• Wamae gained renown during the Jomo Kenyatta era when he was appointed chief executive of the ICDC.
• Kageni said Wamae valued public perception of his popularity.
Njoroge Kageni, 76, would occasionally unwind with renowned businessman and former MP Matu Wamae.
He says Wamae had a habit of turning up in hotels he (Wamae) owned, sit at a corner and wink at one of the waiters to bring his favourite beer.
After being served, Wamae would shout "thank you" to the waiter and say, “tell whoever has bought me this that I’m very grateful.”
The waiter would nod in subservience, Kageni says.
He says Wamae did that to serve two purposes.
“One was that he often wanted to show the patrons in the facility, especially those who knew he owned the place, not to assume that he was taking the beer for free just because he owned the place," Kageni says.
"Wamae was a businessman and he was discouraging taking beer on credit or exploiting your relationship with him to take his products for free or on debt.”
The second objective was to prove that he was a man of the people who was loved, with strangers buying him beer even before he sat and ordered.
“My friend valued a public perception of his popularity. He often wanted to show that people loved him so much that they knew his own taste without him saying,” Kageni says. He adds that he had on and off business dealings with Wamae.
Wamae gained renown during the Jomo Kenyatta era when he was appointed chief executive of the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC).
Reports indicate that at 31 years, he had lots of money.
He later served as Mathira MP for three terms between 1983 and 2002.
He died on December 14, aged 89. His family said he had been unwell for some time.
His politics in Mathira was marked by his devotion to education. He invested in education, touring schools and encouraging young kids to study hard and change their lives without depending on people.
That is how he coined a slogan: “Mathira ma Githomo,” loosely translating to “Mathira a giant in education.”
Wangui wa Muchiri, another friend of Wamae, describes him as a man who was all glad to let in cash to his pocket but it would take a sweat for him to get it to you.
“The man had an eye for quick money and getting it all to himself. But those who stuck around him longer probably got something.”
Wamae later had a stint as the boss of KCC, whose turnaround is credited to him.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta said his work in reviving KCC will be a landmark for his memory.
“Apart from his outstanding leadership as Mathira MP for three terms, [he] will also be remembered for the key role he played in the revival of the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries,” Uhuru wrote on social media.