• When it was clear that Moi was barred by the Constitution from running for President, he set in motion his succession.
• However, it seems Moi had long settled on Uhuru as his heir apparent, while the rest remained heirs presumptive.
Image: FILE
‘Yote yawezekana bila Moi…’ (All is possible without Moi).
This popular Christian song, bastardised by Opposition supporters to add to their firmly held conviction that even God had written Moi off, was sang time and again at Uhuru Park on the day Mwai Kibaki was inaugurated as Kenya’s third president.
The chaotic situation prevailing at Uhuru Park would serve as a pointer to a troubled presidency as the MV Kenya sailed onwards from then.
As Kibaki, one leg in cast, dangling delicately, took the oath of office, it was not lost on observers how Moi and his ‘project’ Uhuru Kenyatta had received a beating at the just concluded polls.
Just a few days earlier, Uhuru and his running mate William Ruto gave their concession speech at Serena Hotel, where they admitted they had lost fairly. The two went through the usual motions of promising to work with the government, while keeping a hawkish eye on it.
The road to this humiliating defeat had been long and winding for both Moi and Uhuru.
When it was clear that Moi was barred by the Constitution from running for President, he set in motion his succession.
This was a departure from Moi’s own ascension to the throne, which was marked by uncertainties, fear over lives and other murky underhand dealings, which saw those who mattered in Jomo Kenyatta’s administration bare fangs at one another.
However, it seems Moi had long settled on Uhuru as his heir apparent, while the rest remained heirs presumptive.
In a recent newspaper article, journalist Kamau Ngotho notes Moi’s love for the then Nairobi Pentecostal Church Valley Road: “In the 1985 commemoration of President Jomo Kenyatta’s death, President Moi convinced the Kenyatta family to hold the memorial service at Citam, Valley Road, and not at the traditional Holy Family Basilica.
It also happened to be the year a young Uhuru Kenyatta had just returned from college in the US and was being welcomed home by the family.
The sermon of the day was “Beginning of pathway to greatness”, taken from Matthew 18:1-5.
It could as well have been a prophetic moment for Uhuru, as President Moi would pick him as his successor 17 years later — failing to take over in 2002 but becoming President 11 years later.”
But let’s not jump the gun. When Moi appointed Uhuru Kenyatta — then largely unknown on the local political scene — as chair of the Kenya Tourism Board, many never took notice.
However, speaking to a Member of Parliament who had a fairly good knowledge of Moi’s Kitchen Cabinet, the man cryptically told me that, “I wish Kenyans knew the plans Moi has for this young man. You wait and see.”
Within no time, long-serving Moi’s ‘Mr Fix-it’ would be prevailed upon to step down as a nominated MP and Uhuru named in his place. As the chess bits fell into place, the hawkish Kanu secretary general Joseph Kamotho would be dropped as Local Government Minister and Uhuru filled the slot.
A bit of Kanu’s history at this juncture. Around this time, the Independence party was a fractured house. There were talks of Kanu and Kanu B, an insinuation that was swiftly dismissed by the party’s politburo.
Image: FILE
Kanu A was said to coalesce around Gusii powerman Simeon Nyachae, and had in its ranks people like Kipkalya Kones and William ole Ntimama. On the other hand, Kanu B galvanised around George Saitoti, and his disciples included Kamotho and Sam Ongeri.
Throwing a spanner into the works was Opposition stalwart Raila Odinga, who dissolved his National Democratic Party, joined Kanu and was promptly elected the secretary general. He, too, had an eye on the presidency, and thought Moi would anoint him.
When Moi finally settled on Uhuru, Kanu imploded, with Raila leading a number of the top guns to bolt to the Opposition. This act, many believe, was what marked the Waterloo for Project Uhuru.
Add this to the fact that after being in power since 1963, many Kenyans thought Kanu had overstayed its welcome. Facing the well-drilled opposition juggernaut, which was bullish with the song ‘Unbwogable’ as their national anthem, Moi and Uhuru had a snowball’s chance in hell of making it to the house on the hill.
But Uhuru and Moi would have the last laugh a decade later, when Jomo’s son went back to the place where he started life — State House — not as his father’s son but as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the republic of Kenya.