Political Chess: Spoiling for Ellusive Divorce

Traffic to Kumekucha (where this article was first published) has shot up dramatically and Kumekucha is also reliably informed that newspapers in Kenya are selling like crazy over the last week or so since the dramatic events of Valentines day. But what do you expect when a deadly game of political chess is unfolding before our very eyes, whose outcome could easily bring back chaos to Kenya? There is no doubt that Kenyans are very concerned about what is really going on with the grand coalition government and the possible implications of that government going belly up on us.

ODM’s brilliant political maneuver whose objective was to position Raila Odinga as a champion fighter against corruption in sharp contrast to lethargic Mwai Kibaki was well executed but did not quite work according to plan. One of the things that went terribly wrong was that Kenyans were quickly able to read the real motives behind the actions of ODM’s Raila Odinga. That is NOT good because the first rule in these kinds of political games is that thou shall never show the fish the hook. I mean how do you expect fish to bite when they can clearly see the hook?

The fact that the press was able to swiftly read the political game plan here is clear testament to the fact that the Kenyan press has matured tremendously from the days of blindly reporting what the politicians say at press conferences and political rallies to deep and instant analysis of the dangerous cards being played under the table. The cards under the table are usually the real news.

The other thing that went wrong was that President Kibaki did not receive the strong rebuke from the Kenyan public blaming him for condoning corruption amongst his ministers. In fact Kenyans have completely ignored the big elephant in the room.

But what I find even more fascinating is the fact that opinion is divided over whether what Raila and ODM are doing is above board. Those from the old school are livid and are certain that forcing a general election is not very different from a military coup like the one Raila helped organize in 1982. Their argument is that anything that destabilizes the country is dangerous and certainly NOT acceptable. More so if there is the possibility of it resulting in blood-shed. The Prime Minister’s handlers seem to have taken note of this and the tone of recent statements from the deputy leader of the party and others seem to be designed to downplay the instability being caused. On the other end of the scale are Kenyans who believe that in competitive politics, anything goes as long as it is NOT illegal.

A so-called leaked confidential document from ODM that a reliable source supplied me with last night made for some very interesting reading. The document indicates that ODM are keen on forcing a general election not later than Feb 2011. My hunch is that the dossier is fake. But to produce such a document and convince people one always needs to mix facts and reliable intelligence with whatever it is you want to “plant” in the minds of the public. I am convinced that the consensus within ODM insiders is that Raila’s presidency can only succeed if early elections are called and the date they have in mind is not later than Feb 2011.

My personal view is that Raila Odinga’s best chance to be president has passed. The truth is that even if general elections were called today, the ODM captain will not ascend to the presidency. My position is that Raila Odinga will remain the best president Kenya never had. That is a very sad fact because the truth is that Mr Odinga won the 2007 general elections.

The dangerous thing here is that the PM and those close to him have still not sobered up from the heady support Raila got in 2007. One of the reasons for that support was a strong anti-Kibaki vote. Raila handlers seem oblivious of the fact that things will change dramatically when Kibaki is not a candidate. In fact if ODM strategists continue pushing their luck they could easily end up handing over the 4th presidency of Kenya to a nobody who will benefit enormously from a strong anti-ODM wave.

But what should really be of great concern to Kenyans is the whispered ‘foreign input’ in the attempted ODM coup of government. There are those whop believe that President Kibaki is not fit run government, especially at a dangerous time such as this when there are so many challenges facing the country. Simply put the ship called Kenya is in extremely rough waters and the only way she can have a fighting chance of steering through the danger is if the old, slow tired, lethargic captain is removed and a younger more alert one assumes command. It is whispered that many foreign governments with delicate interests in Kenya share this view and would be delighted to see a change at State house. It was not lost on close observers that major foreign powers issued carefully worded statements after the Valentine day events that seemed to lean in favour of Mr Odinga and the action he had taken against corruption in government.

Some naïve Kenyans think that the days of foreign powers sponsoring political changes in third world countries are over.

Lastly the way President Kibaki has handled this crisis has confirmed that those of his critics who say he is unfit to rule have a point. The effect would have been much better if he had done nothing on Valntine’s day and just kept his ministers in office. In any case he has no powers to retain William Ruto in office since Ruto is in government courtesy of Raila Odinga’s half of government. The powers the current president of Kenya has are such that the holder does not need to rush around issuing statements and trying to prove that they are powerful enough. That kind of action only makes them look weak and unsure of themselves and the authority they wield.

And so the deadly game of political chess continues. How will it end? Who will win? Even folks who recklessly like making predictions like this blogger cannot hazard a guess this time. Let’s just wait and see shall we? I will of course keep you posted.

The truth about the Ruto versus Raila war

The ongoing battle within ODM that has pitted agriculture minister William Ruto against Prime Minister Raila Odinga is unprecedented. Little wonder that obituaries are already being written about the once very popular political party called ODM.

I believe that this development is serious enough for me to abandon the ongoing debate on the draft constitution at least momentarily to discuss it.

Is this the end of ODM as we once knew it?

Just examine the history of political parties since the resumption of multi-party politics in Kenya. Remember the mighty united original Ford? What about NARC? What happened to those political parties? What happened to them is exactly what will happen to ODM. As much as many of the regular readers to this blog would hate to hear such a suggestion, that is the truth, and you hardly need to be a prophet to predict it. You simply need the patience to read a few paragraphs of history and the intellect to make simple comparisons.

The nature of political parties in Kenya is that they usually self-destruct the minute they complete the journey of getting their main passenger to the seat of power. The political parties that survive are those that are unsuccessful in this mission, they remain alive to fulfill their mission in time. In other words if ODM survives intact to field a major presidential candidate in 2012, then it will be the exception and history will have been made.

