Ode to a great man – Nyachae

President Daniel arap Moi had respect for appointments. Once an appointment was diarised, and the President had agreed to the meeting, he would not disappoint.

But after seeing attempts to rewrite Moi’s history when he died last year, some cynicism is permissible. The reportedly missed appointment with Deputy President William Ruto in Kabarak in 2018, pokes a hole in the claim.

But on this I can witness: Some of the disciplined people who worked with Moi respected appointments. These Moi contemporaries knew the value of time.

A former minister in the Moi government, Simeon Nyachae was one such person. The great son of Kenya, from the blessed highlands of the Abagusii, died last week an honourable man.

For Nyachae discipline, integrity, charm, and humour came easily.  He was tough when the times demanded a harsher side of the long-time public administrator.

Former Provincial Commissioner Joseph Kaguthi knows this harsh side of the son of the Omugusii. In the 1990s Moi was under pressure from the opposition. But Kaguthi, then Nyanza PC, was making things tougher for Kanu in the region. The assertive Nyachae reprimanded Kaguthi, as Moi watched his senior civil servant shrivel from the tongue lashing. Kaguthi was transferred weeks later.

I had 70 appointments with Mzee Nyachae between 1997 and 2007. Most of the appointments, from his Maji House office to his Likoni Road private office, and later Riverside, Nairobi, were honoured to the minute.

Most of the times Mzee Nyachae would personally usher you in, to make you feel welcome. On one occasion, he was at the entrance of his Riverside office, with an umbrella, waiting for the visitor.

Such was the discipline and decorum of leaders of Nyachae’s calibre. He was such a rare make of a man of honour, which he kept throughout his life in private, business and public service.

When Nyachae had an earlier appointment running into your hour, he would tell the secretary to set you up in another room. There were newspapers, magazines, a TV set, and tea or coffee, while you waited.

If, by chance, which was rare, Mzee Nyachae would not be in for the appointment, he would personally call to reschedule. Sometimes he did this through his secretary, or his decorous wife, business partner, and confidante Grace Wamuyu Nyachae.

The discipline made you understand the former district officer, DC, PC, chief secretary, minister, and later presidential candidate, attended a different school. He lived in a world where decorum counted. He was a gentleman.

The worst appointment I have had was with a vocal leader, with offices near the Nairobi Club. The man personally gave an appointment at 5.30am. On arrival I found 15 other people waiting for him. The unhappy visitors waited, with a sleepy and moody receptionist behind the desk.

The visitors were sleepy. Their frequent shifting of positions, and glances whenever a door opened, suggested they feared the appointment would flop any minute. Enrolling with the receptionist was no guarantee the meeting would not be called off, long past the appointment hour. At times a VIP would jump the queue.

After he talked to five people, who may have arrived before 4am, the host emerged at 6am to announce he had been called for an ‘urgent’ meeting. He walked out, straightening his tie with his personal assistant, carrying his briefcase. Then he made a laboured turn: “Kendo, my PA shall call you later today, so that we can meet.” The 2016 call did not come.

Another flopped appointment was with former Environment CS Judi Wakhungu, through her PA, who was her brother. “You shall be notified as soon as the CS has time.” Prof Wakhungu left office, four years later, without finding time to discuss an environmental crisis that still begs ministerial leadership. CS Keriako Tobiko knew about the 12 dry gullies of Midwest Karachuonyo in 2018.

We’ve got something to learn from Nyachae. May God rest the venerable Mzee’s soul in eternal bliss.