Trail of betrayal follows freedom hero to the grave

• Family of uhuru icon still living as miserable squatters even after Kibaki pledged to help

The construction issue aside, the house does not stand on Munyao’s land.

According to one of his sons, Michael, their father sold the four-acre piece in 1983 to raise school fees for his children who were then in primary and secondary schools.

“When President Kibaki came for the burial, the family held a private session with him in one of the tents. In attendance were ministers Joseph Munyao and Suleiman Shakombo and Hyslop Ipu who was then State House comptroller. We told the President about the land, and he said the family would be helped to get it back,” recalled Michael.

Contacted by the Sunday Nation, Mr Munyao, now not a Cabinet minister, confirmed that the meeting did take place.

“The issue of the land was discussed and a decision made on the spot ... If it is true that money to buy back the land has not been paid, then it is like any other scandal that we keep reading about in the newspapers,” he said.