How Mt Kenya 'Mafia' made Kibaki betray Raila
Gatekeepers kept him in a cocoon, blocked Cabinet appointments, barred old allies.
As soon as President Mwai Kibaki stepped into State House following his rapturous election ovation in December 2002, a small group of elite individuals surrounded him.
So powerful were the gatekeepers that they blocked members of a summit that delivered the victory ending former President Daniel Moi’s 24-year-long rule.
The individuals, who would be infamously referred to as the Mt Kenya Mafia, isolated the President, who was ailing, and are believed to have influenced some of his decisions.
Former Vice President Moody Awori, in his autobiography Riding on a Tiger, narrates how the men caused the President to betray ODM leader Raila Odinga.
He said Raila had very high expectations and trusted Kibaki but felt he had been given a raw deal, having been denied the chance to reward his people with government posts.
Awori recalls how things changed so fast between the venue of the swearing-in at Uhuru Park and the luncheon at State House.
Former State House Comptroller Matere Keriri features prominently in the book as the face behind the humiliation of Raila that ensued.
Awori says all of a sudden, the familiar faces of the Summit members who laboured in the campaign — including in Kibaki’s absence — disappeared.
The members of the top decision-making organ of the coalition were Awori, Raila, Kibaki, George Saitoti, Kalonzo Musyoka and Charity Ngilu.
Even the chairmen of coordinating committees who worked for days running the campaign had no role in planning the ceremonial luncheon.
An MoU they had discussed prior to joining forces to form the National Rainbow Coalition was put on the back burner and later trashed in its entirety.
Kibaki, in accordance with the MoU, was to appoint Raila as Prime Minister and 12 nominees of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as ministers.
Kijana Wamalwa (deceased) was to prepare a list of 12 from the NAK wing, which they handed over to the President.
Awori says to their dismay, four names were dropped from their list when the President named his Cabinet a day later.
“New people, who did not even participate in the campaign, were given full ministerial positions,” the former Vice President penned.
“The non-implementation of the MoU and the feeling that the LDP wing had been taken for a ride were the issues that made Raila very outspoken,” Awori writes.
He adds that many ministers and leaders from Nyanza and Western felt they were being excluded from the decision-making centre of “a government they had worked so hard to put in power".
“The President had promised to be accessible to all his ministers but he was breaking his word. Things fell further apart when parastatal chiefs were appointed and most positions went to individuals from Central.”
The former Vice President said the group of non-deserving Central appointees created bad blood among some Cabinet members.
“The skewed appointments were the final nail in the coffin of the Narc house. It was neither the 50-50 of the NAK-LDP formula previously agreed, nor did it reflect the face of Kenya,” Awori writes.
The former Vice President says he would be confronted with the unpleasant reality after he sought to book an appointment with the newly sworn-in President.
The meeting was to help sort outstanding issues in the MoU which said that NAK and LDP share government equally.
As chairman of the Summit, Awori says his efforts to meet Kibaki so they could arrange a meeting were frustrated by the State House mandarins who had appeared out of the blue.
In the first attempt at the luncheon, the former VP says he was stopped in his tracks by a smartly dressed man who told him the President was tired.
This was as he walked toward the President to remind him of the proposed meeting. “I discovered later that the well-dressed man was Kibaki’s physiotherapist,” he writes.
Prior to the swearing-in, NAK and LDP leaders agreed the Summit and coordinating committees’ members would meet immediately after the luncheon.
Moody AworiI duly informed them of the situation. It was at that time that we realised we had been duped. All those signatures on the MoU were a charade. Trouble was brewing.
The former VP says his heart sunk after the President himself gave an unsatisfactory answer to his request for full implementation of the MoU.
“We were all aware of the health situation of the President. In fact, we saw him almost on a daily basis for briefings since he returned from England.”
The Summit was also to discuss a transition committee to steer a smooth handover by ministries, departments and agencies.
But while at State House, the new faces took charge. “The President said his people would let me know. That answer did not satisfy me. I needed to know who would let me know about the meeting.”
Awori explains Matere Keriri would later call him to State House, only to inform him that he had never booked an appointment for the meeting.
“He told me flatly that there was no longer any place or need for the Summit since the President had already formed the Cabinet.”
“Although our discussions were friendly and jovial, my friend was categorical that it [Summit and MoU] had no place. I asked him about the MoU and he just laughed and asked me, “What about it?”