Many analysts who are unaware of what is going on behind the scenes are puzzled that Ruto should vote for the Mau evictions only to turn round a few weeks later to strongly oppose the same Mau evictions. The answer to that puzzle is not too difficult to decipher. In simple language William Ruto is fighting for political survival and has chosen to use the Mau has his trump card. What has happened is that Ruto has made too many enemies with his arrogant lone-ranger ways and some of these enemies have ganged up together to fight him as their common enemy. This would not have been too big a problem except that some of those enemies are powerful “monied” and experienced enough to be a great cause for concern for the Ruto camp. Retired President Moi and Raila Odinga are now on the same side in a bid to see this “upstart”-young-man-who-is-in-a-terrible-hurry, completely defeated. Granted Moi is using old political tactics that are definitely on their last legs. Like the creation of the Kalenjin Council of elders. Gideon Moi has also been in campaign mode for a long time and if you followed him and did not read any other news on Kenya you would be sure that the general elections are going to be held next month. The strategist and brains behind his every move is of course his father. Granted, Moi senior is still smarting from the resounding defeat he suffered in the hands of Raila in 2002. But he is even more upset about the more recent defeat in the hands of this young man called William “who does he think he is?” Ruto.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has been convinced that the best he can do for himself is to deal with William Ruto before 2012. And he has been told that he can still get a sizeable amount of Kalenjin votes without Ruto’s help. Not the same overwhelming support of 2007 but at least 50 per cent of it. In other words some people are saying that the Kalenjin vote in the next general elections will be sharply divided.

Actually the game plan is to destroy Ruto politically before Ocampo gets to him so that there will be absolutely no fall out when he departs.

Handlers in both the Ruto and Raila camps have been behaving very strangely in recent times and this has led me to the conclusion that the whispers about Ruto defending himself at the Hague by incriminating Raila in the post election skirmishes may not be so far fetched after all. The truth is that the Kalenjin community had prepared months in advance for the violence. However Ruto handlers have plenty of evidence to suggest that the order to kill Kikuyus in the Rift Valley came from the highest authority in the ODM hierarchy. Remember the slogan; “No Raila no peace”? This fear amongst the prime Minister’s handlers is what led to Raila’s strong insistence that the perpetrators of the post-election violence be tried locally (including the king pins).

What are Raila’s chances of political survival assuming that he can clean house and deal with Ruto? Regular readers of this blog will know my view on that. While it is true that Raila Odinga can never be underestimated (you have to respect a man who came back from the gallows at Kamiti), my view is that Raila will never again wield the power and influence he wielded in the run up to the 2007 general elections which he actually won as every intelligent non-partisan Kenyan knows.

All in all this Raila/Ruto battle is not a small thing and neither is it a passing cloud. It is something that will be prominent in Kenya’s political landscape for as long as both men remain standing. Indeed it is the kind of battle that could create room for the emergence of a new third political force on the scene. But there is a big “if” there. And that is IF this war does not degenerate into chaos.

Dark secrets of the presidency Part 6

One key nagging question remains unanswered and a closely guarded state secret. Who was the mastermind behind the August 1st 1982 botched coup?

For the first time, I shall attempt to answer that key question and clear the mystery which has been hanging since that fateful August day. Before you hear what I have to say I suggest that you read this earlier Kumekucha post on the 1982 coup for some fascinating basic details first.

To answer the question that I have started this post with, we need to look for key suspects first.

The Kiambu mafia? Yes. They were still very much around and still whispering amongst themselves that Moi’s presidency was a passing cloud. They were also still scheming but were doing it very quietly. Admittedly, this group of ruthless thugs had realized that with Kenyatta dead, it was a totally different ball game and all their venom was gone. Although the group qualifies as suspects the truth is that they were still running around aimlessly like a chicken that has just been beheaded. They were hardly capable of pulling off such a daring scheme as a military coup.

Charles Njonjo? Yes. He was most responsible for putting Moi in power. However he was still a very ambitious man who wanted nothing short of the presidency for himself. There is evidence that he had started getting impatient with the pressure the president was receiving from his kinsmen. Assuming that Njonjo wanted the presidency how would he have gone about it? Constitutionally he could NOT remove Moi from office. However in the unfortunate incident of a coup that ended with Moi dead, it was possible for him to take charge in the chaos on an interim basis and then simply repeat some of the moves he had pulled off to get Moi confirmed as president. I am afraid that if one examines the politics of the day carefully, Njonjo emerges as a prime suspect despite his many denials over the years.

There are several reasons that point to Njonjo.

He was Moi’s chief advisor on security matters at the time and prior to August 1st 1982, rumours had been going around for days in Nairobi that a military coup was in the works. Did this information reach the streets and fail to reach Moi? That is extremely unlikely. So why did Moi not take this information seriously and at the very least leave the country? The only plausible answer to that is that his advisors must have reassured him that all was well. The intention was to make sure that Moi did not escape.

Secondly it is standard procedure that when you crush a coup you MUST ensure that you have dealt with the chief architect. The only way to effectively kill a snake is to crush the head. Now don’t tell me it was the most senior private Hezekiah Ochuka. There was no way such a junior officer could plot a successful coup in Kenya at the time. In any case I will tell you in a moment how he got involved.

Thirdly Moi’s actions in the months and years after the coup point to Njonjo as the main culprit. First there was a commission of enquiry into the conduct of Njonjo where all links to the 1982 coup were carefully avoided.

After that came the snap 1983 polls that was mainly designed to get rid of the vast and wide Njonjo influence in national politics.

The coup would have been successful, there is no doubt about that, except for one small detail that went wrong. Those who plotted it did not keep things quiet enough. The result was that word got out and then the great Kenyan disease took over. Some people somewhere got greedy and launched a coup to pre-empt the better organized coup by Njonjo and company which was to have taken place a few days later. The assumption that the organizers of the pre-emptive coup made was that since most of the military had given the Njonjo coup a nod, they would join in their pre-emptive one believing that it was the same coup brought forward. By the time they realized what was really happening it would be too late. Ad so who was the main mastermind behind the pre-emptive coup? Evidence suggests that it was a group of radicals mainly hailing from the Luo community and Raila Odinga was amongst them. In fact analysts suspect he may have been one of the key people behind the daring plan that almost worked.

