Senator Beth Mugo speaks on working with Kibaki

Former Cabinet minister in Mwai Kibaki’s administration Beth Mugo has recounted times with the late President describing him as a true statesman.

Mugo said Kibaki always put the country first and that is why he agreed to a power-sharing deal after the disputed 2007 election results.

“It was a difficult decision for the late president, but when he saw that things were getting out of hand, he put the country first and agreed to share power,” she said.

“I had spoken to him prior to that at the KICC and he told me we must find a solution. Of course, there were those who told him not to do it but he did it as a personal decision."

The nominated senator spoke on Wednesday in Mombasa in an interview with Citizen TV.

Mugo worked under the Kibaki administration as an assistant minister of basic education, Information and broadcasting and minister for health.

She described Kibaki as a faithful and respectful leader who never treated people on the basis of class.

Mugo revealed that she built a close working relationship with the late president since the inception of the Democratic Party in 1992 where she was a pioneer member alongside other senior politicians like John Keen and Njenga Karume.

The former Dagoreti Member of parliament said by virtue of being the only woman in the DP then, the president developed a soft spot for her.

“I was in the opposition during the 1997 elections where I supported Charity Ngilu but he didn’t take it in bad faith. He did not even come to campaign for the DP candidate in Dagoreti in that election.”

Mugo said her strong advocacy for women to take up leadership positions influenced her to switch allegiance to the opposition to support Ngilu.

“He didn’t take it in bad faith. I think he understood my position. I saw that as a show of respect for me even though he may not have been happy about it,” Mugo said.

She said Kibaki moved her in his first Cabinet reshuffle in 2013 from the information docket to the education docket as he saw it fit for her to midwife the free primary education programme.

Mugo said she took that as a show of confidence the late president had in her abilities even though the substantive minister for Education was the late Professor George Saitoti.

She said that Kibaki trusted his ministers and never supervised them.

“Maybe if he sees there is somewhere you are not doing well, he guides you gently but not in a manner to show you that you are incompetent,” Mugo said.

She explained that Kibaki embraced consensus in guiding his ministers and would always give them a chance to express their views without looking down on them.

“That was so good because he was training his ministers to be responsible in their respective ministries without him appearing bossy.”

The senator recounted the moment during her reign as the Minister of Health when the country was hit by a swine flu outbreak.

She said Kibaki ensured that the health docket was sufficiently facilitated to counter the outbreak.

At that time, Mugo explained, about 30 UK students flew into the country on an education exchange programme in Kisumu.

“I went and explained the situation to him and informed him that I would like to repatriate the students back to the UK. I didn’t want it to spark off a diplomatic row with the UK government,” Mugo said

She said Kibaki was an easy to access president and it was never difficult for her or any other minister to consult him in person. 

Mugo said the late president was fond of giving sound advice and guidance to his ministers even when it came to critical national matters. 

“He trusted I would do the right thing and would always allow me to attend international meetings with bodies such as the UN on his behalf."

On corruption, Mugo said Kibaki was so keen on ensuring his ministers didn’t get involved in the vice.

“But you know individuals are individuals, so some corruption was reported in some ministries and the president was not happy about it,” Mugo said.