The Moi-Jaramogi ‘handshake’ Kibaki mooted but never was

Former Vice President Jaramogi Oginga. Jaramogi encouraged Kibaki to join electoral politics. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • For a middle ground between pro- and anti-Jaramogi forces, Moi appointed him chairman of the Cotton Lint and Marketing Board.
  • Jaramogi would disappear from news until April 1982 when he announced that he would be forming his own political party, the Kenya Social Congress.
  • As Moi marked his 10th year in power in 1988, fears were expressed that Kenya had moved from one-party to one-man rule.

In the August 26 instalment of this column, I extracted from the recorded recollections of one time Foreign minister, the late Dr Munyua Waiyaki, the untold story of how forces opposed to Vice President Daniel arap Moi's ascendancy to the Presidency, had mended fences with Jaramogi Odinga and enlisted him in their anti-Moi campaign.

Today I revisit Dr Waiyaki's recordings to tell the untold story of how moderates in the early days of the Moi presidency wanted Jaramogi rehabilitated back into the mainstream politics only for their plans to be scuttled by hardliners in the Moi State House.

Leading the moderate group was Mr Mwai Kibaki who Moi would soon appoint as his first deputy. At the driving seat of the hardliners squad was Attorney General Charles Njonjo who wanted Jaramogi forever confined to political Siberia.

Though Mr Kibaki and Mr Njonjo had joined hands to scatter forces opposed to a Moi presidency, the two, to this day, have not much love lost between them. It has much to do with their background and world outlook.

KIBAKI vs NJONJO UPBRINGING

Mr Njonjo is son of a colonial chief, educated in apartheid South Africa, and schooled to believe in all that is “English”, so much so that for many years he ordered his drinking water and fruits from stores in London.

In his days in power, he believed no African was competent enough to head the Judiciary among other key departments of the government.

He never concealed his jaundiced view of the Luo Nyanza, and once said he would “never visit the place lest he contacts cholera".

Age has since mellowed him and he has good political rapport with opposition leader Raila Odinga.

On the other hand, Mr Kibaki is son of a peasant – his father sold raw tobacco to put food on the table – and got his early education thanks to the charity of the Catholic missionaries.

As minister for Commerce and later Finance and Economic Planning, he had bias for programmes that promoted Africanisation of key sectors of the economy.

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KEEP JARAMOGI CLOSE

Dr Waiyaki recalled of a lengthy chat him, Mr Kibaki, and the newly installed President Moi had where Mr Kibaki put a spirited argument why Jaramogi should be embraced back to the political fold.

He quoted one time US President Lyndon Johnson who when asked what he intended to do with the infamous FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who was known to work at cross-purposes with the White House, President Johnson had said: “Well, I’ll embrace Hoover. I’d rather he pees outside from inside my tent than have him pee into my tent when outside.”

According to Dr Waiyaki, Mr Kibaki's argument was that banishing Jaramogi to the political cold had only made him a hero who reigned but never ruled.

While out there, Jaramogi had acquired a cult-like following that no MP would be elected in Nyanza without his blessings.

Having him in the government, Kibaki argued, Jaramogi mysticism would disappear. Besides, it would divert his massive negative energies into some constructive endeavours.

KIBAKI RECRUITED

Dr Waiyaki told me that at first President Moi appeared convinced and had agreed that Jaramogi be allowed to vie for the post of Kanu national chairman, which Mr Njonjo wanted for his protégé, Cabinet minister Isaac Omoro Okello.

Besides the bigger picture, Dr Waiyaki told me that Mr Kibaki was always a silent admirer of Jaramogi, who is actually the person who first “discovered” him and persuaded him to abandon his teaching career at Makerere University and join politics as first Kanu national executive officer.

It happened that the future president of Uganda, Milton Obote, was in Nairobi and showed Jaramogi a manifesto done for his party, the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC).

Jaramogi was quite impressed and asked who had written the manifesto, especially the section on economy which lay emphasis on pro-people social-democratic policies.

“It was written by a young man from your own country called Mwai Kibaki, and who is economics lecturer at Makerere,” Obote replied.

“In that case I am going for him. He should come here and do similar manifesto for his country,” an elated Jaramogi said.