Ordinarily military coups do not involve civilians but the August 1982 was a very unique one and this is probably another reason why it did not work. Civilians hardly have the discipline of military people. Apart from Raila and others the botched coup also involved students of Nairobi University.

The other thing that went wrong was the fact that the Air force was used without incorporating any other unit of the Armed forces and without appreciating the “politics” in the military. Generally Air force soldiers are much better educated folks than the rest of the military for obvious reasons and over the years this has given them a superiority complex that has really irked the rest of the military. And so you can imagine the reaction when the rest of the military heard that the coup had been executed by the cocky air force chaps. They just could not take it lying down. That had to be one of the great motivating factors for the rest of the army to decide not to join in the Air force-led coup.

And that was the key decision that changed everything. The army stormed the city centre and went into KBC to gleefully deal with the cocky air force chaps who had taken it over and allowed University students to go on air on national radio to announce that the dictatorial regime of Moi had come to an end. Incidentally the use of the word dictatorial was laughable because we have already seen in this series what kind of president Moi was. However there is a useful aside I cannot resist getting into here. Yesterday the Daily Nation carried an engrossing piece about how Moi used to have fighter jets escort his aircraft whenever he was coming back into the country. Actually this was not Moi’s idea but the idea of his closest aides and more specifically his three wives. The trio was trying very hard to get Moi to settle into the presidency and realize just how much power he wielded. In any case the story about the jet fighter escort has been confirmed by one of Moi’s mistresses and I will get into that later in this series.

By the end of the day August 1st 1982 many bodies were strewn on the streets in Nairobi and Moi was giving a press conference on national TV to thank the loyal military for the good work they had done. Once again fate had decreed that Moi would be transported back to Nairobi hidden away for his own safety. It is believed that Moi was brought back to Nairobi inside a stuffy tank and surrounded by heavily armed soldiers in an operation that was code named by the military, Operation Maji Machafu. This is Swahili for “dirty or contaminated water.”

Senior private Hezekiah Ochuka who had been chosen by the coup plotters to front the take over fled to Tanzania where he was later arrested and returned to Kenya. A court martial quickly found him guilty and he became one of the very few Kenyans who actually went to the gallows during Moi’s 24 years in power. At least Ochuka went to the grave proud of the fact that he was president of Kenya for 30 chaotic minutes. Sadly the key players of the pre-emptive coup and the main coup all went scott free. That’s the sad story of justice in Kenya for you.

Read the rest in Kumekucha

Dark secrets of the presidency Part 5

What is the difference between a novel and a movie? Well, a novel tells or narrates and a movie shows. That is why a boring movie is the one where there is too much narrative (telling) and a fascinating one is where you know the characters by what you see them doing. Basically you understand the story from seeing. This is why making silent movies (without sound) is an ideal way to train a budding film maker.

The following eye witness account of an incident involving President Daniel arap Moi somewhere in Machakos in 1979 is worth recounting here because it “shows: a lot and is a fabulous way to commence this weekend’s posts.

Moi had take over the reigns of power on August 22nd 1978 and had been confirmed as president of Kenya before the end of the stipulated 3 months period on October 10th 1978. Early in his presidency Moi had launched a massive campaign for reforestation and soil conservation in the country. He had even gone as far as forming a special permanent presidential commission on soil conservation and had appointed Kisii politician and former Nyaribari Chache legislator Zephania Anyieni to chair it.

On this particular morning the president was somewhere in Machakos helping build gabion reinforcements to protect the already badly eroded hill side. The exercise involved a long line of people passing along heavy stones which ended up in the president’s hands and he would toss them into the wire mesh. There were a couple of other people at the end of the line throwing the stones in. A large crowd had gathered to witness this curious site. Until then Kenyans were used to a laid back president who was greatly feared and rarely seen in public. Now they had a president who worked in the hot sun with ordinary folk. The exercise continued for at least 2 hours from 11 until almost 1 pm. By this time the hot Ukambani sun was beating down ferociously on the president and his large and extremely dark frame was drenched in sweat. Yet he showed no signs of quitting.

Kenyans at that time knew very little about Moi apart from the fact that he was the Vice president who spoke with a strong Kalenjin accent. We shall discuss later the implication of this accent and the image it portrayed in the minds of Kenyans. For now the point I wanted to make is that very few would have known about Moi’s extremely harsh upbringing meant that he would walk for many kilometers going to school with a heavy suitcase (really just a metal box suitcase) on his head. The walk would take him over 5 hours. Just try and picture that.

And so standing under the extremely hot Ukambani sun tossing big stones around was no big deal. And he would have continued for many more hours except that something happened that hot afternoon.

Some of the stones being passed had sharp edges jutting out of them and while lifting one, Moi cut his fingers and blood started flowing out. What followed was pandemonium. The president’s security detail quickly surrounded him and somebody started barking instructions as policemen rapidly spoke into their two way radio. It seemed that the president’s entire motorcade did not have a first aid kit (at least in those days). Within minutes an ambulance arrived on the scene at high speed with sirens blaring. The president received some first aid and was quickly ushered into his limousine and whisked away.

The president’s security detail is supposed to protect his Excellency at all times but they do like to dramatize things a little sometimes, mainly for effect and that day they succeeded big time.

But the main point here is that Kenya had a very different kind of president and he would not have been more of a contrast to his predecessor. Kenyatta was commanding authoritative and a big bully sometimes. Moi was reserved humble and almost ashamed to be president.

I can hear you asking me how Kenyatta was a bully sometimes. I will give you an example. The old man was fond of calling security meetings involving police bosses from all over the country. He would usually call them for a serious dressing down whenever crime seemed to escalate. On one such meeting he started the proceedings by saying: “I called you all here on very short notice deliberately to see who would fail to come.” After the old man had finished his dressing down of the top cops, a sumptuous lunch would be served and then he would take a photograph with them and bid them goodbye. Those were some of the things that made him very endearing to people despite his ruthlessness and that of his close lieutenants.

