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Monday, July 31, 2006

President Moi's Road Accident: Foul Play?

Kenyan politicians never get involved in road accidents. It is always a plot to finish them by their un-named enemies. They never die but are alwasy killed off by political enemies.




Retired President Moi has made a lot of enemies in recent times and has very little to show for his political campaigns in the recently concluded byelections.

The road accident involving former President Moi in Lari over the weekend has everybody in shock. But strangely enough, nobody has insisted on the foul play angle. It seems that things are not going too well for the former president. Inspite of his vigorous campaigns in the just concluded byelections. Kanu had very little to show for it with just two seats.

There is no doubt that the former president has "stepped on many toes" over the last few months as he relaunched his political career. Most of these enemies are from his own Kalenjin people many of whom feel that they did not benefit enough during his presidency and to make matters worse. Moi now seems to be hindering their new initiatives.

So although foul play is very unlikely, it cannot be ruled out. A car collides with the President's vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road. The driver who admits reponsibility says he does not remember anything. Hmmm. worth some deeper thought don't you think?

I'd love to know what President Kibaki was telling Moi during their 10 minutes of private conversation.
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Errant Buru Buru Husband Learns The Easy Way.

Latest from Kumekucha Presidential Campign: Why Is This Missing In Kenya?

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Sunday Smile: Famous Books By Famous Kenyans

Fences And More Fences...........By Mwai Kibaki

Shooting Yourself In The Foot: The Enigma......................By Raila Odinga

How To Fight Tribalism And Ethnicity in Kenya.........By William “lie low like an envelope” Ole Ntimama

How To Execute A Successful military Coup................By Senior Private Pancreas Ochuka

The Project.................By Daniel Arap Moi

The Art of Party Hopping........................By Raila Odinga

Teetotaler Tales................................By Uhuru Kenyatta

How To Rare And Rattle Snakes....................By John Michuki

Mama Na Baba
......................................By Joseph Kamotho

Bling, Bling..........................By Artur S.

How To Love A Nyeri Woman.......................By The Artur Brothers

Partyless Jig........................By Mwai Kibaki

Koinange Street, How I Love Thee...............By Ali Makwere (introduction by Mwangi Kiunjuri)

Fathers At Midnight...................................By Martha Karua

Power In The Night................................By Wambui Wa Munene

The Joys Of The East African Community.............By Charles Njonjo

Not Yet Uhuru.......................................By The Kenyan Electorate

Shortchanged Yet Again..............................By The Kenyan Electorate

Kibaki Tosha (written in Dec 2002)..............................By Simeon Nyachai

Party Unity....................................By William Ruto

How To Survive A Political Assasination...............By T. Mboya, J. Kariuki And R. Ouko

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Errant Buru Buru Husband Learns The Easy Way.

Latest from Kumekucha Presidential Campign: Why Is This Missing In Kenya?

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Will President Kibaki Call For Early Elections?

There are no doubts that President Kibaki is now firmly in control of his destiny and poised to win re-election in the next general elections.

The president, if reluctantly, is now finally plunging himself deeply into the dirt and quagmire of the political game. For too long the he has been coming across as the kid dressed in their Sunday Best who does not want to get their white suit stained by mud and is prepared to go to great lengths to stay away from the filth. The recently concluded by-elections that saw Narc-Kenya snatch three of the five parliamentary seats that were up for grabs are clear evidence of this.

Essentially we are now back to the Moi days where the president feels that they have to cling on to power at all costs. Which means using every trick in the book.

One of the possible political gimicks is to call for an early election and catch most of the opposition totally unprepared. That would mean dissolving parliament later this year or early next year and having the general elections soon after that.

Actually if the situation were to remain more or less the same as it is currently, then President Kibaki is the most prepared candidate for the presidential elections at the moment and would benefit immensely from a snap poll.

I'm betting that at the last minute DP, Narc-Kenya and Kanu will merge to create a formidable alliance. Ford Kenya looks just too eager to be married off to the LDP, the only problem is, who will be the joint party's presidential candidate? Musikari Kombo seems very determined to stand for the presidency this time round. Then there are a number of loose ends whose outcome is impossible to predict. For example with Raila Odinga set to be the LDP presidential candidate, what will Kalonzo Musyoka do? And if, as widely expected KANU merges with Narc- Kenya, who will be President Kibaki's running mate and the Vice President-elect if Narc-Kenya wins?

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Errant Buru Buru Husband Learns The Easy Way.

Latest from Kumekucha Presidential Campign: Why Is This Missing In Kenya?

What The By-election Results Say About 2007

Let us start with the good news, which is the fact that two 27-year olds triumphed in the recently concluded polls in Kenya. The son of former Nakuru town MP (now deceased) Mirugi Kariuki and the younger brother of the immediate former Moyale MP (also deceased) Guracha Galgalo.

It is a very powerful statement coming from a cosmopolitan constituency (Nakuru) and remote rural one (Moyale). It is the first clear indication that Kenyans voters are capable of rising to the occasion and voting in younger Kenyans. This is something the country needs badly at the moment as the old folk fight to cling on to power at all costs, even when they have completely run out of ideas.

However, I am afraid that all the rest of the news is bad.

1) The by-elections demonstrated clearly that the government is prepared to use state resources to ensure that things go their way. The government is also very upset that the ECK (Electoral Commission of Kenya) should blow the whistle. In this kind of scenario you can forget about a fair election.

2) Kenyans hailing from the Kikuyu tribe are staunchly behind the government of President Emilio Mwai Kibaki (as was proved in Nakuru town). Meaning that nothing has changed about the "Hutu of Kenya" since the November referendum.

3) Judging by the noise the government is making against the ECK chances are that the current (extremely experienced) commissioners will not be re-appointed when their terms come to an end (all before the general elections scheduled for the end of 2007. Assuming that the President does not call for early elections (see my other post).

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Errant Buru Buru Husband Learns The Easy Way.

Latest from Kumekucha Presidential Campign: Why Is This Missing In Kenya?

Tribalism? Ethnicity? You Don't Know What You Are Talking About, Sir!

The Daily Nation carried a major feature recently on retired Lieutenant general Daniel Opande, one of the finest soldiers Kenya has ever produced. After General Mulinge's retirement from the armed forces, Opande was the most experienced and deserving person to have stepped into his shoes as chief of general staff. There was only one problem, his tribe.