BAHATI MP

He personally travelled to Uganda to talk to Kibaki and ask him to return home. To impress the young man, Jaramogi said Kanu would be buying Kibaki his first personal car the moment he landed in Nairobi.

Later Jaramogi encouraged Kibaki to join electoral politics and contest a parliamentary seat in the capital city. He did so and was elected MP for Donholm constituency, later renamed Bahati.

When Jaramogi was thrown into political cold, Kibaki had to flee city politics for his Othaya home after his majority supporters from Luo Nyanza switched loyalty to Ms Jael Mbogo.

Back to Kanu elections, while President Moi didn’t have particular problem rehabilitating Jaramogi, the Njonjo camp, which at the time was in virtual state capture, would hear none of it.

Dr Waiyaki recalled: “At the time Moi was captive to Njonjo machinery which run deep into the security apparatus, Judiciary, and the civil service. Eventually Njonjo had his way and Jaramogi was locked out.”

PROPAGANDA

Dr Waiyaki remembered that, to rub it in, the Njonjo camp sparked off rumours that in entertaining Jaramogi, the Kibaki side was anti-Nyayo and hell-bent on rocking Moi's boat from within.

Mr Kibaki publicly responded with a one-liner that “nobody had a nyayo-meter to measure who or how much one was a Nyayo person”.

Nevertheless, President Moi still saw some political good sense in accommodating Jaramogi. For a middle ground between pro- and anti-Jaramogi forces, he appointed him chairman of a state corporation, the Cotton Lint and Marketing Board.

Three years into the Moi presidency in 1981, time appeared ripe for Jaramogi's return to electoral politics. Then Bondo MP Hezekiah Ougo suddenly resigned his position to pave way for Jaramogi's entry to Parliament.

Panicky that a Jaramogi return to politics would be one-up for Kibaki against Njonjo, the latter threw a spanner into the works.

Dr Waiyaki disclosed that Kericho politician Moses Keino, who was a family friend of the Odingas (he was in college with Mr Raila Odinga in then communist East Germany) was unknowingly used to take “fake news” to Jaramogi that President Moi was unhappy that the late President Jomo Kenyatta had acquired huge tracts of land at the expense of thousands of landless Kenyans.

In the set-up, Mr Keino would tell Jaramogi that President Moi would be pleased were Jaramogi to publicly condemn the late President.

BONDO MP SEAT

Believing the story “planted” on Mr Keino by Njonjo agents, Jaramogi travelled to Mombasa and publicly attacked the late President Kenyatta whom he called a “land grabber".

That’s all the Njonjo camp needed to convince President Moi that Jaramogi was up to no good. “If Jaramogi could insult President Kenyatta what would stop him from doing the same to President Moi,” was the argument taken to President Moi.

He immediately issued a statement condemning Jaramogi for “disrespecting” the late President Kenyatta. Njonjo men at Kanu headquarters took the cue and said Jaramogi wouldn’t be cleared to vie for the vacant Bondo seat.

Suddenly, it was back to the political cold for Jaramogi as all political doors were slammed on him.

Jaramogi would disappear from news until April 1982 when he announced in London that since all political doors had been locked on him, he would be forming his own political party, the Kenya Social Congress, to give Kenyans an alternative political vehicle.

ONE-PARTY STATE

At the time Kenya was a de-facto (by fact not law) a one-party state.

Within days of Jaramogi announcement, the government machinery moved with lightning speed to make Kenya a de-jure (by law) a one-party state. Jaramogi's soulmate in the planned party, Mr George Anyona, was immediately placed in detention without trial.

The next time Jaramogi name featured in public was in the August 1982 attempted military coup, and whose plotters said they had been forced to plan a coup after government had closed the political space and disenfranchised sections of Kenyans.

In the aftermath of the attempted coup, President Moi took an about-turn, shedding the “passing cloud” image to become another third world ruthless Big-man. As he marked his 10th year in power in 1988, fears were expressed that Kenya had moved from one-party to one-man rule.

Changed global circumstances and agitation at home eventually forced President Moi to accede to return of multi-party and opening of political space in 1992.

But the question of political inclusivity has stubbornly refused to vacate our political discourse.

Maybe the most latest of “handshakes”, one between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, will finally, once and for all, resolve the stalemate. We are watching – and hoping.