But back to Moi. The new president still rode in his limousine with his “3 wives” namely Charles Njonjo, GG Kariuki and Nicholas Biwott. Some analysts believe that these were the real presidents of Kenya in those days and no executive decisions were made without this council of elders. Moi was still terrified of the Kikuyu and in particular the Kiambu mafia and insiders say that he spent many months thinking of ways of neutralizing them or at least keeping them in check. At that time there were no political detainees in the country because Moi had released all of them and it was clear that he greatly detested Kenyatta’s strong arm tactics of ruling and was looking for a different way to rule, if he survived that is.

One of the early ingenious schemes that the new president was advised to follow (it is not clear by whom) was to appoint his people (meaning people he could trust) to be deputies in major institutions he wanted to keep a close eye on, especially in the security forces. It was a very quite way f spreading his influence. The deputy head of any institution is bound to be very much aware of what is going on within the institution. Later this tactic was modified and the deputies were always members of the president’s Kalenjin community. But this was after the failed coup of 1982 when as I have said before a new and very different Moi emerged. But in those early days Moi still kept Kenyatta’s appointees more or less in place, changing only the Police commissioner amongst a few others. You can read about the fascinating way in which Bernard Hinga was removed from police commissioner by Moi HERE in an earlier Kumekucha post.

For this reason Moi relied a lot on the AG whom he inherited from Kenyatta and the man most responsible for his ascension to the presidency, one Charles Mugane Njonjo. But already there was pressure from his Kalenjin community and the elders within the community to the effect that he was too trusting of Njonjo. After all Njonjo was a Kikuyu and it was known that they could not be trusted. There is evidence that some of the pressure was coming from one of his “3 wives” who also hailed from the president’s Kalenjin community. Namely a man called Nicholas Kipyator Biwott. Biwott had worked for Kenya’s first agriculture minister Bruce Mackenzie as a personal assistant and had as a result gained numerous useful contacts. Mackenzie was actually a spy and operative for at least two different foreign powers. The Israelis dreaded Mossad and the British Mi6. The connection with the Israeli’s seemed to have rubbed off on Biwott and not only did he end up getting married to an Israeli woman but Biwott’s personal security detail is and has always been mostly Israeli. Interestingly there is plenty of clear evidence to suggest that Biwott also used personnel from that country for his dirty jobs locally like getting people killed. Many different sources concur that the killings of people involved with the Ouko assassination was fulfilled mainly with help from his Israeli security personnel.

It is instructive that Bruce Mackenzie did not die a natural death but was actually assassinated during the Kenyatta presidency and when he was no longer in the cabinet. He went to visit Uganda’s president then, Idi Amin Dada in Entebbe on a trip in which the two were supposed to mend fences. Mackenzie was well received and Idi Amin gave him a gift of some sculpture which he carried back to the plane with him. The gift actually contained explosives which went off when the small plane was in the air coming back to Nairobi, killing Mackenzie. It was clear that the man greatly underestimated Idi Amin and paid for it with his life.

Despite the pressure Moi did not act at all. He remained a quiet humble president who still had no political detainees.

As the year 1982 reached the midway mark, Moi started receiving a lot of reports from the intelligence community about heightened political activity in the country. But his closest advisor on security matters, one Charles Mugane Njonjo reassured him that all was well. After all what could people do apart from make noise and harmless political plots? The presidency was powerful enough to easily deal with any such threats as Njonjo had already displayed many times before. And so Moi ignored his Kalenjin kin and some people say, even his own instincts.

Indeed it is not too difficult to believe that Moi’s instincts had helped him survive the 12 horrendous years as Vice president. If there is something about Moi’s character that few can argue about, then it is his ability to survive. His instinct appear to have been key in this. And so it is safe to assume that his instincts must have been screaming at him that a storm was brewing in the horizon. A storm that would seek to take his life and in any event one that would cause a lot of Kenyan blood to be spill.

Go to Part 6

Dark secrets of the presidency Part 3 and Part 4

Dark secrets of the presidency Part 3

After Jaramogi Oginga Odinga resigned from the Kenyatta administration (actually he was forced out without being told directly to leave by political frustration and pressure masterminded by one Tom Mboya) Kenyatta appointed Joseph Zuzarte Murumbi vice president.

Kenya’s second Vice President was a fascinating character and it is sad that too little has been written about him (partly due to the fact that the man kept his mouth firmly shut until his death in 1990 at the age of 79.) It is said that he was the offspring of a Goan trader and a Maasai mother but spent the first 16 years of his life in India. After that he traveled the world extensively and at one time worked in London as press and tourist officer in the Moroccan embassy.

Kenya's short serving second Vice President, Joseph Murumbi.

Mystery has always surrounded Murumbi’s sudden resignation on August 31st 1966 after serving as VP for only 15 months. The truth is revealed in this earlier exclusive Kumekucha post.

To understand the whole scenario better, picture a typical Kenyan today in the Diaspora who gets a chance to get involved in the politics of their motherland after years of working abroad. That kind of person is bound to be extremely patriotic and eager to do good for their country. They are also likely to be very idealist in their approach. Now you can begin to understand the disillusionment he must have encountered as VP to a president who was surrounded by bloodthirsty selfish individuals who were amassing land and wealth like there was no tomorrow. But the final straw for Murumbi was probably the discovery that his close friend Pio Gama Pinto had been murdered by the Kiambu mafia. Lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee agrees and says; "The assassination of Pinto illustrated to Murumbi the shocking extent to which the new government had departed from its promises. His feeling, evidently, was that these were not the values for which so many had suffered, and his departure was effectively only a matter of time."

Pinto was assassinated on February 25th 1965 and Murumbi was not VP at the time. So what is meant here is that Murumbi was already disillusioned with the Kenyatta government before his appointment as VP and probably thought that he would change things as the “second in command”. It is also possible that Murumbi would not have known for sure who ordered the hit on Pinto until he had served several months as Vice President where he was bound to come across a lot more privileged information than an ordinary minister would ordinarily have access to.

