• Uhuru entered Parliament in 2001.
• Moi appointed him as the Minister for Local Government and later,
Image: Barry Salil
DP William Ruto was never tasked by retired President Daniel Moi to convince the late Mark Too to resign and pave the way for Uhuru's ascendancy to the throne.
This is according to Nandi politician Sammy Choge, who has claimed credit for prevailing upon Moi's Mr Fix It to make room for Uhuru's nomination to Parliament.
Uhuru entered Parliament in 2001. Moi appointed him as the Minister for Local Government and later, despite his political inexperience, made him his successor, heralding his entry into national politics.
During a live interview on NTV last Thursday, Ruto said he convinced Too to resign. The DP said he had a tough time persuading Too to relinquish the slot for Uhuru. But Sammy says Ruto's account was a pack of lies.
"That statement wasn’t true at all, and had no basis because I was the one asked by Mzee Moi because he knew my closeness with the late Mark Too. Kenyans should disregard that (Ruto's remarks),” he said.
“The President himself and Too’s family can attest to what I’m saying. It’s a pure lie and deceit for anyone to take credit for my efforts."
Giving a chronology of events of 2001, Sammy said it took six hours to convince Too, who was then a nominated Kanu MP, to resign. Sammy is a brother of the late Kiptum Choge, who was assistant minister for Education.
He is also an uncle of the late Ibrahim Choge, a son-in-law of Moi through his marriage to Dorris Moi. Ibrahim was also the late Jonathan Moi's co-driver. Sammy is a former chairman of Chemelil Sugar Company, a position he was appointed to in 2014 by Uhuru.
It was around 3pm and Sammy was in Nairobi for a private engagement scheduled for 5pm. “I was walking along Parliament Road near City Hall Way roundabout. The President’s motorcade was escorting Moi to Harambee House… And as I stood, the vehicles stopped and I was summoned by the head of state,” he recounted.
“He called and asked me to enter the VW Combi he was being driven in… I was so scared and pleaded with him that I walk on foot because it’s not far.”
It took him less than three minutes to walk to the state office. He was immediately ushered to the second floor where Moi was already waiting for him. After an exchange of pleasantries, Moi asked him to go and tell Too to resign. The statement was accompanied by a firm warning that Too would regret failing to comply.
“He showed me a box of alleged 'evidence' the state could use to send him (Too) to 'prison' and I, being a close confidant [of Too], should take the message and have him resign,” Sammy said.
Immediately he walked out of Harambee House, he tried to reach Too on his mobile phone but his number was out of service. He later learnt from Too’s family that DCI (then CID) officers had ransacked his homes in Nairobi and Eldoret.
He then contacted his wife Sophie on the phone. She informed him that her husband had gone underground but could be reached through their driver.
“When I finally managed to raise him (Too), we agreed to meet at Milimani Hotel. I drove in my dark Blue Peugeot registration KRE 193 and waited for him at the parking lot,” Sammy revealed.
He told Too how furious Moi was and the implications of failing to comply. After a long chat, however, Too yielded and asked that they meet Moi.
“It was around 8pm. We drove to a cyber café at Maendeleo House ground floor. He asked me to draft a few lines of a resignation letter and dictated while I wrote with my biro, then handed to a typist,” Sammy said.
"In less than five minutes, it was ready and had three copies printed, which he signed."
Sammy said he called Moi and told him he was with Too and that he had accepted his demand and written a resignation letter. "Mzee was very happy and asked me if I knew where Uhuru Kenyatta lived… which I said yes because Too knew..."
He said Moi told him to get Uhuru and go with him to his Kabarnet Gardens home. They picked Uhuru and the three left for Moi's home. On arrival, they found Moi, Ruto and Moi's aide Joshua Kulei having a business discussion.
“When he (Moi) saw us, he asked us to take seats… After about three minutes of silence, I stood to ask him that the assignment he had given me during the day was complete,” Sammy said.
He handed one copy of the resignation letter to Moi through Kulei — his personal assistant. Moi then tasked Sammy and Too to take the other copy to National Assembly Speaker Francis ole Kaparo.
"The following day at 8am, we handed [the letter] to then-Deputy Speaker Job Omino. By 1pm, he (Moi) had nominated Kenyatta to replace him (Too) and at 4pm, he appointed him (Kenyatta) as a Cabinet minister."
Uhuru replaced Local Government Minister Joseph Kamotho. In 1999, Moi had appointed him to chair the Kenya Tourism Board.