Being a Luo, any ambitions he may have had for the top spot were doomed to fail. In fact if truth be told, the only reason he ended up as a peace keeper was to get him out of the way as his juniors (who were the right tribe) were being promoted all over the place at an embarrassing rate, some to more senior positions than his.

The Luo have not been the only victims of tribalism and ethnicity. In fact the tribe that suffered most durin Moi's long reign were the Kikuyu who not only found themselves locked out of lucrative key appointments in favor of Kalenjin herdsmen hurriedly brought in to occupy. But we also saw entire national industries destroyed and frustrated into submission, only because most of the players in the industry hailed from the House of Mumbi. The once lucrative coffee industry is a good example to give here.

But then some readers of this blog believe that there is no tribalism in Kenya. Or that it is not the main issue. One Kenyan who made a comment somewhere in this blog was so blunt that they said that anybody who thinks that tribalism is the main issue in Kenya, does not understand Kenya. (sic)

This week Kenyans have been busy analyzing the election results of the by-elections occasioned by an aircraft accident somewhere in Isiolo where a number of MPs perished.

Of course tribalism was not a major issue (as some people would like to lie to themselves) because Kenyans voted for the candidates they preferred. Luos and Kikuyus were seen high-fiving each other as they took a common stand where most of the candidates were concerned.

So why did Opande never make it to CGS?

Oh, he wasn't good enough, promotions in the army at that level have nothing to do with tribalism (oh spare me the *!#@*&).

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Errant Buru Buru Husband Learns The Easy Way.

Latest from Kumekucha Presidential Campign: Why Is This Missing In Kenya?

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Business Special: More Trouble Ahead For Uchumi

In all the hype being generated by the media and show of goodwill towards the Uchumi Supermarkets rescue efforts, alarm bells are beginning to ring loudly in my ears.

I really started to get nervous when I heard about the latest move by the new supermarket chain management to raise extra funds from shareholders. In the plan, shareholders will lend a minimum of Kshs 10,000 each to Uchumi. In fact the plan was to initially get a minimum of Kshs 100,000 from each shareholder. Shareholders quite rightly pointed out that this was too much for most of them.

What is going on here?

Uchumi has tried to raise funds before, in a bid to recover. It didn’t work. So what is so different this time?

This is not the time to raise money. It is time to be scrambling for a solution that will stop the “profuse bleeding” Uchumi is currently suffering.

My big worry is that, nothing has really changed at Uchumi to warrant such optimism. In fact personally I am very skeptical after reading the names of the management team put in place to rescue the retail giant. With all due respect to the persons named one of whom I know very well and is an excellent manager; the problem is that none of them have any track record of a turn around, let alone the turnaround of a retail giant of the size of Uchumi. Let us get something very clear here, the kind of trauma doctor who daily handles patients bleeding to death in an emergency room does not have the same skills as a GP working in some quiet, sleepy countryside clinic where he knows all his patients by name. Both are doctors but the situations are vastly different.

The people who have been appointed at Uchumi are good managers, but not “trauma” managers. They do not have what it takes to get the supermarket chain out of its’ current hole. In fact currently there is only one Kenyan I know who would have a fighting chance of accomplishing this mission. I have mentioned his name before here. Suresh Shah former MD of Uchumi. It would not surprise me in the least if he has already been approached and has probably declined. If this is true then you get my drift of how serious the situation at Uchumi really is.

Scandals not withstanding, Nakumatt in their favored position and offering unfair competition to Uchumi, are still up and running. The marketplace situation that was theer when Uchumi initially “bled” to death is still there. In other words, the fatal wound has returned for more beating and blows.

The way to achieve supermarket sales is by cutting prices and margins to attract the critical mass and sheer sales volumes that brings in the profits in any supermarket or megastore model. Yet Uchumi cannot afford to do this just now because they need the biggest margins possible to start stemming the red ink on their balance sheet. In my opinion, they need a clever idea or ideas that will enable them to keep big margins and still attract enough clientele.

I have also enquired on the ground and have found that one of the basic rules of a successful turnaround is being ignored by the current team. And that there is hardly anything radically different that the new management team is doing except operating with a much smaller staff. The marketing strategy of appealing to the sheer patriotism of Kenyan shoppers will surprise me if it works and will probably set a precedent of sorts in the annals of marketing history in Kenya if it stays in the air long enough. What will most probably happened is that any numbers being driven to the supermarket will soon dwindle as the attention of the Kenyan public drifts to other forthcoming hot issues like the rapidly approaching general elections.

My fear is that all this money that is going to be sunk in by shareholders will be lost and future more deserving cases will lose out as people will always refer to the Uchumi debacle. What those gallant Uchumi shareholders are doing right now is throwing money in a bottomless pit (that’s what debt is) and nobody knows for sure how deep this particular hole really is.

What should have happened is that the Supermarket chain should have worked on using the available government funding and the goodwill (some of their landlords have waived rent for 6 months) while keeping a close eye on performance before going overboard and collecting such huge amounts of cash from shareholders whose blind faith in Uchumi’s recovery is premature. The time to raise more money would have been when there were clear indications that the “bleeding” had stopped.

Let us not forget that we had some excellent managers, some with international experience, previously running Uchumi. They were not able to turn the tide. So what magic will the new management team do following the exact same path and approach that the previous management did?

Instead of raising money from the unsuspecting public the new management team should be discussing and implementing new strategy.

A comment a young bright Kenyan student who scored “B” aggregate in her Form four made in my hearing shortly after Uchumi callpsed, is still ringing in my mind. She asked how does a company like Uchumi go bankrupt? What she meant was that how do you collect so much money and still lose money?

My fear is that many of the investors being rushed into helping raise more money for Uchumi are thinking in their minds; how can Uchumi fail to recover this time?

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Kumekucha Presidential Campaign: The 9 Year Old Dead Kenyan And The Saddest Day Of My Life.

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Friday, July 21, 2006

Ben Gethi Was More Powerful Than Most People Imagined

Thanks mainly to a mysterious reader of this blog who appears to be very informed, today I wrap up my investigative report into major political assassinations in Kenya with details that have left even me, the writer dazed.

This helpful reader has provided some important clues which I have followed up on to bring you this amazing report.

