I Shafted Myself – Shaffie Weru Reflects on Losing His Job

Two years since his sacking at Radio Africa Group (RAG)-owned Homeboyz Radio, Shaffie Weru is making his comeback to the public eye. Weru on Wednesday, February 1 released the first installment of his new show Shafted – a uniquely conceptualized show in which he interviews himself.

Weru had worked at Radio Africa Group for 18 years before he was pushed out, amid widespread outrage over insensitive comments made on air. He was sent home alongside his morning show co-hosts DJ Joe Mfalme and Neville.

Released online, the first episode of Shafted sees Weru reflecting on his sacking at the station, and admitting that he “shafted” himself.  “It’s been two years of soul-searching, planning,” he stated.

Industry regulator Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), as well as major Radio Africa advertisers including Safaricom and East African Breweries Limited (EABL), and Kenyans on Twitter, roundly condemned Weru’s statements pressuring the company to fire them.

On the new show Weru admitted that they also handled their response poorly, with separate apologies that only seemed to stoke the fire.

“It (apology) went south…Joe did his apology, I did my own apology. If this thing had been handled right we would have done a communal apology, one voice, and then maybe people would have taken us more seriously..but now, Neville already released his apology he wrote with G-Money, Mfalme released his, by the time I was chucking mine guys were like aaihh, these guys understand that the issue was messed up but that’s where I apologize for. I apologize for how we handled the whole apology scenario,” he stated.

“Because first, that station’s not mine, it’s not DJ Joe Mfalme’s. It’s owned by a whole group of people.”

Weru stated that he didn’t blame anyone for his sacking, and further admitted to facing depression at one point for what he felt was his role in DJ Joe Mfalme and Neville also losing their jobs.

“I’m in this position right now because of that one incident…In fact even on behalf of Joe Mfalme and Neville who are really doing very well, because at some point I was really getting depressed because I was like yo, me at least I’ve had my go, I’ve been working all these years, Neville had just joined that station, he was barely a couple of months old, Joe Mfalme also was barely a couple of months old,” Weru stated.

Weru plans on releasing more episodes of the show and allowing others to tell their own stories of being shafted. He discussed several other issues including the decline of traditional media, and even admitted to taking payola during his time on air.

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