Charles Hinga, the principal secretary for housing

State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed chose to spread awareness of the issue after a protracted, mostly unpopular, national discussion over the contentious Housing Fund, which wants to require companies and workers to pay a monthly subscription to the Fund.


Charles Hinga, the principal secretary for housing, enters the scene, setting social media on fire with caricatures and funny commentary.


This was meant to be an educational session to help demystify the terminology and diffuse the contentious situation.


However, PS Hinga's press briefing did not go as expected, and the only thing Kenyans appear to have taken away from it were memes of him guzzling enormous quantities of water, spilling his glass of water, and profusely perspiring.


If Mr. Hinga hadn't conducted the news conference in the uncommonly passionate manner in which he did, it may have mostly gone undetected and generated little attention, as with other government press conferences.


Although Hinga is a highly intelligent guy, we'll suppose that the pressure and his fervour for the topic at hand got to him.


Speaking from State House, an uneasy Hinga ranted endlessly about the advantages of the fund, how it differed from a "tax," and generally tried to clear up the misconception.


Hinga swayed back and forth, heaved and puffed, mumbled over himself, and, as the strain built, looked to be perspiring abundantly as he repeatedly snatched out his white handkerchief to wipe his now-clammy face.


As the press members waited with their questions, Mr. Hinga laboured to express himself and seemed to passionately want to win a one-on-one debate for more than an hour.


At some point, as he anxiously fumbled through a stack of documents, Hinga, who had now taken on an uncomfortably sanctimonious voice, dropped his glass of water.


The phrase is "Unaona ata vile nimesweat... He apologised to the journalists, saying, "Sorry, I'm usually extremely active. The statehouse spokesperson stood by my side and acted like everything was fine while I clumsily replaced the glass.


Hinga's awkwardness and evident anxiety throughout the whole briefing were trending topics on Twitter for hours after he was finished.


Kenyans had a field day analysing his somewhat humorous, if not completely active, body language on Twitter, with many drawing comparisons to the theatrics of a crusade evangelist.


Cornelius Rono, a journalist, attempted to distil Hinga's entire campaign down to only errors, sweat, and awkward silence.


The video has subsequently gained popularity, which is unfortunate from a communications standpoint since it eclipsed what Mr Mohamed and Mr Hinga had aimed to accomplish.


"When a government PS needs to sell a concept by shouting like Pastor Nganga, ujue kuna chida," said renowned banker Mohamed Wehliye.


According to the Housing PS, the government selected the initiative to fix Kenya's allegedly dysfunctional housing market.


"You get your money back when you retire, pass away, or wait seven years, whichever occurs first. The employer part remains in since it safeguards the fund's capital, but if you want it out, you may take your share of it. You may now leave your employer portion after 14 years," he added.

 

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