What started as a simple expression of a different opinion on matters discussed in the boardroom turned out to be a defining moment in Kennedy Kaunda's life. Since then, he has been branded as a truthful man because of the choice of words that he used to dismiss a Cabinet Secretary’s statement: “with all due respect”.
Mr Kaunda was among stakeholders in the public transport sector who were invited by the government to a crucial meeting intended to avert the matatu strike that paralysed normal operations in major towns on Monday and in the early hours of the following day.
He seized the opportunity, just seconds after Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir had addressed the media following a five-hour meeting.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen (center) briefs the media outside Harambee House in Nairobi on May 19, 2026 after stakeholders in the transport sector called off the nationwide matatu strike.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
While Mr Wandayi announced that the government regards the transport sector as crucial to the country's economy, the government reduced the price of diesel by Sh10 and addressed the issue of adulterated diesel at the pumps due to the disparity in diesel and kerosene prices.
However, the transport stakeholders had a different opinion.
Realising that he would not be permitted to speak to the press after the CS had made such a declaration, Mr Kaunda, an SDA adherent and choir member, used his deep, resonant voice to attract the media's attention.
“With all due respect,” Mr Kaunda said as lenses focused on him.
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Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation
At that moment, the CS and EPRA officials all looked down, perhaps in shame, knowing that they had nowhere to hide and that the secret was about to be revealed to the press.
“We did say that we are going to communicate here clear and open,” Mr Kaunda said, adding that they had not agreed on anything by the time they left the boardroom.
In an interview later with the Nation , Mr Kaunda stated that he had not meant to disrespect the Cabinet Secretaries, but was upset by the way they had communicated to the public.
He stated that he has been a God-fearing man since childhood and that, as he turns 57, he will not disrespect any government official who speaks the truth.
“We had agreed on something after the break but we did not agree on a number of things. On what the CS was saying, I could not wait for him to finish speaking. I waved for him to stop because there was no deal yet. I said at that moment that I needed to be clear and send the message, with all due respect.”
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Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation
He felt they were about to be short-changed by the government side and that nobody was willing to confront them with the truth.
Mr Kaunda, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the East Africa Tour Guides Association, said that, since then, his phone has not stopped ringing; people have been calling to praise him for having the courage to speak out.
“I have a family. My son was the first person to call me after [the press conference], telling me that I did an amazing thing and that I was trending, something that I was not prepared for,” he said.