After Murumbi, Daniel arap Moi was appointed in late 1966. How the Moi appointment was decided on is rather fascinating. Powerful AG Charles Njonjo was traveling in the presidential limousine with President Kenyatta somewhere close to Nakuru. Njonjo was making suggestions of possible VPs and Kenyatta was dismissing them one by one. Names like Tom Mboya rolled off Njonjo’s mouth but it was obvious why such a person would not be appointed. Kenyatta had learnt his lesson with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and basically what he was looking for was a non-threatening (to the presidency) person who would also be a political asset. When Njonjo’s top choices ran out he started mentioning the names of everybody and anybody he could think of and each time Kenyatta shook his head. When he mentioned Moi, Kenyatta hesitated for a few seconds and then smiled and nodded his head in agreement. In the months and years to follow Moi helped Kenyatta to settle many Kikuyus in the Rift Valley amongst his Kalenjin community after their prime land in central province had been taken over by Kenyatta and his close associates. So in that respect he was a great asset to Kenyatta in planting the seeds for the terrible tribal clashes that were to come later and long after Kenyatta’s death.

But being VP was not easy for Moi. Indeed several times he even complained to Kenyatta about the harassment he was suffering. Kenyatta did nothing. There were even times when Moi would lead a Kenyan delegation to some conference abroad but end up being totally ignored and taking orders from others in the delegation who were in reality much more powerful than he was. Like Dr. Njoroge Mungai.

But the abuse did not stop there. In one very humiliating incident, Moi returned from a foreign trip to be cornered by James Mungai, assistant commissioner of police in charge of Rift valley province based in Nakuru where Kenyatta spent most of his time. Mungai was related to Kenyatta. Read more about James Mungai and how he lives today in this earlier Kumekucha post.

Mungai told Moi that he suspected that he had come back into the country with guns to overthrow Kenyatta and so he was subjected to the kind of search that only prison inmates have to go through. What that means is that somebody is stripped naked and that place down there where inmates hide all kinds of stuff is searched thoroughly. It is said that Moi felt that this was too much and complained directly to Kenyatta. Kenyatta answered by asking a question. Who is the minister in charge of the police? (At that time Moi had the home affairs docket and the police was under that minsitry. Moi himself later transferred the police to the office of the president when he took over power.) Moi replied that he was the minister in charge of the police and that was the end of that conversation.

Moi went through many humiliating experiences as Vice president. To his credit he weathered the storm and managed to remain humble and persevering. And although he came very close to resigning on one or two occasions, he held on to the post until Kenyatta’s death in August 22nd 1978.

Interestingly until the last minute, Moi did not have any ambitions for the presidency of Kenya despite being VP for so long. In fact one of the compelling factors that convinced him to hold onto the post with the suffering that went with it was the fact that he knew too much and it was clear that the Kiambu mafia would not be comfortable with him out of government considering how much he knew. It was likely that on his resignation from government, he would have either died or just disappeared without trace as was the norm.

I am personally convinced that there was divine intervention in Moi’s survival and ascension to the presidency. Sample the following.

There was a paramilitary group formed called the Ngoroko. This unit was set up after the change-the-constitution bid by the Kiambi mafia failed. The Ngoroko’s mission was simple. On the death of Kenyatta they were supposed to wipe out all opposition to one of the members of the Kiambu mafia taking over the presidency. It was obvious that on Kenyatta’s death orders would be relayed to the paramilitary group through Mbiyu Koinange who was always at the president’s side at a key member of the Kiambu mafia. Koinange was a minister of state in the office of the president. Now on the night that Kenyatta died in Mombasa, Koinange was away on business in Nairobi. He had flown out that very evening. That is the first time he was not at the president’s side in 20 years. Absolutely amazing. Still word leaked out somehow that Kenyatta was dead and roadblocks were set up near Nakuru because it was known that Moi was at his farm near Nakuru. It was critical that Moi got back to Nairobi to summon a cabinet meeting and for AG Charles Njonjo to ensure that the constitution was followed to the letter. Moi abandoned his official car and instead was bundled into the boot of a very old Peugeot 404 that he used to use around the farm. That is how he got past a deadly Ngoroko roadblock and made it back to Nairobi. For those who know what an old Peugeot 404 looks like, it is a car with a rather large boot. Still Moi is a very tall man and it must have been very uncomfortable traveling most of the way back to Nairobi inside that boot.

Again it is said that after the first cabinet meeting, Moi was terrified and confided in Njonjo that he did not feel that he was able to step into Kenyatta’s shoes. Hawa wa-Kikuyu wataniua (these Kikuyus will kill me) Moi is said to have told Njonjo in Kiswahili whilst almost in tears. Njonjo quietly explained that he would stand by his side and help him settle into the presidency and would ensure that he was protected from any would-be assassins. Moi reluctantly accepted and in many ways this explains the power that Njonjo wielded in the early Moi years where he would ride in the presidential limousine with Moi and GG Kariuki and Nicholas Biwott practically all the time. At one point people would mockingly refer to the three politicians as Moi’s three wives.

Amazingly on taking over power Kenya’s second president was ready to forgive all this suffering that he had gone through. But something dramatic would happen that would completely change his approach to the presidency and begin a reign of terror in Kenya that almost rivaled the Kenyatta days.


Dark secrets of the presidency Part 4

Sometimes a writer starts off intending to write some brief piece but then it suddenly takes on a life of its’ own and writes itself into a lengthy prose, almost a book sometimes. This is exactly what has happened with my weekend special this weekend.

For that reason I will continue with part 5, 6, 7 and 8 next weekend.

For now let me wind up this weekend’s excitement with this last piece for this particular weekend.

That first cabinet meeting after Kenyatta’s death which was held on August 22nd 1978 was a very fascinating affair to say the least. During Kenyatta’s presidency the entire cabinet would usually assemble and wait for the president to arrive for the meeting. Conversation around the table would usually be in Kikuyu during this wait. This forced Moi who was Nilote to learn the Bantu tongue of the Kikuyus. Many times the cabinet would wait in vain for Kenyatta only to be told that he was not coming usually due to health reasons.

