It must have been at least 30 years ago, when I had a somewhat illuminating discussion on coastal politics, with a man who held high governmental office at the Coast.
This friend of mine and I were both residents of Mombasa at the time. But while I was an ordinary citizen, he was the kind of big shot, who would routinely be at the Mombasa airport to welcome President Daniel Moi to the Coast, whenever His Excellency came over for a “working holiday” as used to be said at the time.
He and I shared an affinity for political analysis. And so many a pleasant afternoon was spent debating coastal politics and exchanging insights and anecdotes.
During one such discussion, I mentioned to him that I had recently met – and been deeply impressed by – the former councillor (what would now be an MCA) and rising political star, one Emmanuel Karissa Maitha. And that going by Maitha's deep passion for politics and eloquent articulation of the grievances over the historical injustices suffered by the coastal communities, I felt certain he would in time be one of the most consequential political leaders in the Coast.
Much to my surprise, my friend – who was usually so calm and cynical – burst out in fury dismissing Maitha as an insignificant rabble rouser.
And he then got very personal: Maitha was the sworn enemy of all those Kenyans not indigenous to the coast who wished to settle down there; he was a troublemaker; he was uneducated; he was not even a qualified clinical officer as was widely believed but had actually worked as a “wound dresser” at the small clinic where he had worked prior to his going into politics.
And in any event Maitha not only had no money but had also alienated all the important Mombasa tycoons who might have funded his political career.
I discreetly changed the topic. But though both of these friends of mine, the unnamed VIP and Emmanuel Karissa Maitha are now long dead, the VIP did live to see Maitha serve as a Cabinet minister in the first President Mwai Kibaki administration. Not just a Cabinet minister, but easily the most influential politician at the Coast – indeed one having a level of influence which no coastal leader has since been able to attain.
My VIP friend had completely underestimated him.
I say all this to provide a context for a photo I recently received from a friend, which had DP William Ruto and his running mate, Rigathi Gachagua, and a single line of explanation: “Look at the sleeves”.
Indeed, it was true that Rigathi – very surprisingly for a man widely believed to be a shilling billionaire – was wearing a coat that was too big for him. The sleeves more or less concealed his fingers.
But this photo and its accompanying remark – as sent to me – illustrates something more than a need for Rigathi to inspect the contents of his wardrobe more carefully. It is emblematic of how the Kenyan middle-class always fails to recognise in advance, men and women who may one day wield enormous influence in this country.
Central Kenya is in very many ways the fulcrum of Kenyan politics. So, any leader from that region who manages to scramble all the way up to the point where he is the running mate of a top presidential candidate must surely be an exceptionally gifted politician, given how many other outstanding men and women are to be found in the Mt Kenya region.
It is true enough that Gachagua faces a variety of accusations of corruption. Also, that for the present time at least, he has been hopelessly overshadowed by Martha Karua, the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s celebrated running mate.
What both running mates have in common is a rare tenacity and a capacity for recovering from the most frustrating and humiliating setbacks. And in Kenyan politics, that is often the most essential quality.
A few years ago, it would have seemed impossible that Karua might end up as the most influential politician from the Mt Kenya region. And as for Rigathi, who even knew his name?
Yet look where they are now.