When Kenya became independent we inherited a system that relied heavily on intelligence gathering from the British colonial masters. The British have always been known for their efficient intelligence services built over many decades. Its' chief aim has always been to protect 'her majesty's interests. It took a very short time for the young Kenyan nation to re-focus this intelligence network towards the protection of the President's interests. As I said earlier, because of the power vested in the presidency by the Kenyan constitution, anything that touches on the president's interests is a matter of state security.

To this day, President Kibaki gets security briefings on a regular basis (see separate post to get an idea of the sort of briefings he receives).

The whole focus of this series of articles has been on the assassination of Tom Mboya. However to understand that assassination well and the real participants it is imperative to focus on the assassination of popular Nyandarua North MP Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, better known as JM Kariuki.

It is ironic that the main action of both JM's murder and that of Tom Mboya took place within metres of each other in the city centre in Nairobi. Mboya was shot outside Chaani's Chemists which still stands right next to the Standard Bank headquarters. You can clearly see the location when you stand outside the Hilton Hotel right across the street. That is the place where JM Kariuki was last seen alive in the company of the then GSU commandant Ben Gethi. The two men entered a car and drove away. We now know that they went to Kingsway House where JM was tortured and shot in the arm in a curious incident. It is reliably said that JM lost his temper when he was being questioned about some cash donated to the Mau mau that was entrusted to him. The MP happened to be carrying a firearm on him (even in the interrogation room) which he drew but Ben Gethi was faster on the draw and got to his weapon first and fired at JM’s arm to disarm him. The MP did not lose consciousness but started bleeding profusely from the gunshot wound on his arm.

Later he was dismembered, and dumbed on the edge of the Ngong Forest in the outskirts of Nairobi where a Maasai herdsboy found the body days after he had been reported missing.

So who was this Ben Gethi guy and what did the GSU have to do with state security matters?

It is said that Ben Gethi was related in some way to president Kenyatta and was therefore one of his most trusted lieutenants. In retrospect it becomes a little clearer why he was such a high profile GSU commandant. It appears to have been a cover of some sort for his real role in government at that time. Gethi was very well trained by none other than the Israeli's. He played a very important role in putting together the crack paramilitary GSU which appears to have been a crack extra presidential guard unit at the time. GSU stands for General Service Unit. To put it in the words of our reader, Gethi was at the tip of the spear that was state security in the Kenyatta era.

In view of this, It is very clear that Gethi must have known something about the planning and execution of the Mboya assassination. This blogger now has reason to believe that thw whole plot revolved around him and Kenyatta’s inner cabinet, including the likes of Mbiyu Koinange. In fact the description given of the man seen by eyewitnesses gunning down Mboya, fits that of Ben Gethi himself. And Gethi actually resembled the convicted killer of Mboya, one Nahashon Njenga. Let us avoid speculation here, but it is important to note that the operation to assassinate Mboya was intricately planned and required somebody with a lot of experience in using firearms (we have already seen how Gethi beat JM to the draw easily and fired accurately at his arm). Just try and imagine for a moment what the implications of a failed assassination attempt on Mboya’s life would have been at the time? It would have without doubt brought down President Kenyatta’s 6 year old government. Also the fact that two shots were fired at close range tells you that the idea here was to ensure that chances of survival were nil. Those shots were too accurate, fired by a professional. This profile unfortunately does not fit Nahashon Njenga, a Kanu political activist linked to the youth wing whom Mboya knew well.

It is now crystal clear that Gethi was part and parcel of the team that were involved with state security at the time, the team that would have had to find a solution to the Mboya threat. Gethi played the important role of both foot soldier and co-ordinator amongst the various security organs that were involved.

Ironically one of the chief investigators of the Mboya murder, was one Ignatius Nderi. Nderi was destined to be the CID director when the next major political assassination took place with the murder of JM kariuki.

Gethi was of course taking his orders from above. Many refer to Minister of State in the office of the President who was clearly in charge of internal security then, Mbiyu Koiunange. In receiving the JM report from the parliamentary select committee President Kenyatta insisted that Mr Koinange's name be removed from the report.

To date nobody has been brought on trial for JM’s murder and neither has the mystery of the "big man" Njenga kept on referring to as the one who ordered the hit on Mboya, ever been solved.

If You Don’t Become President, You’re Dead

If You Don't Become President You're Dead

Out of all the presidential hopefuls who would have posed a threat to President Kenyatta (and by extension state security). Only Jaramogi Oginga Odinga survived.






Senior Sergeant Pancreas Ochuka, the man reputed to have led the 1982 coup attempt by junior Air Force officers. It is said that he went to his grave having been President of Kenya for at least 30 chaotic minutes. Moi’s state security changed dramatically after that attempted coup in ’82.


All the others died. Including charismatic leader of KADU who led his party in joining crossing the floor and thus ending opposition party politics in parliament, Ronald Ngala. Ngala died in a road accident on the Nairobi-Mombasa road in an accident believe to have been caused by bees. It is said that bees attacked the driver when the cabinet minister;s vehicle was at high speed and he lost control (oh please!)

Meaning that in those days any contender who failed to be president was already a dead man it was just a matter of time.

These are some of the critical skeletons in the closet that Kenyans will need to retrieve for burial. There is no way they can remain on the closet as we continue to pretend that everything is okay.

Families of these assassinated Kenyan heroes need to be told the truth, and we need to understand the issues here clearly before we can hope to move on. If we don’t, then you can be sure that there will be another “Standard raid” some day in the future in the name of state security.

What President Kibaki's Security Briefings May Be All About

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Kumekucha Presidential Campaign: The 9 Year Old Dead Kenyan And The Saddest Day Of My Life.

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What President Kibaki's Security Briefings May Be All About

Let us for a moment focus on what would currently be a threat to president Kibaki’s government. If we can, then we'll have a pretty good idea of what the President's almost daily, security briefings these days are usually all about.

Of course by now, we understand very well what Kenyatta’s intelligence briefings were all about. They must have dwelt a lot on characters like Tom Mboya, JM, Ronald Ngala etc. We also understand what Moi’s were like, especially after the 1982 failed coup.. Raila Odinga, Ben Gethi etc.

Early in the Kibaki administration, retired President Moi and his activities seem to have been viewed as a serious threat.

