I was then a lecturer in political science at the University of Nairobi. Daniel arap Moi had succeeded Jomo Kenyatta as Kenya’s second president in August 1978 upon the latter's demise.
We were now in 1980 and Moi decided to appoint Jaramogi Oginga Odinga as chairman of the Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board. The old Kenya People's Union fraternity was elated, so were wananchi in general who had always appreciated Jaramogi's principled criticism of the excesses of the Kenyatta regime. A short but disappointingly brief journey of reconciliation between Jaramogi and Moi had started.
Wind the clock forward to later that year. Something has been cooking when it was announced from the deep echelons of the KANU hierarchy that Odongo Omamo would resign as MP for Bondo and Jaramogi would be running for the seat.
At that point in time Jaramogi was already spearheading fundraising efforts for the building of the Ramogi Institute for Advanced Technology (please underline the word "advanced"), otherwise called RIAT. Robert Ouko, then minister and MP for Kisumu Rural, was leading the drive in Parliament while Ramogi Achieng' Oneko was the overall chairman of the drive. A date was chosen for the collection of funds in Kisumu and Moi was to be our guest of honour.
I was in the publicity committee with Dr Atieno Odhiambo, Walter Nyawanda and Odinge Odera as our chairman. Our task was to produce a brochure for the fundraising detailing the aims and objectives of the projects and appealing for national and international support. We were also to profile President Moi and Jaramogi, and write speeches that each was to deliver on that momentous day.
Atieno and I were tasked with the task of writing the speeches. Odinge and Nyawanda, both journalists with immense experience, were to lead in editing the brochure. We were to report "regularly and consistently" (Jaramogi's directives) to both Jaramogi and Oneko progress on the "broko" as Jaramogi called it.
The two things going on simultaneously became a nightmare to us. We knew Raila Odinga and a team of politicians were busy organising Jaramogi's re-entry to Parliament. But in a closed meeting in Oneko's office at Uniafrique House we discussed the possibility of another group in KANU bent on sabotaging the project. Mukaru Ng'ang' a, then a tutorial fellow in the department of history, came to brief Oneko about this. Oneko called us, the "broko" team, to partake of this discourse.
Jaramogi was all over the place mobilising the public to grow cotton and, to be expected, popularising the RIAT fund raising as well as his new advent into electoral politics. Journalists were after him. Oneko briefed us to help manage the marauding journalists.
The week before the fundraising, Jaramogi was to travel to Mombasa on a Friday and address wananchi on Saturday. It was Wednesday when a journalist from Weekly Review contacted Odinge desperately wanting to interview Jaramogi at his Tumaini House office. We met at Oneko's office and concluded that the Weekly Review was not to interview Jaramogi since Mukaru had already warned us against their intentions following a tip from Kenneth Matiba.
We agreed that Odinge would give appointments for interview and then postpone at the last moment while we erected a "cordone sanitaire" around the Tumaini House office. Unbeknownst to us Hillary Ng'weno, the Weekly Review editor, managed to trace Odinga to his Jerusalem estate apartment and extracted an interview late Thursday evening. The article on that Friday was a harbinger of worse things to come. And we drew Oneko's attention to this and pleaded with him to reach Jaramogi for caution of what and what not to say to the press.
That Friday there was a RIAT fundraising at the City Stadium on Jogoo Road. After that Odinga was to travel to the Coast accompanied by Ouko. That Friday morning we pleaded with Oneko, as a veteran politician and a close confidant of Jaramogi, to travel with him to the Coast in view of what we had just read in the Weekly Review. We were of the view that the special branch was working over time to derail the re-entry of Jaramogi to Parliament. Oneko declined. Saying that, as chairman of the RIAT fundraising in Nairobi, he had to preside over a fundraising luncheon that weekend.
The events in Mombasa led to the speech where Jaramogi denounced Kenyatta as a land grabber- at least that is what the papers reported. As they say in the usual parlance, the rest is history. Our detractors in KANU seized on this and developed a chorus denouncing Jaramogi. Raila and Matiba tried their best to salvage the situation to no avail.
We nonetheless soldiered on to finish the "broko" and hand it over to Jaramogi. Arrangements for the fundraising were not interrupted. Moi came to Kisumu ensconced between Njonjo and GG Kariuki. The sun was signing bright when Jaramogi spoke, paying great tribute to his guest, Moi. In his turn the President read his written speech with least emotion and spent the rest of the time chastising Jaramogi, rendering the guests dumbfounded.
When it was over the whole retinue that came with Moi to Kisumu left except for Munyua Waiyaki, Minister for Industry and Koigi wa Wamwere, MP for Sabukia. Plenty of food had been prepared, complete with a high table for Moi and his Cabinet.
When both Moi and Njonjo were now out of government and I was serving as the Minister for Planning and National Development, we met at the US Embassy in Gigiri on July 4, 2003 or 2004. I was sent by the President to represent him and read his speech. At the end of it I met our two old adversaries together and we laughed off the fact that they were attired in their characteristic double-breasted English suits and I had my black Chinese suit. That photo is sitting somewhere in the archives of the Daily Nation. How things change!
The writer is the Kisumu governor
