Michael Gichangi: I’m going home a happy man

Former spy chief Major-General Michael Gichangi Thursday said he is retiring a happy man.

Speaking to the Daily Nation by telephone, the soft-spoken major-general said: “It was a very rewarding job, I must say…I thank Kenyans for allowing me to serve them in this capacity.”

Maj-Gen Gichangi has kept a low profile but as the new head of the National Intelligence Service was sworn in at State House yesterday, he was starting the process of quietly fading into the background as an ordinary Kenyan.

Asked about his background, about which very little is known, a relaxed Maj-Gen Gichangi chuckled and said: “The newspapers have said I was born on the slopes of Mount Kenya but that is not true.”

GICHANGI'S BACKGROUND

He was born at Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi in 1958. His parents, originally from Kirinyaga, were teachers and had moved to Nairobi in 1946.

“I grew up in Eastlands and attended Dr Kraft Primary School in Eastlands and later Mang’u High School.”

Maj-Gen Gichangi is today one of the most criticised men in the country on account of his job as spy boss, but in the military he was an ace fighter pilot. “Where I grew up, I saw planes flying to and from the Moi Airbase, but I was exposed to aviation when I joined Mang’u,” he said.

A young Gichangi joined the Kenya Air Force as a flight cadet in 1975 and later trained as an F5 pilot in the US in 1976, where he was the top foreign student in his class. He served in all ranks as a squadron pilot, squadron instructor, wing commander and base commander at the Laikipia Airbase in Nanyuki.

He has also served as a staff officer at both the Airforce and Defence headquarters as well as an instructor at the Defence Staff College for three years.

REMAINED IN AIRFORCE

So why did he remain in the Airforce, rather than follow his comrades into commercial aviation?

“I got my commercial pilot licence in 1981 while I was still in the Airforce. In 1982 after the attempted coup, I realised the Airforce had lost so many pilots. I decided to remain and train more fighter pilots to replace the ones we lost,” he said.

During his time as a fighter pilot, he was feted as the first African and Kenyan to fly more than 1,000 hours in the F5. He was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Order for valour in the course of duty.

In 2004, he left the military proper to become the founding director of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre before becoming Kenya’s fourth spy chief in 2006.

Many questions have been asked about NIS under his watch, from the handling of the post-election violence in 2007 to the recent attacks in Lamu.

Maj-Gen Gichangi said he had no regrets whatsoever and thanked President Kibaki and President Kenyatta for giving him the chance to serve the country.

As for the future, he said: “I will continue building my country just like any other Kenyan. I may consider going back to school for a PhD. I go home a very happy man.”