On this day of August 22nd 1978 all the cabinet members were there and this time they were waiting for somebody who had been one of them only the day before and somebody whom they had always derided. Moi did not keep the cabinet waiting and came in shortly after they were all there, accompanied by AG Charles Njonjo. All eyes were on him as he sat at the head of the table where Kenyatta used to sit. Moi’s eyes were red and he looked like he had been crying. For a brief moment members of the presidential press unit were allowed inside to take photographs which they did and left.

Moi had a difficult task ahead of him. Njonjo made it easy by making it almost unnecessary for him to speak although he was chairing that historic cabinet meeting. The main agenda for the day were the arrangements of the state funeral for Kenyatta the following weekend. Still Moi felt overwhelmed by the challenges ahead of him. The current constitution says that in the event of the death of the president, the vice president will take over for a period of 3 months pending elections for a new president. Three months is a long time and Moi must have had his uncertainties over ever retaining the presidency. More so if you take into consideration the curious incident with Njonjo which I recounted in the last post.

Moi avoided eye contact with most of those seated in the cabinet room with him. Amongst them were people who had plotted his murder only a few hours earlier to ensure that he would never rise to the presidency.
Dr Njoroge Mungai known to his fellow Kiambu mafia members as "Mr Fix it."

The two men he must have feared most on that table were Dr. Njoroge Mungai and Mbiyu Koinange. Both were very powerful and influential members of the Kiambu Mafia. Both had no doubt thought about this day many times over the years but not in their wildest nightmares did they ever picture Daniel arap Moi seated at Kenyatta’s usual chair in the cabinet room. Moi’s fears were not unfounded. It is widfely believed that both men went behind Kenyatta’s back and ordered the hit on Tom Mboya in July 1969. It is said that Kenyatta was livid after he found out what they had done but there was obviously nothing he could do about it. The two individuals were said to be very ambitious and determined that the presidency would fall into their hands on Kenyatta’s death. At one point Njoroge Mungai is said to have bluntly asked Kenyatta to name him as his successor.

The foreign press was even speculating that the real “matata” (political chaos and violence) would start after the funeral and when the presidential elections were announced. It was expected that a member of the Kiambu mafia would stand for the presidency against Moi. Others remembered Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who was also known to be interested in the presidency. Indeed Odinga had turned up to view Kenyatta’s body at State house and with cameras from the local and international press rolling, he had proceeded to utter many words in Dholuo over the body while waving his fly whisk. Those who did not understand the language speculated that he was thanking the gods for the death of a man he had lifted to the presidency only to be dumbed later by the same ungrateful man. For these reasons there was a lot of tension in the country.
Mbiyu Koinange the powerful minister of State and most respected member of the Kiambu mafia.

Nobody would have guessed that at the end there would be no election because nobody opposed Moi and he was confirmed as the next president of Kenya. So where did all these pretenders to the throne disappear to?

It is not clear exactly what happened but an interesting meeting of the Kiambu mafia shortly after Kenyatta’s death, attended by Kamba politician Paul Ngei may give us a few pointers.

It is said that most members of the Kiambu mafia felt that Moi was not a threat and there was no hurry for them to make a move because he was simply “a passing cloud.” Paul Ngei strongly disagreed with them and told them that the presidency was a very powerful seat and if they allowed Moi to be president even for a couple of weeks, they would never be able to remove him. It is not clear what Ngei was suggesting that the Kiambu mafia do to remove Moi because whatever it was it would have been unconstitutional. Not that the Kiambu mafia were not known for ignoring the constitution in their quest for the presidency.

To the Kiambu mafia anybody else as interim president would have been a threat but surely not Moi of all people. The man who had succumbed to so much humiliation including a search of his very private parts by a mere assistant commissioner of police when he was VP. The guy did not even speak English too well and this is what had forced some members of the Kiambu mafia to take over proceedings from him during those foreign trips. They had been ashamed of Moi. The man did not even look intelligent at all and some felt that Kenya was being painted in a bad picture with such a man as Vice president and leader of the Kenyan delegation. (You have to understand that throughout his presidency Kenyatta never boarded an aircraft and so Moi had to represent him in all foreign trips where the president was required to attend. Those were a lot of trips even in those days.) In other words what Ngei was saying about Moi being a threat was laughable to most members of the Kiambu mafia and those who thought they knew Moi well.

When you take this information and consider it along the bitter power struggle that was going on amongst Kenyatta’s insiders it all points to the fact that this decision by the Kiambu mafia to take their time and accept Moi as the sole compromise candidate for interim president is what dealt a death blow to the ambitions of many for the presidency. The role of AG Charles Njonjo in helping the president to quickly settle down and consolidate his position is yet another major reason.

In the end Paul Ngei’s words were to prove to be very prophetic indeed.

In this context it is easy to understand why so many political analysts divide the Moi presidency very neatly into two. Just like his predecessor, Moi started with very high ideals and determined to make a difference. Admittedly Moi’s honeymoon lasted a lot longer than Kenyattas’. It lasted a whole 3 years as opposed to the few months Kenyatta had before he started having nightmares of him and his family being executed in some firing squad after a successful coup in Kenya. This nightmare took over and guided his every decision as president from that point onwards. Exactly the same thing happened to Moi only that in his case he faced a real coup.

Go to Part 5

Dark secrets of the presidency Part 2

Those who surrounded President Kenyatta were determined that the presidency of Kenya would forever remain only amongst them. Something like the royal family in the United Kingdom. There were confident enough that they were smart enough to pull this off. They saw that wisdom and experience to run the country could only be found amongst their midst and could hardly be found anywhere else in the country.

At one point they even went as far as administering oaths to the effect that the presidency would never cross the River Chania to other Kikuyus in neighbouring Nyeri or even Muranga. The presidency was firmly in the hands of Kiambu Kikuyus and that is why the president’s inner circle were often referred to as the Kiambu mafia.

