Antony Macloud Mulla, popularly known as the Truthwatchdog, is loved and loathed in almost equal measure. To his loyal fans, he exposes frauds and other ills that bedevil the society. To his detractors, he is an irritant who is out to tarnish their names and businesses.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Background and Education
He was born in Kakamega to a father who served as a general in the army. This did not mean their life was smooth.
His mother abandoned him when he was only three months old and left with his twin sister. The Tik Toker went on to be raised by his grandmother and aunties.
His older brother Philip was also always there for him. Despite being young himself, his brother always took care of him. His father was lost to drunkenness.
He started high school at Ofafa Jericho before winning a public speaking contest at the national level. From this exploit, he was awarded a scholarship to Cardinal Otunga Boys High School where he would go on to finish high school.
His mother
In an interview with POV Podcast Kenya, he revealed that he was never interested in looking for his mother until later in life.
While in school, he would see other students being visited by their parents and this created a desire to see his own mother. At the time, his father would only give him Ksh50 for pocket money yet he was a general and his school fees had been catered for by the school.
To get by, he washed people’s clothes to make some money. The Truthwatchdog recalls asking one of the teachers, who was their school mother, to help him with money during mid term break. He was 17 at the time.
Anthony used the money to track his mother’s relative. They mistook him for his older brother and after explaining who he was, he was given his mother’s contacts.
Upon calling, she said she did not know him when he introduced himself as Antony Maclaud. It took time telling her that he was his other son for her to remember him. She suddenly became so happy and promised to go see him.
The relatives slaughtered chicken for him as they waited for his mother to arrive. She never arrived. Then, she promised to meet him at a specific place in Kakamega Town. He went to wait for her but once again she failed to show up.
With the mid term break coming to an end, he realized it was a futile mission and left. From then, the interest of seeing his mother vanished and he moved on with life.
Crime
In a separate interview with Dr. King’ori, the Truthwatchdog explained how he was introduced to crime at a young age. He hanged around people who were into crime and eventually became involved.
During this time, he saw some of his friends get murdered yet he still continued. At around the age of 14 or 15, he gave up crime after his father intervened.
Army
The father of two boys was drafted into the army and for a while served in Somalia. He has explained in several interviews that life was not easy and he eventually left due to PTSD.
While speaking on Jay Rosales’ channel, he said that they were once captured by militants and tortured before his comrades were killed. He was the only survivor and was left with injuries and asked to pass a message that that was what would happen to other soldiers who dared to encroach their territory.
In a different interview, he said at one point, they stepped on a landmine and most of them died. Once again, he was a survivor and almost lost his testicles.
He revealed in an interview with Nicholas Kioko how the life of a serviceman was very difficult. It was lonely and full of uncertainty. He said this is why most military men end up drinking and wasting their money only to end up destitute after leaving the army.
Upon leaving the army, he ventured into chicken rearing.
Exposing Fraud
Speaking on Obinna TV, he explained how he started exposing evil so that people can be aware. He first revealed how he had been conned out of his pocket money by the people in town who often lure others to play money games saying if you give a certain amount you may win more money or gifts.
A few years ago, he would watch an old woman in town cry in desperation after she was conned. This gave him the idea to start warning Kenyans to be safe. He helped the woman and took a video of the encounter and posted it online.
It blew up. Truthwatchdog went from hundreds of views on Tik Tok to hundreds of thousands as his followers also shot up. He then started receiving calls from Kenyans to expose others. Others sent him money to appreciate his good work.
This made him see it was a worthwhile venture. It also helped that he had first-hand knowledge of how thieves operate.
The Truthwatchdog has exposed those people in Nairobi lying to people they have won t-shirts, the ones who sell SIM cards yet it is just a font for stealing and those who sell fake land on jiji and other places.
He explained how at one point he saved a woman from spending almost two million on a fake land deal. To show appreciation, she sent him Ksh100,000.
He says the thieves are sometimes backed by Powerful people because even after reporting them nothing happens. Others are used as a way to launder money.
He has also exposed the corruption of police officers and servicemen. However, he says he does not blame them as the system contributes to this.
They have low salaries and at times, their bosses set a specific target of the money they want a police officer to collect. Failure often results in consequences, such as being transferred to harsh areas.
Apart from this, the Truthwatchdog has also exposed various celebrities and Tik Tokers. He says most of them, especially those promoting forex, are thieves.
Their intention is simply to lie to unsuspecting Kenyans. He says most don’t even own some of the cars they flaunt online and their Mpesa Messages are scripted.
Despite the risk that comes with such expose, he has maintained that he is ready to pay the price but stand with the truth. He has even lost his YouTube channel more than once but he continues to push through. His channel Watchdog Ke has over 9k subscribers and more than 200 videos.