One Madaraka day, this came out in the open at Nyayo stadium when wananchi starting to get disillusioned by the Narc administration, greeted President Kibaki in a rather luke warm manner but gave retired President Moi a rousing greeting with chants of "Nyayo", "Nyayo". Matters came to a head when the retired President publicly stated that he was against the proposed new constitution in the November referendum which was fully being backed by the Kiobaki administration after extensive doctoring by the same.

You will remember that there was a time that Moi even came out publicly and complained about security personnel trailing him all over the place. Since then a lot has changed and it is now clear that both Moi and Kibaki are firmly on the same side.

So whose the current threat to the security of the state. Raila Odinga of course, just like his father was before him for many years. And (it gets even more ridiculous) anybody with a chance of defeating Kibaki in the 2007 is a threat to state security. And whatever that was going to be published in the Standard was also clearly a threat. That is why the “snake had to bite” (Hon Michuki’s words). Notice that very little has changed since the Kenyatta days. Michuki is now clearly playing the role of Mbiyu Koinange. A role that the late Hezekiah Oyugi also played as one of the most powerful PS’s in the history of Kenya. Incharge of internal security of course. Moi preferred to use PS Oyugi who in this case had more powers than the minister who was supposed to be his boss at the ministry. Note that Oyugi was named as a prime suspect in the Ouko murder. The Ouko murder had a few differences which we shall deal with on another day.

In shutting down the torture chambers of Nyayo House many Kenyans were convinced that we had seen the last of this state sponsored terror. They were wrong, the Standard Raid happened.

There is only one way to end this nonsense and to free up our intelligence service for much more productive pursuits. And that is to strengthen the key institutions like parliament and the judiciary. The inclusion of a prime minister would have helped a great deal here.

The wounds and sufferings of the families of those who lost their lives allegedly because they were a threat to state security, need an explanation, that's why a truth and reconciliation commission is the only answer for Kenya.

More on Ben Gethi

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Kumekucha Presidential Campaign: The 9 Year Old Dead Kenyan And The Saddest Day Of My Life.

More on Ben Gethi

Ben Gethi was also an explosives expert. Is it a mere coincidence that shortly before JM was murdered in 1975, a bomb went off at the OTC (upcountry bus company then associated with the now defunct Kenya Bus Services -KBS) killing 27eople and maiming many others.

The ridiculous idea here was to link JM to the bomb blast and also link the popular MP to terrorism acts aimed at destabilizing Kenyatta’s government. Indeed it is said that that was the main line of questioning at Kingsway House on that fateful night in March 2nd that JM was taken there.

Even more telling is that after JM’s murder nothing more was heard about the OTC bombing.

After Tom Mboya’s assassination, rumours started doing the rounds in Nairobi that he had been planning to assassinate President Kenyatta and that the same person sent to kill Kenyatta was sent back to finish off Mboya. Few believed the authenticity of this rumour but no prizes for guessing where it may have originated from.

Another mysterious bomb went off at the Norfolk Hotel in on New year’s eve, 1980, killing 27 people, mostly American and British tourists. To date this mystery has also not been solved. Although Gethi was by this time police commissioner, it should be noted that he was Israeli-trained and still had very close links with the Israelis. Even more telling is the fact that there was no follow up by the government on this serious incident almost as if the mystery was solved in their book.

Ben Gethi became police commissioner shortly after President Moi took over in 1978. It is useful to take a close look at the circumstance surrounding the man’s appointment.

Then police commissioner Bernard Hinga was summoned to State house by Moi who was upset about a certain security-related issue. It is said that Hinga did not respond to the new president in the same way he used to respond to Kenyatta. You did not answer back to Kenyatta. Yet Hinga took time to disagree with what the president was saying and to defend himself vigorously. A visisbly annoyed Moi ordered him back to his office. However, when Hinga entered his office at Vigilance house, he found Ben Gethi seated on his chair. Any other officer, Hinga would have thrown out, but this was Gethi and even Hinga (who was supposed to be his boss) feared him.

The following were Hinga’s exact words:

“What the hell is going on?”

Ben Gethi informed him hat he had just been appointed police commissioner by the President. Hinga pointed out that he had just been to see the president and he hadn’t been told about this new development. Just then the phone rung and Moi personally talked to Hinga asking him to take an early retirement.

Gethi himself was fired shortly after the 1982 coup attempt and was briefly detained without charge. He was released after about one year.

Shortly before his sacking, Raila Odinga says in his biography that he burst into the cells where he was being held looking drunk and eating roasted goat leg. He interrogated Raila and his colleagues and supervised as his GSU officers assaulted them with kicks and blows.

Ben Gethi was quite a character. He would seat at a corner drinking alone for hours on end. It was usually a stiff whisky drink. He hardly talked and it was clear that the man was being haunted by ghosts from his past.

It is said that if you pour innocent blood, there is no way, you will not be haunted by those you have murder in cold blood. If this is true then it explains Gethi’s strange behavior and character.

Gethi died in 1994 of some illness (probably drunk himself to death) and took with him enough secrets to the grave to write hundreds of best-selling books. This includes inside details of the planning and execution of the mission that assassinated Tom Mboya.

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When approached with the seriousness it deserves planning this important occasion right down to the wedding cameras need not be too stressful.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

'82 Coup Plot Revelations: Raila Odinga's Biggest Political Mistake Ever

As I write this, events are still unfolding after the bombshell revelation concerning Raila and his father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga's involvement in the failed coup of August 1st 1982.

In a Raila biography written by Nigerian, Babafemi Badejo that would have been the ideal campaign tool and weapon in his bid for the presidency, Agwambo confirms what many have suspected all along. And that is the fact that he was involved in the 1982 coup attempt to topple President Moi's constitutionally established government.

Local newspaper columnists have either completely missed the point or have deliberately pretended not to see it. Raila should never have allowed the book to be published in the first place. While everybody would like the truth to come out, these revelations have for all intents and purposes ended any serious chances Raila ever had of becoming the next president of Kenya.

On a personal level I love Raila. In my book he is the candidate with the cleanest record out of all those who have declared interest in the presidency so far. But it seems that my friend has just shot himself in the foot for no apparent reason.

His admission of involvement in the 1982 coup plot ruins everything by introducing some very disturbing questions on the minds of Kenyans.

