A story is told about Bruce McKenzie, a South African-born man who for years served in the first government as the Minister of Agriculture.
McKenzie served in Mzee Jomo Kenyatta's government until his (Bruce) death in May 1978, having Kenyatta's lawyer Fitz De Souza to thank for introducing him to Kenyatta, immediately after his (Kenyatta) release from prison.
But according to De Souza, Bruce had a terrible habit of faking brokenness, and repeatedly forced money out of his (Fitz) pockets despite having more than enough.
He says that despite being a successful farmer, Bruce always managed to get money from him, and at some point made him pay his Sh300 rent for three months.
"Although a good farmer, Bruce always seemed short of cash. Once when he was staying in a flat in Nairobi West, he asked me to lend him Sh300 for rent, which I did for three months," says De Souza.
He says that even so, he always had the feeling that Bruce was rich, after the letter once admitted that he had too much chicken meat in his house, where he lived with his mother and wanted to hive some away.
He adds that Bruce also somehow changed the life of Kenyatta who was broke at the time, noting that apart from volunteering to work on his maize plantation in Gatundu, he became the solution to Kenyatta's brokenness.
Consequently, money never became an issue to Kenyatta after their first meeting.
"Previously, Kenyatta had always been broke. I remember when he came out of prison and found his house demolished by the British Government, he asked us if we could find some money to help him build a simple garage to live in.
We had previously raised small amounts from donations, but things were always tight. After meeting Bruce, however, Kenyatta was mysteriously never short of cash," says De Souza in an article on the Nation.