weed. If he says he will slash you with panga, take a flight because he will certainly do that.”
Marende however told The Nairobian that the woman was trying to drag him into ‘unnecessary topics.’
-standardmedia.co.ke
