Moi exit plan marked start of Nicholas Biwott’s slide

Retired President Daniel Moi (left) and former Keiyo South MP Nicholas Biwott during the opening of Trans National Bank, Iten branch, in Elgeyo-Marakwet County on January 23, 2015. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Biwott’s gradual exit from the centre stage of national life marked polar opposites with the rise of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.
  • When Mr Biwott stood up to protest at being excluded from the line-up, President Moi turned to Mr Ruto and asked him whether consideration would be given for inclusion of the party stalwart.

A little-known fact is that when the young political tyro Uhuru Kenyatta accepted President Daniel arap Moi’s invitation to be his chosen successor, he accepted on the condition that he would be allowed to craft a new-look Kanu not weighed down by the baggage of the past.

He was adamant that a reformed Kanu must signal a clear change of direction by getting rid of the old guard and putting in place a new generation of youthful leaders to steer the party into a new era.

Among the politicians he insisted must go were the powerful troika of Vice-President George Saitoti, secretary-general Joseph Kamotho, and organising secretary Nicholas Biwott.

Mr Biwott was, until he died on Tuesday, the last surviving member of the trio.

GRADUAL EXIT

Once feared as the most powerful man in the county other than the President, Mr Biwott’s gradual exit from the centre stage of national life marked polar opposites with the rise of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

The beginning of his slide can be traced to the period around the 2002 General Election, when President Moi crafted his own exit and succession strategy by preparing to hand over the then all-powerful Kanu to a younger generation.

Some time early that year, Mr Moi called a meeting of Kalenjin leaders at State House Nakuru to prepare them for the inevitable.

TWO TERMS

He was relinquishing power after 24 years at the helm and at the expiry of his maximum two terms since the return of the multi-party system.

He was going to hand over the reins in Kanu to a younger troika headed by nominated MP Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, and his own youngest son and designated heir in Baringo District and wider Kalenjin politics, Mr Gideon Moi.

More significantly, however, President Moi was also going to preside over a merger of Kanu and the National Development Party of radical opposition firebrand Raila Odinga, who would be brought into the fold as one of the key figures on the new-look Kanu Executive Committee.

With the Kanu Delegates Conference to seal the deal just around the corner, President Moi told the assembled Kalenjin leaders to expect an easing out of the party’s old guard to make way for a new team.

POWER STRUCTURE

He would retain the party chairmanship, but stalwarts such as Vice-President Saitoti and secretary-general Kamotho would be dropped to pave the way for the entry of Mr Kenyatta, Mr Ruto and Mr Odinga.

Listening with growing consternation from the stands was the self-proclaimed ‘Total Man’ Nicholas Biwott, one of the most powerful men in the country, who had just been hit by the news that he was not part of the new power structure.

When Mr Biwott stood up to protest at being excluded from the line-up, President Moi turned to Mr Ruto and asked him whether consideration would be given for inclusion of the party stalwart.

After some whispered consultations with the younger Moi, Mr Ruto stood up and announced that Mr Biwott could be accommodated as the party organising secretary.

LOST WAR

The diminutive politician may have won the round, but he clearly lost the war, with the very deliberate demonstration that a new team was calling the shots, and he was only retained as a courtesy from the Young Turks. That day marked the beginning of his political demise.

Mr Kenyatta was not at the meeting because it was an exclusively Kalenjin affair, but was closely monitoring it from an ante-room at State House, from where he was kept fully briefed of the proceedings.

He emerged later to join Gideon and Mr Ruto, quite satisfied with the outcome.

FIRM SIGNAL

Although the retention of Mr Biwott was not to his liking, Mr Kenyatta was pleased that at least President Moi had given a firm signal the new-look Kanu would show a clear change of direction by jettisoning the old guard.

The shift was also a pointer that even in those early days, Mr Kenyatta was not the clueless and overawed greenhorn many took him for, but firm and quite focused on the route he wanted for his ascent to power.

Although he eventually lost the presidential election to Mr Mwai Kibaki, that single incident might have foretold the ruthless and single-minded determination with which he later went on to abandon and virtually destroy Kanu, to Mr Moi’s grief, and successfully capture power through his own purpose-built vehicle.