Kibaki prepares for last national holiday

Jamhuri Day celebrations on Wednesday will mark the climax of President Kibaki’s presidency as he prepares to leave office after next year’s elections.

The country’s most important national holiday will be of special significance in the President’s 10-year tenure as it will be the last national celebration he presides over before retiring.

Ahead of the celebrations, the President has been busy inaugurating or opening infrastructure projects that were mooted during his presidency.

The latest was the KenGen power project in Mombasa which he launched last week. Before that he commissioned the Thika Road Superhighway and the rail link from Syokimau to Nairobi city.

Office of the President officials familiar with his diary say the Head of State will have a very active December before slowing down early next year “when there will be a lot of politics”.

The officials say that as the President plans to retire, he is concerned about the low voter registration across the country and wonders why Kenyans are not keen on participating in the elections.

Beyond politics and the office, the President has built a palatial retirement home at the foot of the Aberdares off the Nyeri-Nyahururu highway as he prepares to leave the national political scene after half a century.

The home is said to sit on 100 acres of land associated with an agro firm. It is adjacent to the Aberdare National Park and opposite the Kenya Wildlife Service Aberdare National Park office.

The home is also close to Mweiga airstrip that was completed in August, according to reliable sources who cannot be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

The acquisition of the property and the construction of the home have been kept a closely guarded secret on security and privacy grounds, the source said. The media has not been allowed access and inquiries about the retirement home have gone unanswered.

President Kibaki has visited the new home twice this year to inspect the construction. On the latest visit on September 14, the travelling media was locked out.

Presidential entourage

Not even the Special Programmes minister, who was part of the presidential entourage, was allowed in. She had accompanied the President to the opening of the Central Kenya ASK show at the nearby Kabiruini grounds.

Already, a contingent of the General Service Unit (GSU) has been posted to the home which is enclosed by security fencing as well as a hedge and the view obscured by tall trees.

Due to the height of the trees, the cream painted walls and red-tiled roof are only partially visible.

According to sources, the home has two entry gates, and it is the inner one that is being manned by the GSU officers.

“The home, built in a modern style, has a jacuzzi and other facilities,” said a source familiar with the building but who requested anonymity.

In addition to the main house are a guesthouse and offices set on well-manicured lawns. The compound also has a helipad.

The President owns another home in Othaya constituency which is his rural home. He has represented Othaya constituency in Parliament since 1974, and was first elected to Parliament in 1963. He has another 1,600-acre farm in Naro Moru, known as Rware Farm, where he rears livestock.

When he became President after the 2002 elections, the Othaya home was spruced up to bring it to presidential security standards.

During his 10-year presidency, President Kibaki has only occasionally visited his homes outside Nairobi preferring his Muthaiga home and State House.

His choice is unlike that of President Daniel arap Moi before him who only worked from State House and preferred to retire to his Kabarnet Gardens home in the evenings and his Kabarak home in Nakuru on weekends.

President Jomo Kenyatta would retire to his Ichaweri home in Gatundu after his State House duties and would even work from the rural home at times, occasionally chairing Cabinet meetings there.