THE ALLIES KIBAKI HAS USED AND DUMPED IN THE PAST

THE STANDARD
NAIROBI, KENYA
April 12, 2009
By Oscar Obonyo

Like those before her, former Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua is just waking up to the reality of President Kibaki’s most notable political trait — use and dump.

What baffles many is that his victims are the reliable allies who offer the most tangible and fruitful political support.

Some of the President’s recent ‘victims’ include Water Minister Charity Ngilu, who ‘donated’ her Narc outfit to him in 2007, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is credited for the famous ‘Kibaki Tosha!’ declaration, and now the Gichugu MP.

"It has been widely stated that I helped Kibaki to win the presidency and that is absolutely true. KICC (the presidential poll tallying centre) was chaotic and full of rowdy ODM operatives masquerading as journalists. I asked some PNU colleagues — including those who are now fighting me politically — to join me at KICC, but they refused. I opted to battle it out and I am glad my efforts bore fruit," Karua told The Standard on Sunday.

The Narc-Kenya leader is, however, unwilling to speculate on the President’s apparent disregard of her all-important role to secure his ‘victory’ in the highly disputed and discredited elections.

Incidentally, Kibaki’s main challenger was Raila — the very politician who spearheaded his 2002 presidential campaign when he was indisposed and confined to a wheelchair following a road accident.

President’s henchmen

However, once safely in office, the President trashed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that gave a provision for Raila to serve as PM. The development immediately resulted into rifts within the Narc Government leading to Raila’s eventual dismissal from the Cabinet in 2005.

Ngilu, under whose party Kibaki vied for presidency in 2002, equally had endless wars with the President’s henchmen in the Ninth Parliament. They even tried to grab the party from her by force.

What enraged the Kitui Central MP most was that all that time, the President kept her at an arms length and was not willing to "negotiate".

She resisted attempts to wrestle the party from her, compelling Kibaki to seek re-election on a new outfit — PNU.

But it is Kibaki’s childhood friend and financier of his previous unsuccessful presidential bids, Mr Njenga Karume, who best captures his thanklessness.

Reacting to an attack by Kibaki, after he abandoned him to join then Kanu presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta’s camp in the 2002, Karume said: "If he persists with what seems to be a hate campaign, I will say what I know about him. If I wanted to say what I know about him, he would cry."

And the former Cabinet minister had a parting shot: "Now I know, as I always told you, he (Kibaki) is a thankless man. That is why he fell out with his bosom friend Kenneth Matiba.’’

Then Democratic Party chairman, Kibaki, had accused Karume of being motivated by financial gain to leave the party they co-founded.

Said he: "Kenyans have already seen through the cabal of disgruntled and disgraced elements that the Uhuru Project has assembled. Karume has chosen to rekindle his Gema heritage so as to be part of this scheme and lend currency to himself as a tribal chieftain.’’

Twenty-five Kanu MPs led by Mr William Ruto and Mr Ngenye Kariuki (then ministers in the Kanu Government) tore into Kibaki for "issuing a personal statement against his friend of many years".

"We never expected Kibaki to get personal with Karume. He should not have talked about his wealth or property since we know very well that Karume spent millions on DP in 1992 and 1997 when Kibaki contested the presidency," they said in a statement read by the then Juja MP Stephen Ndichu.

Uhuru, who eventually lost to Kibaki, later described his leadership style as "hands-off, ears-off, legs-off, everything–off style".

The Kanu chairman, then Leader of Official Opposition, was laying blame on Kibaki for the Government’s inability to unite and lead the constitutional review process.

Incidentally, this is the situation former Kibwezi MP Agnes Ndetei found herself in way back in 1999. As deputy DP chair, Ndetei found herself running the party affairs to the chagrin of some Central Kenya MPs, who accused her of usurping the chairman’s (Kibaki) powers.

Apparent indifference

"Even then, he was laid back and I ran the DP office almost single-handedly," said Ndetei in 2005, after the Government’s defeat in the constitutional referendum.

Kibaki’s apparent indifference and approach to politics with baby-gloves, was sometimes detrimental to his own career. In 1988, for instance, Moi dropped him as Vice-President and moved him to the Ministry of Health.

Despite rumours that he would ditch Kanu and resign in protest, he stayed put and served well in the Health portfolio. He finally ditched Moi on December 1991, to found DP.

Nominated MP George Nyamweya, a long-serving official of DP, observes the President is a democrat, who cherishes freedom of association and expression.

"It is unfair to blame him for the collapse of some politicians’ careers. It is not by design that they fall but rather they are victims of Kibaki’s political style — delegating and allowing his lieutenants to operate freely," says Nyamweya, the PNU vice-chairman.