Awori says Joseph Wanjui, one of the close Kibaki allies they had worked with at the Kibaki Centre, had even compared the events to how an American governor candidate changed.
The elites, as the former VP describes them, had been at the forefront of fundraising for Kibaki but they did not attend any of the Summit meetings or public rallies.
“Their concern was logistics. There had been no warning of their role at State House and the way forward,” Awori writes.
“Were we being sidelined so early in an enterprise for which we had sacrificed so much for it to happen?” he asked.
While this was happening, the Summit members were waiting for the promised meeting. “Lawyer Ambrose Rachier was also present and had with him the original copy of the MoU.”
Dejected, he says he walked back to the team and informed them the President wasn’t feeling well and the meeting was postponed.
Dissatisfied, the team pushed the VP to go to Kibaki’s Muthaiga home and seek another date, but he could not access the residence.
GSU officers manning the President’s home were under instruction not to admit any visitors without prior clearance. Charity Ngilu, now Kitui governor, was among those blocked.
Ngilu had been Kibaki’s closest ally and they started working together long before the Awori side joined the Narc side. She was a frequent visitor at Kibaki's Muthaiga residence.
Awori says he was equally blocked by the GSU until Matere came out of the house and told the officers to allow him in. Ngilu jumped into his car and they entered the home together.
The former VP adds that Matere’s sudden rise and change of fortunes shocked him. Mathere had been allowed to volunteer at the Kibaki Centre after losing the MP nomination.
“Things were moving so fast that without the Summit’s knowledge that I felt dizzy. What was the role of my friend Matere Keriri? I wondered,” Awori writes.
After their meeting with Materi, Awori says he opened up to the other Summit members what was indeed happening.
“I duly informed them of the situation. It was at that time that we realised we had been duped. All those signatures on the MoU were a charade. Trouble was brewing.”
He said it was unfortunate that the people who had campaigned hard for Narc and sacrificed the most soon found that they could no longer secure an appointment with the President.
“During my subsequent visits to State House, I saw new faces I had never seen during the campaigns. Even some Cabinet appointees were total strangers to the Narc campaign.”
He holds that the seeds of bitterness was sown at the early stage, “and the country would later pay a steep price for it.”
(Edited by V. Graham)
https://www.the-star.co.ke/.../2022-04-29-how-mt-kenya.../
Gatekeepers kept him in a cocoon, blocked Cabinet appointments, barred old allies.
As soon as President Mwai Kibaki stepped into State House following his rapturous election ovation in December 2002, a small group of elite individuals surrounded him.
So powerful were the gatekeepers that they blocked members of a summit that delivered the victory ending former President Daniel Moi’s 24-year-long rule.
The individuals, who would be infamously referred to as the Mt Kenya Mafia, isolated the President, who was ailing, and are believed to have influenced some of his decisions.
Former Vice President Moody Awori, in his autobiography Riding on a Tiger, narrates how the men caused the President to betray ODM leader Raila Odinga.
He said Raila had very high expectations and trusted Kibaki but felt he had been given a raw deal, having been denied the chance to reward his people with government posts.
Awori recalls how things changed so fast between the venue of the swearing-in at Uhuru Park and the luncheon at State House.
Former State House Comptroller Matere Keriri features prominently in the book as the face behind the humiliation of Raila that ensued.
Awori says all of a sudden, the familiar faces of the Summit members who laboured in the campaign — including in Kibaki’s absence — disappeared.
The members of the top decision-making organ of the coalition were Awori, Raila, Kibaki, George Saitoti, Kalonzo Musyoka and Charity Ngilu.
Even the chairmen of coordinating committees who worked for days running the campaign had no role in planning the ceremonial luncheon.
An MoU they had discussed prior to joining forces to form the National Rainbow Coalition was put on the back burner and later trashed in its entirety.
Kibaki, in accordance with the MoU, was to appoint Raila as Prime Minister and 12 nominees of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as ministers.
Kijana Wamalwa (deceased) was to prepare a list of 12 from the NAK wing, which they handed over to the President.
Awori says to their dismay, four names were dropped from their list when the President named his Cabinet a day later.
“New people, who did not even participate in the campaign, were given full ministerial positions,” the former Vice President penned.
“The non-implementation of the MoU and the feeling that the LDP wing had been taken for a ride were the issues that made Raila very outspoken,” Awori writes.
He adds that many ministers and leaders from Nyanza and Western felt they were being excluded from the decision-making centre of “a government they had worked so hard to put in power".