Admittedly the Kiambu mafia deserved that tag much more than the Mount Kenya mafia that was to emerge much later during the Kibaki presidency. These characters were absolutely ruthless and many times acted in ways that suggested that apart from being power hungry, they were also very blood thirsty. It seemed that they were always itching for an opportunity to kill somebody. It was soon clear than anybody who dared to oppose Kenyatta would almost certainly end up dead. And it seemed that Kenyatta had ears everywhere so that people were terrified of even saying anything against him even in the privacy of their bedrooms.

Many times folks would have a private conversation in whispers in some corner of a seedy bar that was well out of the way and the next week they would be detained without trial or even worse go missing without trace. In those days families of persons who went missing had very zero options. It was unthinkable to go to court and prevail on the government to produce anybody. That was just plain suicide.

To further spread fear amongst the people, murders by the inner Kenyatta circle were executed in a manner that was straight out of some horror movie. It was not enough for the person to be killed but on many occasions their private parts would be cut off and stuffed into their mouths. This is exactly what happened with the JM assassination and a few others. If a person did not get shot, this was the “signature” that would confirm to the observant exactly who had carried out the execution.

In the early days there were plenty of people brave and stupid enough to satisfy the blood thirstiness of the Kiambu mafia but as the years wore on fewer people were willing to take the chance of even speaking evil against the Kenyatta administration in private or even daring to question anything that his government did.

A Kenyan well known to this writer took a trip to the UK in the mid 70s and while watching British TV discovered that the Observer newspaper had that morning published an article about one of the members of the first family. They quietly slipped out of their hotel carefully looking over their shoulders several times and purchased a copy of the newspaper from an outlet that was some distance from the hotel. They returned to their hotel room and carefully locked the door to read the article that described in great detail a business that first lady Mama Ngina was involved in of mining and then exporting precious stones mainly from the Taita Taveta area. The article revealed that the first lady was already one of the wealthiest people in the country. Hardly a seditious article on the first family, but on finishing reading the piece with his heart thumping violently against his chest, the man burnt the newspaper and flushed the ashes down the toilet. That was the fear that Kenyans felt in those days and it did not matter that one was thousands of miles away from home in London.

In this kind of scenario the attitude of Kenyatta’s inner circle was hardly surprising. They behaved as if they were gods. It seemed they could even hear what Kenyans were whispering in the privacy of their bedrooms. One interesting incident occurred in the early 70s that illustrates this point.

Jomo Kenyatta’s speeches were boringly predictable. He would always warn people from playing around with the valuable Uhuru which had been won by bloodshed. And he then he would often congratulate the ordinary Kenyans on their continued hard work and love for their country. He would often pepper his Kiswahili speeches by suddenly breaking into Kikuyu vernacular.

So Kenyans were shocked one day when in his speech the president said that it had come to his attention that some people were saying that he was incapable of fathering children. These people claimed that when the colonialists had detained him they had tortured him to such an extent that he had lost his manhood and ability to sire children. There was shocked silence at first with many conservative Kenyans embarrassed that the president would even talk about such things in public.

Kenyatta went on to castigate the people spreading such lies about him and said that any Kenyan who doubted his manhood should go ahead and ask Mama Ngina (the president’s fourth and last wife who was seated right there at the dais a few short paces from where Kenyatta was making his speech. She was visibly shaken and very embarrassed (wouldn’t you be?). Were the rumours true? Was Kenyatta bluffing? Or was it all untrue? It is difficult to tell and we will probably never know.

And so those close to the president started plotting on how they would inherit the presidency from a man who was still very much alive. Admittedly by this time it was clear to those close to him that the president would not last for much longer. He regularly slipped in and out of commas and it was clear that his health was rapidly failing. Of course nobody would dare discuss the president’s health in public. But those close to Kenyatta knew what was happening. And so a curious power struggle which would in the end hand over the presidency to Daniel arap Moi on a silver platter started. At the height of this power struggle a group of Kiambu politician including Njenga Karume, Kihika Kimani and others started a campaign to have the constitution changed so that in the event of the president dying or being incapacitated; power would not automatically go to the Vice President pending elections. The idea was to ensure that when Kenyatta died (and it was now obvious that it would happen very soon) it would be easier for one of them to take over power constitutionally.

The power struggle was intense and pitted mainly those very close and some of them related to the president against another group led by powerful Attorney general (who was literally running the country then) Charles Mugane Njonjo. Mwai Kibaki was one of the chief characters in Njonjo’s camp on this one. This in itself was curious because the two individuals hardly agreed on anything else and their personal squabbles have even been visible during the Kibaki presidency.

Interestingly a few days after Kenyatta died in August 1978, Time magazine listed one of the front runners to take over the presidency as being Njoroge Mungai (the president’s nephew and personal physician who was also a legislator for a long time until he lost his Dagoretti seat to one Dr Johnstone Muthiora. Muthiora was promptly assassinated by the Kiambu mafia, his main crime being deposing Mungai from the Dagoretti seat. It is widely believed that while he was in admitted at Nairobi hospital a lethal injection was administered on him). The other person mentioned in the Time article was Mbiyu Koinange.

In his last days Kenyatta would slip in and out of consciousness for days on end and many times would look like he had lost it and was not even aware of his surroundings. But on a few occasions he would make statements to those surrounding him that would display his sharp crisp mind was still very much alert and around. On one such occasion he dismissed those fighting for a change of the constitution to block Moi from ascending to power with one simple Kikuyu proverb. The proverb says that somebody who wants to rope a cow does NOT show the cow the rope. The Kikuyu proverb simply meant that the change-the-constitution group was going about their mission in a very unwise way because they were making their intentions rather obvious to their target Daniel arap Moi.

Go to Part 3 and 4

See earlier Kumekucha article on the character of Kenyatta

Dark secrets of the presidency Part 1

Kumekucha Weekend Special

I have been to State House Nairobi. Once.

It is such an anticlimax this revered house on the hill. The sacrifices, the murders, the killings and all the crazy things Kenyans have done in the name of getting to live at this address, you would have thought that it would be a much grander place than what you end up seeing. Alas the red carpet is clean and well maintained but it is rather old. In fact the whole place looks like it needs an interior designer badly.

