Opponent faked death to win Gatundu seat

On December 8, 1997, Uhuru Kenyatta presented his papers to the Electoral Commission of Kenya to run for Gatundu South parliamentary seat on a Kanu ticket.

His main challenger was the unheralded Moses Mwihia. Everything looked fine. Kenyatta had run an impressive campaign.

He seemed set to win by a landslide, but this was politics. And he was about to learn one of the most important lessons of his life.

Moses Mwihia knew how to set up a perfect snare. For a man whose surname meant “sinner”, Mwihia had no qualms about setting up a sinful conspiracy if it could help him become the next Gatundu South MP.

The ruse had all the elements of Dickensian flavour, including glowing references to peasantry and aristocracy, all of which added up to a splendid political saga.

By the end of the day, the sinner had pulled the wool over all the eyes and, to use a Gikuyu idiom, eaten the people’s goat.

The meeting was held at a bar in Thika towards the end of October. After devouring heaps of “nyama choma” and crates of beer, the mouths were now ready to spew a winning conspiracy.

The agenda of the meeting was Uhuru Kenyatta and his good run in the campaigns so far. Everyone knew that Kenyatta was threatening to run away with the seat. The campaigns were in their last month.

NYAGAH VANISHED

Elections would be held on December 27. If something monumental didn’t happen in the remaining 30 days, Moses Mwihia would lose to his 36-year-old rival.

Mwihia’s team drew its inspiration from what happened in Gachoka Constituency in 1992. A few days to elections, DP candidate Norman Nyagah suddenly vanished. His father and the entire family blamed Kanu for the disappearance.

Although it was projected that Norman Nyagah was going to win the seat anyway, the kidnapping saga turned supporters of his foes to his side and Nyagah won with an overwhelming majority.

So why not try the same trick on Uhuru Kenyatta? All the ingredients were there.

The people would be told a powerful Kenyatta family and the Daniel arap Moi regime had kidnapped a peasant candidate who had come to liberate the people from strong forces.

In fact, they had killed him and thrown the body into a river. It was as simple as that.

One of the participants was Samuel Mwihia Kariuki, a nephew of Moses Mwihia. A young man called Moses Kuria also played a role.

In a strange twist, it was the same Moses Kuria who would emerge as one of the fiercest propagandists for Uhuru Kenyatta in the future and even become Gatundu South MP on Kenyatta’s TNA party.

THE CONSPIRACY

Ngengi Muigai was also said to be in the know though he never participated in the mischief against his cousin.

The family was clearly divided because Ngengi was supporting Moses Mwihia.

The planning was completed in the last weekend to Christmas.

Kimani Muigai a.k.a Swaleh, knew about the plot. He was a neighbour to the Kenyattas and Uhuru knew him well, having taken part in “muratina” drinking sprees together.

If Kenyatta could be informed in time, he stood a chance of calling the bluff and pre-empting the entire plot. Swaleh and his friends set out looking for Kenyatta, but they did not find him at home.

At that time, mobile phones were hard to come by. Their only recourse was to inform one of Kenyatta’s cousins, whose allegiance was with his brother Ngengi, and by extension to Moses Mwihia.

Kenyatta was never informed of the plot.

On Wednesday morning of December 24, Samuel Mwihia Kariuki called the Daily Nation with a mouth-watering story:

His uncle Moses was missing. He said the family last saw Mwihia on Tuesday at around 11 a.m. when as he was meeting civic candidates. In fact, the young man said, Mwihia had received threats from some powerful Kanu people.

TRACES OF BLOOD
For all they knew, the candidate Mwihia had been killed by Kanu for opposing the President’s choice.

Here was something to brighten up any Christmas newsroom. Usually, there is no news during this period. Politicians, thieves and even prostitutes take a break.

Back in Gatundu, what had started as a rumour had now been “confirmed” by screaming newspaper headlines and TV broadcasts.

The peasant candidate, the underdog of Gatundu, had been kidnapped — maybe killed — by a powerful Kanu machinery.

Some of Mwihia’s operatives visited the local slaughterhouse at night and to get a pail of animal blood.

They then looked for a car resembling Mwihia’s. On Christmas day, the people of Gatundu South woke up to find a car plunged into a river.

There were patches of blood and signs of struggle on the bank.

For all intents and purposes, it looked like a murder scene and poorly executed camouflage. The pandemonium was instant. Gatundu Town exploded.

“After killing JM Kariuki and Robert Ouko, now Kanu has killed our own Moses Mwihia! Ngai!”

MOURNING POSE

The scene of the faked “killing” was selected with Uhuru Kenyatta in mind. The empty car had been plunged into River Thiririka, near Gatundu Town.

The river is literally in Ichaweri — the most populous and influential location of Gatundu. It is where the cream of Gatundu resides.

To make matters worse, it is next to Kenyatta’s home. Moses Mwihia had struck Kenyatta’s nerve centre.

The people of Gatundu Town and its surroundings abandoned their festivities to take part in the biggest demos ever witnessed in the area.

They turned from an anti-Kanu and anti-Moi to anti-Kenyatta protests. His posters were defaced as the news spread.

With only a day to December 27, Kenyatta didn’t have the time to turn the tide, let alone try explain himself.

In the meantime, Samuel Mwihia Kariuki, a gifted actor, maintained a mourning pose as the family’s link to the media.

MWIHIA VOTED IN

Candidate Mwihia had not been seen at Gatundu as at the morning of the voting day. This only increased the people’s fury.

He called the media at the last hour, explaining that some police officers had accosted him on Koinange Street, Nairobi at around 1 p.m. and taken him to State House.

He said he had been detained until late evening and told to drop his bid for Gatundu South seat or face the consequences. He was then released and given until the following day to make up his mind.

From that time onwards, he claimed, he had been in hiding.

It was a deceptively simple tale, but the die had been cast.

Uhuru Kenyatta voted in the morning. Moses Mwihia voted late in the afternoon, having waited until his ballot boxes were overflowing.

His ploy paid off handsomely. He was declared winner with just over 22,000 votes, beating Uhuru Kenyatta to second place with slightly above 10,000 votes.