Moi made me join politics, says Bahati MP Onesmus Ngunjiri

Bahati MP Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri. He says he was introduced to politics by Mzee Daniel arap Moi. PHOTO | FRANCIS MUREITHI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  FRANCIS MUREITHI

What you need to know:

  • Mr Ngunjiri popularly met Mzee Moi for the first time in the late 1990s.
  • The late Head of State was going to Nakuru State House from his Kabarak home.

Bahati MP Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri will forever be indebted to Mzee Daniel arap Moi for introducing him to politics by default.

“Mzee Moi is my political godfather, he brought me to where I am today. I will never forget him as long as I live,” said Mr Ngunjiri.

Mr Ngunjiri popularly known as OKN met Mzee Moi for the first time in the late 1990s when the late Head of State was going to Nakuru State House from his Kabarak home.

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GRABBED LAND

The second term MP said some unscrupulous elders had grabbed his land.

“The elders came armed to the teeth and decided to evict me from my land and just before they evicted me, I remembered the only person who could help me was Mzee Moi,” Mr Ngunjiri said.

And one Saturday morning, as Mzee Moi’s motorcade was heading to State House [Nakuru], Mr Ngunjiri waited for him at Kiamunyi and jumped on the road to attract Mzee Moi’s attention.

“The security men tried to remove me from the road but Mzee Moi came out of his limousine and intervened. He told me to enter one of the cars in his motorcade and we headed to State House.” He added.

LISTENED CAREFULLY

He said the former president listened to his story and immediately ordered the then Nakuru District Commissioner John Anguka to sort the matter. He recovered his three-acre piece of land. 

“Mzee Moi was a kind leader who was ready to listen to the plight of the poor,” said Mr Ngunjiri.

This motivated the legislator, who vowed to support the ruling party Kanu, to venture into politics.  

“I will always remember Mzee Moi as long as I live,” said the former chairperson of Kanu Nakuru District.

“The death of Moi is a big lesson that this country is not owned by a single individual no matter how powerful that politician is,” said Mr Ngunjiri moments after the news of Mzee Moi’s death was broken to him.

Mr Ngunjiri who is now an ally of Deputy President William Ruto and a member of the Tangatanga group, described Mzee Moi as a God fearing man.  

“All the years that I have known Mzee Moi he never failed to go to AIC Bondeni Church,” he said. 

He said the former president had a big heart to forgive his detractors. “He was not bitter with anybody,” said Mr Ngunjiri.

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