Military coups are all about killing and taking over power by military, forceful and unconstitutional means. This means that Raila and his late father were prepared to kill to get political power. They did not succeed but many innocent Kenyans lost their lives in the process. Those who don't think this is serious should face the Kenyan mother who had a son in the regular armed forces and one in the Airforce. She was praying that both survived. She found the bodies of both at the City Mortuary. Not to mention the thousands of other Kenyans who lost their lives on that black August 1st. Many others who will carry the scars for the rest of their lives from watching people being killed or wives and daughters being raped. And for what?

At the time, Moi had ruled for a mere 4 years and one of the reasons why the coup happened in the first place is that his style of leadership then was very laid back and non-confrontational (sound familiar?) Nobody likes a weak leader. So what the coup plotters announced on the radio that morning, to the effect that the long dictatorial rule of President Moi had come to an end was propaganda nonsense. There weren't even any political detainees at that time.

Meaning that the people behind the coup had no justification to use armed means to gain power. It means that they were after power for the sake of power. For Raila to be associated with such a group is nauseating to say the least.

There are times when an armed struggle is justified; this was definitely not one of those times. If anything it would have set a dangerous precedent that may have turned Kenya into another Nigeria where bloody coups have for many years been an accepted way of life.

This is the man who will ask Kenyans for their votes in 2007. It is true that Kenyans have a short memory and Raila should have taken advantage of that and left his past exactly where it was.
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The Chaos That Was the 1982 Coup And The Terrible Purge That Followed

Couples reunion at the airport after 6 long years turns ugly

Latest from Kumekucha Presidential Campign: Why Is This Missing In Kenya?
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Other Raila Odinga Articles In This Blog;

Raila Phobia: Why The Emotional Comments And Abusive Language?

Raila Odinga’s World Cup Ad

What Raila Should Do To Win The Presidency

Is ODM Finished?

'82 Coup Plot Revelations: Raila Odinga's Biggest Political Mistake Ever

The Chaos That Was the 1982 Coup And The Terrible Purge That Followed

There were many horror stories on that day. Some half jokingly say that Senior Private Pancreas Ochuka, the junior airforce officer who is said to have been the leader (there was definitely a major personality behind him, but who was it?), went to his grave having ruled Kenya for at least 30 minutes. Ochuka was hanged at Kamiti Prison for his role in the coup attempt.




Details of the bloody attempted coup of 1982 are still classified information. The exact body count was never even given. What followed was a different Moi keen on crushing all opposition, real or imagined. In retrospect the attempted coup was definitely one of the events that helped drive the country more and more off track.

Then there were the Maasai moran looters who caused great laughter. While others went for valuables, like precious stones and jewelry, Some Maasais were spotted breaking into a butcher's shop and carrying away meat. Apparently this seemed to be the most valuable of assets they could identify.

Other slum dwellers looted TV sets only to find themselves stranded with them since they did not have any electricity in their tiny slum dwellings, something they momentarily forgot as they made off with the TV sets.

One the man (armed with a gun and probably believed to have been a member of either the air force or the army) went straight to the Hilton Hotel. His objective? To have sex with a white woman. Which he apparently fulfilled but on his way out died under a hail of bullets.

But there was nothing funny about the rapes, plunder and killings that went on in many parts of the city of Nairobi. Nor is there anything funny about the numerous bodies that people had to step over while walking the streets of Nairobi the next morning, which was a Monday. Everybody had to walk the streets with their national identity cards held high over their heads. There was also a dawn to dusk curfew that went on for at least a month after that.

The air force troops apparently took over the KBC TV and radio station and a few other strategic installations in the early hours of Sunday morning August 1st 1982, before the Kenya Army support battalion stormed into the city centre and recaptured the installations with heavy casualties, mainly from the air force side. Many air force soldiers fled, stripped their uniform and hid by mixing with ordinary civilians. The army hunted them down for days. It is said that a section of the air force that had taken control cheered when they saw the army arriving in town, since they had been made to believe that the entire armed forces were supporting the attempted coup. They were taken completely by surprise when their would-be accomplices opened fire instead, killing many of them.

It is said that Moi was at his Kabarak farm when the attempted coup happened and after it was defeated, was brought back into the city by a well armed army escort in an operation code named Operation Maji Machafu (swahili for dirty water). There is a story that did the rounds to the effect that he was brought back inside a military tank.

He appeared live on KBC TV (then called Voice of Kenya – VOK). He was visisbly shocked but thanked all the security forces. He was flanked by the then police commissioner Ben Gethi.

The paranoid Moi who emerged after the events of that August day, was a very different man from the Moi Kenyans had known in the past. From then on, all political opponents and enemies, real or imagined were dealt with ruthlessly. The dreaded Mwakenya purge where many innocent Kenyans suffered in torture chambers at Nyayo house on suspicion of being dissidents was to follow, peaking in 1985/86.

Many older Kenyans and families still have scars of ’82 and the consequences that followed. Prof. Anyang Nyongo, now an MP and formerly in the Kibaki cabinet, once admitted in parliament that his private parts were squeezed by special branch officers torturing him. This blogger was arrested and detained for one endless weekend where I was transferred from police station to police station in a mistaken identity mix-up. Security officers at one point stripped me naked and threatened to shoot me dead if I did not confess. Had I known what I was required to confess, I would have speedily obliged.

It is important to understand that everybody and anybody was picked up at the least excuse during the great Mwakenya purge of the mid 80s. The late humour columnist Mutahi Wahome (better know as Whispers) was jailed just because somebody mentioned that he happened to be around when others were reading a copy of a seditious document in his university days some years before.
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Couples reunion at the airport after 6 long years turns ugly

Latest from Kumekucha Presidential Campign: Why Is This Missing In Kenya?

Friday, July 14, 2006

Exposed: Murder Of Mboya, JM And Ouko Linked To Standard Newspapers Raid

Some cold cases (unsolved murders) have a way of almost resolving themselves with the benefit of hindsight. Hindsight is like a bird’s eye view. By looking at the whole picture or getting a bird’s eye view of the situation one is able to put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together much more easily.



JM Kariuki was the only Kikuyu politician to set foot on Rusinga Island for Tom Mboya's funeral. Later he was to be brutually murdered after terrible torture. It is believed that he was tortured at the then notorious Kingsway House by security agents. What information were they seeking from him?

