Kenya: Year in Review: When Kibaki Threw His Allies A Lifeline

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 27, 2006
Posted to the web December 28, 2006

Alex Ndegwa
Nairobi

As President Kibaki marked his 75th birthday last November 15, two of his trusted allies - Prof George Saitoti and Mr Kiraitu Murungi - had cause to toast other than the Head of State's birthday celebration.

The President coincidentally chose the day in which ideally one receives goodwill messages and presents from well-wishers to extend the spirit of the day to the two, by re-appointing them back to the Cabinet.

Kiraitu and Saitoti were reinstated exactly nine months after "stepping aside" on February 14, following the controversy sparked by revelations of the Anglo Leasing scandal and the release of the Goldenberg report.

It is believed that the two were brought back into the fold amid fears that President Kibaki was running short of experienced, credible and vocal allies to counter the Opposition offensive.

Facing a credibility problem

Insiders pointed out that the reliable Internal Security minister, Mr John Michuki, was facing a credibility problem after numerous gaffes including the raid on The Standard.

Another member of the old guard, Livestock minister, Mr Joseph Munyao, appeared too embroiled in keeping the Democratic Party, a party founded by Kibaki, afloat.

Apparently, the Kibaki handlers appeared not too keen to place much in the hands of Defence minister, Mr Njenga Karume, who had been head hunted from Kanu, while the other old guard - Co-operative minister, Mr Njeru Ndwiga, seemed to have lately abandoned his combative nature.

Needless to say, the nascent Narc-Kenya's "young turks" were deemed too naÔve and over-enthusiastic to the comfort of the President's handlers.

In fact, the poaching of members of the Opposition to craft the so-called Government of National Unity was aimed at cushioning the regime from the hostile opposition, especially from Parliament.

'The scandal that never was'

The appointment of Kanu MPs to Government positions is a thorny issue, with the Official Opposition party having gone to court to challenge it.

The Opposition has also called for the law to be amended to compel the President to consult party leaders before appointing their MPs to the Government.

Of the three key Cabinet ministers shunted aside over the graft allegations, only Mr David Mwiraria, who held the Finance portfolio, remained on the backbenches.

Before the scandal claimed his scalp, Kiraitu had memorably dismissed the Anglo Leasing as "the scandal that never was."

But he met his waterloo when former anti-corruption Czar Mr John Githongo's alleged recordings of the former Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister urging him to go slow on Anglo Leasing investigation were aired on BBC television and replayed on local TV stations.

Series of political blunders

It did not help his cause either that he was given to a series of political blunders, particularly due to his unguarded talk, which won him a couple of enemies.

When the heat became too much to bear, for him and, by extension, the Kibaki administration, a besieged Kiraitu threw in the towel and tendered his resignation though still protesting his innocence.

"For a man does not know his time: like a fish in a cruel net, like birds in a snare; so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them," he said, quoting the Bible while stepping aside.

But he warned that his resignation was by no means an end to his political career. Kiraitu walked back to his office barely a month after the Njuri Ncheke - the revered Ameru council of elders - paid a courtesy call on President Kibaki.

As for Saitoti, he probably lived up to his billing because the former Vice President has a knack for rising from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix.

Saitoti's ship has sailed in rough waters

Just when his career seemed to have hit the brickwall again when he was forced to resign for being implicated in the Goldenberg Affair by the Justice Samuel Bosire Commission, he bounced back to the Cabinet thanks to the clearance by the constitutional court.

Describing the moment that he was unshackled from the scam's chain by the courts, the professor paraded his wife and gave a passionate speech, saying "this is my happiest day in the last 16 years."

In fact, since joining politics in 1983, Saitoti's ship has sailed in rough waters, but he has somehow managed to stay afloat.

Perhaps his lowest moment was during the infamous Kanu elections at Kasarani in 2002 when former President Moi anointed Mr Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred heir, skipping Saitoti who was then the vice-president.

Then he gave his most memorable speech to date, saying: "There come (sic) a time when the nation is more important than the individual."

With Narc in power, Saitoti was named the Minister for Education and won the hearts of many parents with the introduction of the free primary education programme.

Despite this credit, the Goldenberg ghost saw his removal from the Cabinet and many had began writing his political obituary before Kibaki threw him another lifeline.