How secret meeting set stage for Kalonzo's appointment as vice- president

Former President Mwai Kibaki (Centre) and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka leaving Nyayo Nyayo National Stadium on October 20, 2012 after addressing the nation during Mashujaa Day Celebrations. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Musyoka says in the autobiography which will be launched in Nairobi on Wednesday, that Mr Kibaki stayed silent most of the meal time as Mr Murage explained the need for him (Mr Musyoka) to pull out of the race.
  • But Mr Musyoka’s decision to join the Kibaki government added fuel to the fire that was sweeping mostly Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement strongholds of the Coast, Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley regions.
  • He says that Mr Kibaki assured him of a good working relationship and even promised to support his presidency bid in the 2013 elections.

A surprise meeting with incumbent Mwai Kibaki at the home of a billionaire industrialist days to the 2007 General Election set the stage for the appointment of Kalonzo Musyoka as vice-president, a new book reveals.

Mr Musyoka, who had fallen out with Orange Democratic Movement’s Raila Odinga to run for the presidency on his own, writes that he had been under intense pressure from Mr Kibaki’s emissaries to drop out of the race and support him.

“Efforts by Kibaki and his allies to get me to his side had been going on for many months, even before the elections and I had rejected all of them,” Mr Musyoka writes in his memoir, Against All Odds, co-authored by former Nation journalist Caleb Atemi.

Mr Musyoka names the Kibaki allies who were putting pressure on him as Equity Bank chairman Peter Munga, the bank’s chief executive James Mwangi, Nairobi tycoon Chris Kirubi and Mr Stanley Murage, a Kibaki adviser and strategist.

Their message was simple; Drop out of the presidential race and support Kibaki in return for forming a coalition government if he wins.

Mr Musyoka says he rejected all the approaches until the surprise meeting over dinner at the home of Mr Narendra Raval Guru, a businessman with wide interests in the manufacturing and construction sector.

PULL OUT OF RACE

“One evening,” Mr Musyoka writes, “just days to the election date, I was invited to dinner by Mr Narendra Raval Guru, the chairman of Devki Group of Companies. The group is one of Kenya’s biggest players in the construction in­dustry. In its stable are Devki Steel Mills, National Cement and Maisha Mabati Mills. Mr Guru then lived in a palatial home in the neighbourhood of Nairobi’s Runda estate.

“I arrived at his house and as we made small talk ahead of the meal, I was surprised to see Kibaki walk into the room in the company of Stanley Murage, his adviser and strategist.”

Mr Musyoka says in the autobiography which will be launched in Nairobi on Wednesday, that Mr Kibaki stayed silent most of the meal time as Mr Murage explained the need for him (Mr Musyoka) to pull out of the race.

“My answer was the same. I told them I had reached a point of no-return. My supporters were psyched and it would have been a be­trayal to them and to democracy for me to pull out at that point. It was a matter of principle.

CAMPAIGNED HEAVILY

“I told Kibaki that if I won the election, I would happily invite him to be part of my government and that if he won; he could also invite me into his government. We left separately after the meal and campaigned heavily against each other.’’

Mr Kibaki was declared winner in the tightly contested election and his closest challenger Mr Odinga, disputed the victory. The country exploded in a mindless orgy of violence that killed at least 1,133 people and displaced 600,000, according to official statistics.

The Wiper Party leader writes that it was in the middle of the violence that Mr Kibaki’s people made contact with him again to remind him of his dinner promise.

“But this time”, he writes, “They did it through David Musila. Musila came to my Karen home … We agreed to form a small team to explore the possibility of my party joining the government. On my side, this team comprised Musila, Samuel Poghisio, our party chairman and Johnstone Muthama, the Kangundo MP.

The Kibaki side was made up of John Michuki and Amos Kimunya. This team met in the Office of the President at Harambee House.”

It was after this team reached an agreement that Mr Musyoka was named Vice-President. A number of his allies were given ministerial posts. Mr Musyoka, however, writes that his side received a raw deal in the sharing of positions but maintains that at the time his priority was not to bargain for positions but to help end the violence that was rocking the country.

But Mr Musyoka’s decision to join the Kibaki government added fuel to the fire that was sweeping mostly Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement strongholds of the Coast, Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley regions.

JOIN GOVERNMENT

However, he writes in his memoir that his decision to join government had helped to save lives and the country from further chaos.

“I am sure that had I joined Raila in the dispute, the violence would have spread to my strongholds in Eastern province with disastrous con­sequences. This region borders Central Kenya. Because of this proximity, thou­sands, perhaps millions of Kikuyu immigrants live here. Many are in the urban centres doing business. Others have bought land and settled in the rural areas. Had I joined the ODM side, I was sure these people would have come under at­tack.”

He says that Mr Kibaki assured him of a good working relationship and even promised to support his presidency bid in the 2013 elections.

This, however, was not to be as President Kibaki largely stayed out of his succession politics which allowed Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr William Ruto to elbow Mr Musyoka out of the race.

The former VP and long-serving Foreign minister writes that President Kibaki was mostly a good boss who allowed him freedom to discharge his duties, delegated a lot and was accessible to discuss government business.

However, he laments that towards the end of his tenure President Kibaki refused to see him when he (Mr Musyoka) wanted to discuss an important personal matter with him.

“The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission under Bethwel Kiplagat had released a report which mentioned me adversely in a matter that I knew nothing about. It said I had been allocated public land in Meru which I sold to a third party. I have never owned land in Meru. This kind of information can be very damaging especially at a time I was angling for the presidency. I felt very strongly about the issue and I wanted to talk to the President about it but he was not available. He would not allow me to see him,” Mr Musyoka writes.