For a long time now, I have carefully studied all the evidence linked to the Mboya murder. The JM and Ouko case were a little too obvious and to date these are virtually solved cases, the only problem is that the perpetrators have not been brought to book.

The recent Standard newspapers raid, the Ouko murder, the brutal JM killing and the Mboya assassination all have one thing in common. All were matters of internal security or security of the state and were handled as such. When you understand this simple fact all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fall very neatly into place.

I have just been studying details of all four cases once again and they all bear uncanny resemblance. Before we go into that it may be a good idea to define national security (state security, internal security, they all mean the same thing).

Here is what the online encyclopedia Wikipedia has to say;

National security refers to the public policy of maintaining the integrity and survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power and the exercise of diplomacy, in times of peace and war.
Measures taken to ensure national security include:
• using diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats
• maintaining effective armed forces
• using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified information


I want you to take careful note of the third point mentioned. “To defeat and avoid threats.” “To protect classified information.” All three assassinated Kenyans were seen as threats. Threats to the presidency and therefore threats to national security (more on that later).

Ouko was murdered after a controversial trip to the United States where it is rumoured that he had easier access to the then US President George Bush Senior than did President Moi. That was a threat to National security.

JM Kariuki was never the same person after the death of his close friend Tom Mboya. In fact it is on record that JM was the only Kikuyu politician at that time who set foot on Rusinga Island for Mboya’s burial. JM started talking about not wanting a Kenya where there were 10 millioniares and 10 million beggars. It is believed that he was referring to the persons close to the then Ptresident Kenyatta who were using their position to amass colossal amounts of wealth through corruption. JM had been Kenyatta’s private secretary and must have witnessed first hand the way the president was accumulating land for himself like there was no tomorrow. It is said that JM could even turn up at harambee meetings being presided over by the president and donate more money than the president. Remember the threat to the internal security of King Saul in Biblical times when the women sung that shepherd boy David was killing tens of thousands but King Saul was killing only thousands? And to think it was only a song.

The implication here was that JM was trying to prove in public that he was better than the president. The guys he was dealing with had already felled a Mugumo tree called Tom Mboya and had no qualms doing the same with JM and this time, they tortured him first. Even cutting out his private parts. Thanks to a reader of this blog, we now know that the same building where Mboya’s murder was planned and finalized is the same building where JM was taken in and tortured for hours on end.

What information were the security guys looking for by tortusing JM? A good guess is that they wanted to know what foreign support he had.

As we have said before in this blog, Tom Mboya had been in line for the presidency when Jomo Kenyatta was out of the picture and still in detenrion. Mboya’s greatest undoing and the reason why he was viewed as such a huge threat to internal security was the fact that he was very friendly with the Americans. In fact he had direct access to American Presidents like John F. Kennedy and President Johnson, who took over after Kennedy was assassinated. For some unexplained reason, Mboya never really hit it off with Richard "Watergate" Nixon, and must have turned in his grave when the Watergate scandal broke and brought down Nixon’s presidency. The Americans had just organized "something" in Zaire where charismatic Patrice Lumumba had brutally been removed from the picture and replaced by their darling, Mobuto Sese Seko. The Americans could easily organize the same in Kenya. After all they did not like the dominance of the British (who were very close to the Kenyatta government.)

Were the British consulted on this one? It is very likely that they were. Mboya as I have said was a Mugumo tree and the government may have wanted reassurances that incase of any serious backlash, they could count on the support of the British. Here it is interesting to note that during Mboya’s funeral President Kenyatta was visibly so shaken (there was rioting going on outside, that was ho popular Mboya was) that he was unable to read the eulogy. It was done for him by a cabinet minister and MP from Nyanza, Mr Ayodo.

Now the big revelation here is the Standard raid. Here we have the advantage that a cabinet minister admitted in public that it was a matter of national security. Going by what has happened in the past, chances are very high that whatever it is the Standard newspapers were about to publish touched on (you guessed it) the Presidency. Now your guess is as good as mine as to what the big issue was about exactly. Anglo-leasing? The Arturs? Who knows.

You will have noticed that internal security seems to mean the same thing as presidential security. In young states in Africa, it does. If you doubt it, look at what happened in Somalia. Everybody cheered when strongman Siad Barre was overthrown, but look what followed - chaos. To date order has not been restored and there has been no peace.

Part of the problem is that there is too much power vested on the presidency meaning that a threat to the presidency is a threat to the security of the state.

I would like to thank one of my readers who has been making comments here, who forced me to think more deeply and thus put everything together in this way.

I still believe that the best way to heal all this wounds is to have a truth and reconciliation commission and have these issues and accompanying evidence tabled. This is another reason why a new constitution with proper separation of powers is so important.

This has been very exhausting for me but I feel a lot more enlightened today.

I hope to continue with this depressing topic of state security and espionage in a later post soon.

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Other Related Stories To Tom Mboya's Assassination in Kumekucha

Kingsway House: Building In Nairobi That Holds Dark Secrets

Tom Mboya: American Friends Were Expecting Assassination Attempt

More On Ben Gethi: The Notorious Killer Who Became Police Commissioner

Ben Gethi Was Very Powerful

Sex And Politics: How Dirty Is Kenyan Politics?

There are those Kenyans who are naïve enough to believe that corruption and dirty tricks have limited impact on the Kenyan political arena during general elections. Even worse there are those young candidates preparing for 2007 who have not taken into consideration the fact that their strategy will need to take into account the usual dirty tactics that many older Kenyan politician see as part and parcel of the political game.

One of the reasons why Mwai Kibaki won the elections in 2002 was the fact that the opposition coalition waited very late to announce their single candidate. All along Kanu believed that there was no way the opposition were capable of fielding one candidate. When Mwai Kibaki was finally announced, as that candidate, it was very late in the game and election day arrived before the Kanu think tank could come up with a useful counter strategy to destroy or limit the impact of candidate Kibaki.

No doubt President Kibaki had a hand to play in the delay of this announcement. He must have remembered what Kanu did to him in 1992. Kenya's first multi party elections in many years were fascinating. Kanu strategists looked at the opposition line up and figured that the only candidate who had a national appeal and was therefore a threat to Moi was Kibaki.

