• Former MCA Kanchori is now the governor's personal assistant
• Lenku narrates his previous failed attempts at leadership
Governor Joseph Lenku has disclosed how a former MCA was rigged out in the election of Kajiado Speaker's election in 2017.
"'Tulikoroga maneno' [We manipulated] the election and rigged him out," Lenku said amid laughter on Wednesday.
“It is good to confess so that the past can forgive you. I also passed through many hurdles to reach where I am.”
The governor was referring to former Oloosirkon/Sholinke MCA Daniel Kanchori who lost to Kajiado Speaker Johnson Osoi. Kanchori is now Lenku's personal assistant.
Lenku spoke during a thanksgiving for the ex-MCA at his home in Enkasiti in Kajiado after he was admitted to the bar on Wednesday last week.
“As Jubilee fraternity, it dawned on us that the person we did not want was actually more popular than Osoi. We decided to bring him down,” he said.
He said Kanchori would have beaten Jubilee's pick hands down. However, he did not explain why Jubilee did not like Kanchori.
Yesterday, Kanchori told the Star that matter is now water under the bridge. "I have forgiven the governor and the others who rigged me out. What remains is for the gentlemen to bring me a goat so that we eat together."
The PhD aspirant said he does not harbour grudges against anyone because he is now working with them. He is in charge of the governor’s itinerary, both in and outside the county.
Lenku said it has not been an easy ride to where he is now. “In 1987 when I was in Nakuru High School I lost the seat of school captain. In 1993, while I was at Utalii College, I lost the student leader's miserably. I only managed one vote,” he said.
The governor was among parliamentary aspirants in the 2003 Kajiado South by-election following the death of MP Geoffrey Parpai. He finished a distant sixth.
Lenku said when President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him Interior Cabinet Secretary in 2013 he faced a lot of resistance. He was sacked under a cloud of harsh criticism from the public over how he handled the docket.
He was sacked after the al Shabaab attack that claimed 36 lives in Mandera. He bounced back and is now governor.
Lenku advised individuals seeking elective positions not to give up.
He accused a local MP of discrediting his development agenda in the past five months.
“There is no need of mentioning names. The leader has been discrediting my effort to bring fresh water for Kitengela people. When the national government came to assist us to get fresh water from Nairobi she took credit,” Lenku said.