In the 46 years of independence only three men have called this place their official residence and held the office of President of the republic of Kenya. Johnstone Kamau (aka Jomo Kenyatta) for 15 years, Daniel Torotich arap Moi for 24 years and the rest of the years Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki. Interestingly whatever happens Kibaki will be the man who has occupied that office for the shortest time and yet history will record that his presidency has caused the most damage. This weekend we shall try to understand these three men better because in understanding them we will understand our beloved country much better. Trust me on that and hold me to account for it when we finish our journey late Sunday evening. We shall dig into their true characters and reveal many secrets in their lives.

So lets start from the beginning shall we.

Violent struggle has happened in Kenya several times through its short history but it has never worked out too well or even proved to be effective. More recently the saba saba riots that hit the country in the 1990s were quickly crashed by security forces. In the end change came to Kenya mainly as a result of pressure from the International community.

Still many Kenyans cling to the mirage that our independence was won from a violent freedom struggle. Very romantic but NOT true. Yes the gallant Mau Mau warriors spread terror in everybody. Indeed they inspired others in far away lands most notably Nelson Mandela which led to the formation of the armed wing of the ANC in South Africa. You have all heard of the Umkonto We Sizwe (spear of the Nation). Indeed the influence of the Mau mau spread as far away as the streets of New York where at least one notoriously violent street gang called itself the Mau Mau. But back home it was ineffective in winning independence for Kenya. The Mau mau uprising reached its’ height in 1952 and was quickly crashed. Mainly because it was about one tribe’s fight for their land rights. Actually the Kikuyu were joined by other neighboring tribes like the Merus. The leader of the Mau mau, a man called Dedan Kimathi was executed at Kamiti prison on February 18th 1957. By that time the Kikuyu uprising had been well and truly crashed.

The statistics of the Mau mau struggle tell an even more interesting story. The Mau Mau rebels killed over two thousand African Kenyan civilians, but killed only 32 European settlers and fewer than 200 British soldiers during the 8 years of the uprising. The British in turn killed 20,000 Mau Mau rebels in combat, hanged over 1000 suspected Mau Mau supporters, and interned more than 70,000 Kikuyu civilians for years in brutal detention camps on suspicion of providing material support for the uprising. Actually some researchers say that the true number of Kikuyus who were held or detained during that period was closer to one million. Read more details on this HERE. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedan_Kimathi.

The man who was to later become Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta always had a frosty relationship with the Mau mau. They threatened his life several times and then he ended up on trial trying to prove to a compromised court his innocence and the fact that he had no links with Mau mau. The chief witness in that sham of a trial Rawson Macharia admitted only in recent years that he had given false evidence against Kenyatta. In all likelihood Kenyatta was not a violent man at heart and did not believe in violent means and yet when he became president he worked hard to glorify the Mau mau as the chief freedom fighters of Kenya and always emphasized that independence was won with a violent resistance. We shall understand later what his motivation for this may have been.

But for now it is important to appreciate the circumstances under which Jomo Kenyatta ended up as the first president of Kenya. This is important because to date every single man who has ended up as president of Kenya has done so as a compromise candidate. We wait to see what will happen in 2012 but in all likelihood history will duplicate itself once again.

In the run up to independence Jomo Kenyatta was rotting away in detention without a hope of ever getting back to politics. The white settlers government officials swore in public that that would never happen. The two front runners for president were Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who firmly believed that he should be president by virtue of his age over the other front runner Tom Mboya who was barely in his twenties. Sensing defeat, Odinga decided to fix his main opponent politically by demanding the release of the forgotten Jomo Kenyatta. That decision set in motion a chain of events that handed over the presidency on a silver platter to Kenyatta. Indeed when he was receiving the instruments of power on June 1963, Kenyatta still looked dazed and unbelieving. Like he wanted to pinch himself to convince himself that all these wonderful things were suddenly happening to him after years of struggle and very hard times which had been set off by false accusations against him in 1952 that put him in jail. Kenyatta’s words on that day perfectly capture the mood and his personal feelings. He did not start by saying that it was a great day for Kenyans. Instead he said; “Today is the happiest day of my life.”

I have closely studied the first years of the Kenyatta administration and read many accounts and watched many clips. All of them paint only one picture. That there was a mood of constant celebration in the corridors of power in those early months. More like the ancient court of Kings where every day was a day of celebration and entertainment, unless of course there was a problem. Kenyatta loved traditional dances and alcoholic drinks flowed freely from the State House bar to the kitchen cabinet and their regular visitors. Kenyatta loved to trade stories with his brother-in-law Mbiyu Koinange (brother to his first wife Grace Wahu) about the good old days when they were younger.

Evidence suggests that Kenyatta entered office with high ideals and a genuine determination to make good. But the honey moon was quickly and rudely brought to an end as crisis after crisis hit the infant administration. There was the scary army mutiny at Lanet in 1964 just a few months into the Kenyatta administration. There were numerous coups in other African countries most notably Nigeria. Closer to home there was the extremely bloody coup and revolution in neighbouring Zanzibar.

It soon became very clear that there were plenty of threats to the presidency which had to be addressed immediately. Kenyatta started by appointing close relatives and village mates to sensitive positions in the security forces. Later after the assassination of Tom Mboya the Kenyatta administration launched secret oath-taking amongst those same senior officials in the security forces.

Then the threat that all three men have faced early in their presidency also quickly emerged for Kenyatta. The dominant economic force at independence was the small group of white settlers who had chosen to stay. The president’s close advisors correctly identified this small group as a potential threat to the presidency. In such a poor country as Kenya, money can do a lot of damage in any political cause. These settlers were the financiers of KADU which was the main political opposition to Jomo Kenyatta’s KANU. These settlers had never really trusted Jomo Kenyatta and it would only be natural for them to jump at the first chance at a change of guard.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Kenyatta’s early years in State house were chiefly occupied with neutralizing these threats. We shall now see exactly how that was done, sometimes pretty ruthlessly.

Go to Part 2