“The President had promised to be accessible to all his ministers but he was breaking his word. Things fell further apart when parastatal chiefs were appointed and most positions went to individuals from Central.”
The former Vice President said the group of non-deserving Central appointees created bad blood among some Cabinet members.
“The skewed appointments were the final nail in the coffin of the Narc house. It was neither the 50-50 of the NAK-LDP formula previously agreed, nor did it reflect the face of Kenya,” Awori writes.
The former Vice President says he would be confronted with the unpleasant reality after he sought to book an appointment with the newly sworn-in President.
The meeting was to help sort outstanding issues in the MoU which said that NAK and LDP share government equally.
As chairman of the Summit, Awori says his efforts to meet Kibaki so they could arrange a meeting were frustrated by the State House mandarins who had appeared out of the blue.
In the first attempt at the luncheon, the former VP says he was stopped in his tracks by a smartly dressed man who told him the President was tired.
This was as he walked toward the President to remind him of the proposed meeting. “I discovered later that the well-dressed man was Kibaki’s physiotherapist,” he writes.
Prior to the swearing-in, NAK and LDP leaders agreed the Summit and coordinating committees’ members would meet immediately after the luncheon.
Moody AworiI duly informed them of the situation. It was at that time that we realised we had been duped. All those signatures on the MoU were a charade. Trouble was brewing.
The former VP says his heart sunk after the President himself gave an unsatisfactory answer to his request for full implementation of the MoU.
“We were all aware of the health situation of the President. In fact, we saw him almost on a daily basis for briefings since he returned from England.”
The Summit was also to discuss a transition committee to steer a smooth handover by ministries, departments and agencies.
But while at State House, the new faces took charge. “The President said his people would let me know. That answer did not satisfy me. I needed to know who would let me know about the meeting.”
Awori explains Matere Keriri would later call him to State House, only to inform him that he had never booked an appointment for the meeting.
“He told me flatly that there was no longer any place or need for the Summit since the President had already formed the Cabinet.”
“Although our discussions were friendly and jovial, my friend was categorical that it [Summit and MoU] had no place. I asked him about the MoU and he just laughed and asked me, “What about it?”
Awori says Joseph Wanjui, one of the close Kibaki allies they had worked with at the Kibaki Centre, had even compared the events to how an American governor candidate changed.
The elites, as the former VP describes them, had been at the forefront of fundraising for Kibaki but they did not attend any of the Summit meetings or public rallies.
“Their concern was logistics. There had been no warning of their role at State House and the way forward,” Awori writes.
“Were we being sidelined so early in an enterprise for which we had sacrificed so much for it to happen?” he asked.
While this was happening, the Summit members were waiting for the promised meeting. “Lawyer Ambrose Rachier was also present and had with him the original copy of the MoU.”
Dejected, he says he walked back to the team and informed them the President wasn’t feeling well and the meeting was postponed.
Dissatisfied, the team pushed the VP to go to Kibaki’s Muthaiga home and seek another date, but he could not access the residence.
GSU officers manning the President’s home were under instruction not to admit any visitors without prior clearance. Charity Ngilu, now Kitui governor, was among those blocked.
Ngilu had been Kibaki’s closest ally and they started working together long before the Awori side joined the Narc side. She was a frequent visitor at Kibaki's Muthaiga residence.
Awori says he was equally blocked by the GSU until Matere came out of the house and told the officers to allow him in. Ngilu jumped into his car and they entered the home together.
The former VP adds that Matere’s sudden rise and change of fortunes shocked him. Mathere had been allowed to volunteer at the Kibaki Centre after losing the MP nomination.
“Things were moving so fast that without the Summit’s knowledge that I felt dizzy. What was the role of my friend Matere Keriri? I wondered,” Awori writes.
After their meeting with Materi, Awori says he opened up to the other Summit members what was indeed happening.
“I duly informed them of the situation. It was at that time that we realised we had been duped. All those signatures on the MoU were a charade. Trouble was brewing.”
He said it was unfortunate that the people who had campaigned hard for Narc and sacrificed the most soon found that they could no longer secure an appointment with the President.
“During my subsequent visits to State House, I saw new faces I had never seen during the campaigns. Even some Cabinet appointees were total strangers to the Narc campaign.”
He holds that the seeds of bitterness was sown at the early stage, “and the country would later pay a steep price for it.”
(Edited by V. Graham)
https://www.the-star.co.ke/.../2022-04-29-how-mt-kenya.../