All sorts of things were dug out to discredit him. When parliament moved to amend the constitution with the inclusion of the famous section 2a, one of the main sponsors of the bill was the then Vice President and leader of government business, Mwai Kibaki. That was when he made his famous "You cannot cut a Mugumo tree with a razor blade," quote.

The Kanu strategists dug out this amongst a long list of things Kibaki had said, most of it they quoted out of context. When they were finished with the man, he stood no chance. It is instructive that in that election he ended up third behind Moi, and Kenneth Matiba in that order.

Smear campaigns work. They have always worked in elections. That is why they have always been used in elections all over the world.

Some of the leading presidential candidates we have this time have got all sorts of dark pasts and plenty of skeletons in their closets.

But the interesting thing in Kenya is that sex scandals do not work. It is a proven fact that many male members of the August house are frequent clients at Koinange street where many of the young girls trading their favors are under age. In 2003 several of them were caught literally with their pants down. Many others take on a new "young wife" to celebrate their entry to parliament. Kenyans take note, this is why MP salaries and allowances will never be enough.

So why is this not an issue with the Kenyan electorate. My question is if a man cannot be faithful to his wife and family, can he be expected to be taithful to the nation and electorate?

Maybe I should take that statement back. For centuries power, and especially political power has been known to be the most powerful aphrodisiac known to man. Those in power have always tended to attract the attention of the ladies. And even where they have made the first move, they have proved to be irresistible. This can be traced back to the days of King David when a married woman called Bethsheba found it impossible to resist his advances.

Other Features in this edition:

Couples reunion at the airport after 6 long years turns ugly

Latest from Kumekucha Presidential Campaign: Why Is This Missing In Kenya?

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

"Do You Know Who I Am?"

The current controversy surrounding one Winnie Wangui (actually Winnie Mwai in official circles) is something that brings into sharp focus one "disease" that Kenyans need to get rid of.

It underlines the brutal reality in Kenya that has survived long after the Kanu government was voted out of power. It is what I call the do-you-know-who-I-am syndrome. Why use the name Winnie Wangui when the name Winnie Mwai is a lot more effective? (Mwai, as in Mwai Kibaki).

You can imagine this conversation going on, on telephone, somewhere in Nairobi.

1st stubborn voice: I am sorry madam, this is against regulations and our usual procedure.

2nd cool confident voice: Do you know who I am?

1st stubborn voice: "Who am I speaking to please?"

2nd cool confident voice: "Winnie Mwai?"

1st stubborn voice: "Mwai?…"

2nd cool confident voice: "Yes Mwai as in Mwai Kibaki."

1st stubborn voice: "Is this for real?"

2nd cool confident voice: "Can You give me your name please."

1st stubborn voice: "No that won't be necessary madam, your instructions will be carried out."

Moi's son and daughter played havoc in Kenya during his long reign. Even the son who called himself Jonathan Torotich sent shivers down the spines of many a Kenyan. That name Toroitich was as effective as the name Moi, (belonging to the same person) in magically opening doors where they would otherwise be tightly sealed.

It is used to break the law and get preferential treatment.

In the next government there should be a significant effort in fighting this "name dropping" syndrome.

One incident that occurred during the Kenyatta administration makes for some fascinating reading. A senior police officer in the traffic department going by the name of Mageria impounded some matatus in what would have been an otherwise normal police operation. Suddenly all hell broke lose as he started receiving frantic phone calls warning him to release the matatus immediately or face dire consequences. This brave officer stuck to his guns and went ahead and prepared and processed charges against the vehicles. What emerged was that the vehicles belonged to a member of President Kenyatta's kitchen cabinet and actually a relative of the then president. Don't look so surprised, there were not many other businesses to go into, in those days.

Finally this brave officer (he's still alive today and a businessman in Nairobi) received summons to go to State House Nakuru. It was very clear to him who wanted to see him. It was highly unlikely that it was one of the junior security personnel at State House Nakuru who wanted to have a word with him.

Mageria arrived at State House Nakuru and was ushered into a waiting room where he waited for what seemed to be forever. Finally he was ushered in to see President Kenyatta.

"What is your name?" the old man boomed.
"Mageria, sir," the jittery police officer replied.

The president burst out into laughter. It is not clear what language this conversation was carried out in, but the Kikuyu name, Mageria roughly translated into English means "to provoke" or to "try somebody's patience" it also means trials and tribulations.

Was Mageria trying to provoke The President of Kenya? That was the implication and probably the reason why the old man was so amused. He saw the funny side in the whole incident. (A study of the old man's fascination with names and their meanings should be done by somebody. For instance, for years he refused to address a famous Kenyan runner by his second name. The runner (still alive today) was the pioneer legendary Kipchoge Keino. In the Kikuyu language his name means the private parts of a woman.)

After a hearty laugh that continued for what seemed like forever and brought tears to the eyes of the President, as poor Mageria had no idea what would happen next, the old man dismissed him with the words; "You are doing a good job, Mageria."

That was the charisma of Kenya's first President that sometimes causes people to forget his other side and just how ruthless and cold-blooded he could be.

This story has a happy ending for somebody who stuck to their guns despite name dropping and intimidation and did their job. Of course it leaves many questions. Was Kenyatta under so much pressure from his inner circle that an appointment to see a junior police officer who had impounded some matatus was forced on him? Or did the old man just want to see this courageous one-in-a-million police officer?

Whatever the answer, Kenyans should learn from Goldenberg and the Wangui saga. It is better to stick to your guns and the rules and end up being transferred to some remote and hardship area like Lokichoggio as a punishment, than to succumb to name dropping and still end up being transferred to Lokiuchoggio.

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Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life

Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity

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What Was Kenyatta Really Like?

The grand old man of Africa as many would like to remember him was a contradiction.

It is said that he always used to ask his advisor's the question: "How will that affect the ordinary mwananchi and usually his decision would lean heavily on the answer to that question.

But it is the same man who during his last trip ever to Kisumu in 1969 took a long time in dressing down Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in abusive and threatening language. This was moments after violence had erupted which saw an unspecified number of people killed as the presidential guard opened fire on a rowdy crowd. It all started when somebody threw a chair towards the president. It missed its' mark and was caught in mid air by one of the security detail.



