Fiasco that could force titan to finally meet his Waterloo

Mwangi Kiunjuri has fought, and won, many political battles, but the latest scandal threatens his career

Due to his long chequered career, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri is a man used to fighting in the political trenches.

Whether fighting against a political wave, his superiors or even anti-corruption sleuths.

And, lately, the former Laikipia East MP has been on the crosshairs of almost everyone else because of a crop that rarely grows in his Laikipia backyard — maize.

The blows escalated last month when the President read the riot act to Mr Kiunjuri after opening the ASK trade fair in Nairobi.

Wagging a finger and with his bloodshot eyes trained on the CS, the President warned Mr Kiunjuri against paying maize cartels instead of farmers. And he did it in a language the CS has mastered to perfection; Kikuyu.

PAY CARTEL

“Mungiriha, nimukuona inyui (If you dare pay the cartel, you will face my wrath),” said President Kenyatta.

The ink had not even dried on President Kenyatta’s rebuke before the Senate summoned Mr Kiunjuri over reports that 60 per cent of maize stored at the National Cereals Board was not fit for human consumption. And he was not even aware of it.

This is despite Kebs tabling a report to his ministry officials one month before he appeared before senators.

“I have seen the report the first time here,” said Mr Kiunjuri.

Consumers are also baying for his blood after millers refused to lower the price of maize flour to Sh75. The self-professed central region’s chief political troublemaker and former Kiambu governor William Kabogo also took a swipe at Kiunjuri. And it quickly degenerated into a slugfest.

FRUSTRATED

“Tread carefully or the boss will sack you,” Kabogo told the CS on Twitter.

“Some of you are politically frustrated. You look for anything to make yourself relevant … when the right time and moment comes I will deal with you …” said the CS.

“Shoos to make themselves relevance” (sic) well spoken. Empty threats though,” fired back Kabogo as he ridiculed Mr Kiunjuri’s accent.

But Kiunjuri, who spits Kikuyu proverbs faster than a gun in the hands of a rustler on the plains of Laikipia, knows how to reinvent himself and survive. He is the epitome of the Kikuyu proverb, "Mundurume ni wa makua na mariuka" (To be a successful man, you must fall and rise again).

Known in Laikipia as Mwana wa Gerald (Son of Gerald), the 48-year-old Kiunjuri was the 12th child of Loise Wanjiku and the late Gerald Kiunjuri. His father was a clinical officer in Laikipia.

ROUGH LIFE

Kiunjuri became a matatu conductor after completing his Advanced Level examination at Kangetia High School in 1989. In an earlier interview with Nation, he said he was forced into the rough life of matatu touts after he failed to get something better to do.

"I was first engaged as a untrained teacher at a secondary school near my home where I was paid Sh30 a day. Since the money was not enough for my upkeep, I had to move to the bus stages to bang matatus for a living," he said.

He then went to Maseno University College, then a constituent of Moi University, and pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree course. In his second year, he was elected chairman of the Maseno University Students Association.

The former tout was elected as the youngest MP in 1997 when he became Laikipia East legislator when he was only 28 year old. And from then on, he has always been in the limelight.

CORRUPTION

A hard-hitting puncher, Kiunjuri took on Water Minister Charity Ngilu in 2011 accusing her of abetting corruption in her ministry. Kiunjuri was then an assistant minister in the ministry. But Ms Ngilu accused him of speaking on behalf of corruption cartels who lost out on tenders, allegations Kiunjuri denied.

Ngilu had the last laugh when Kiunjuri was transferred to the Public Works ministry in the same capacity.

In the run-up to the 2013 General Election, he resisted spirited attempts to dissolve the Grand National Union, a party he chaired and which was seen as posing a challenge to President Kenyatta’s TNA.

Though he lost the Laikipia gubernatorial seat, he was appointed to the Cabinet when current Kirinyaga Governor Ann Waiguru exited the Devolution Ministry over the NYS theft.

He wanted to vie for the gubernatorial seat in 2017 but was implored by President Kenyatta to forego the seat and instead campaign for Jubilee.

DIFFERENT THINGS

Kiunjuri has come to reflect different things. To some, he is an ardent Uhuru supporter who is constantly needed to mobilise his central base. To others, he is a brash politicians tainted by numerous accusations.

His hard-hitting English epithets with a Kikuyu-dialect and proverbs came in handy during the campaigns.

He has since fallen out with some of the MPs from Mt Kenya who came to his defence last year when there were reports that he would not be re-appointed to the Cabinet.

Since he took over the Agriculture ministry, Kiunjuri’s ministry has sank 3,000 water pans and distributed seedlings for avocado, macadamia, and other crops.

Under him, the ministry has started a drive to register farmers to curb theft at the National Cereals Board.

But will that be enough to placate those baying for his political blood?