Jomo Kenyatta sometime in 1961 with a German delegation, shortly before he became Prime Minister. For those who are given to studying character, quite an interesting man full of contradictions, but mostly forgiven by Kenyans.

The old man in his speech called the Luo lazy and stupid and said that had it not been for his past friendship with Jaramogi, "he would have dealt with him there and then." A fascinating incident because Jaramogi kept on talking back to the president even as he made his speech. This was all captured on tape and on live radio. Shortly after that, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was detained without trial and his political party KPU banned by the government.

He is the same man who would summon all provincial police officers from all over the country to state house at very short notice and then start his speech with the remarks "I called you here today and I wanted to see who would not turn up." And then after a long dressing down on the security situation in the country, would then treat them to a hearty state banquet usually reserved for visiting dignitaries.

It is also the same man who in parliament was caught by the speaker Sir Humphrey Slade, drawing a pistol as the then opposition leader Ronald Ngala bitterly criticized his presidency.

He is also the same man who answered rumors about his ability to father children in a public meeting. There had been talk that the President had been crushed in more ways than one during his long detention in Kapenguria by the colonial government and was not able to sire children as a result.

The old man, without any hint of shame in his voice boomed at a public meeting;
"Some people are saying that I am not able to bear children. That the colonialists crushed my private parts (the swahili word he used was makende). That is not true, I want you to ask Mama Ngina here." Poor Mama Ngina obviously blushed. And most people in the then ultra-conservative Kenyan society who were at the meeting could not believe what they were hearing from the president.

He is also the same man who consistently had cabinets whose composition was over 75% from the Kikuyu tribe, which he also belonged to. Not to mention the fact that at virtually every public meeting he would make some remarks in Kikuyu. What he was doing was actually planting the seeds of tribalism, which was further watered by Moi and the fruits of which we are "enjoying" today.

He is the same man who offered a contradictory solution to the evils of the colonial government inflicted upon him and the people of Kenya. He said; "We shall forgive, but we shall not forget."

I'm sorry but I just don't see how somebody can forgive without making an effort to forget the traumatic thing that has been done on them.

The irony of it all is that Kenyans have forgiven Kenyatta for everything and have forgotten all the evil and chosen to remember only his good side and charisma. This corrupt record-breaking-land-grabber is best remembered as one of the most charismatic statesmen Africa has ever had.

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Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life

Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity

Elections 2007: Watch Out, Kenyan Voters Are Angry

George W. Bush's father George Bush Snr., would be the ideal person to lecture Kenyan politicians on the "angry voters" phenomena. As it is the poor guys have no clue as to what is in store for most of them.

Before him no American war time president had lost an election. We are of course referring to the first Iraq war which the senior Bush fought and won with very limited casualties in terms of American lives lost. Going into the elections, the senior Bush was extremely confident, more so as it became clear that a scandal-ridden candidate called Bill Clinton was the most likely to win the Democratic presidential nomination. A guy who seemed to have no qualifications for president except the fact that he had been governor, several times, of some small insignificant farming State called Arkansas, or so the senior Bush saw things at the time.

But he underestimated the anger of the voters. When people are angry, they are capable of doing anything. This blogger feels that if that anger remains strong on election day and it may just overpower the tribal demons that seem to have such a commanding stranglehold on the Kenyan voter and give us all the most shocking election results in the history of Kenya.

A recent survey carried out in Kenya by a company I have never heard of called, Strategic Public Relations and Research and another setup called The International Republican Institute, confirmed what many readers of this blog have been saying here for a long time. And that is that our politicians are in for the shock of their lives in the forthcoming elections.

In fact the survey was very specific in identifying that over a half (114 MPS) would lose their seats if elections were to be held today. This is about 54 per cent. Personally every indication is that it is going to be a lot worse than that.

Other key findings from this fascinating survey on the Kenyan electorate are;

- 39.2 % of Kenyans feel that their personal economic situation has gotten worse under Narc, while 37.2 say it ha remained the same as it was in the dark Kanu days. Only 21.5 per cent say that it has got better.
- Kenyans wish list in order of priority;

1) Government should create more jobs as a priority.
2) Reduce poverty
3) Revive the economy.
It is interesting that these are the exact priorities of presidential candidate Kumekucha.
- The government is not committed to fighting corruption and the various official inquiries going on will not be acted upon.
- The majority of Kenyans want to nominate their preferred presidential candidate through direct vote as opposed to the delegates system.

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Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life

Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity

Here Comes 50 Jobs, But Those 500 livelihoods Must Go, Says Livestock Minister Joseph Munyao

One of President Kibaki's pet projects right from the beginning has been reviving the Kenya Meat Commission. He talked about it often during his presidential campaign and he has mentioned it often in speeches since landing at State House.

About two weeks ago, President Kibaki reopened the factory and casual observers must have been delighted. Two days ago Livestock Minister Joseph Munyao visited the company's depot at Landhies Road in Nairobi and announced that the factory was still on a trial run.

What do they mean a trial run?

A trial run means that there is no commitment on the part of the government yet to run this parastatal as a going concern. The "waters are being tested" so to speak. Which is not a bad idea. It is instructive that company officials were not willing to release any figures except future projections. The target is to slaughter and process 1000 animals a day.

How many jobs will that create? Let us really go wildly optimistic and say that it will create 100 jobs. And support maybe another 500 families of herders by giving them a ready reliable market for selling their animals. That is a drop in the ocean. I am not saying it is bad to revive old parastatals. What I am asking is, how viable is this, the President's pet project?

More so when rumours are rife amongst the donor community as to why the factory was not revived during the Moi days despite the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporations' great interest in the project. The deal the Japs had in mind was to provide machinery for processing and to market the finished products in the world markets through one of their subsidiary companies. Government was to source funding elsewhere, which should not have been a problem, because any businessman will tell you that when the marketing has been finalized you already have the cash in your hands, it is just a matter of time before you start physically counting it. This deal fell through.

It is believed that the reason was because the Japs were not prepared to give a kickback (cash in advance) to the government officials involved in reviving the stalled factory. You can imagine how stupid we all look now scurrying around trying again to revive the project. You can scream all you can that that was Kanu, but then the Japs and donor community knows it was Kenya and Kenyans that they were dealing with. They also know like most Kenyans do by now, that nothing has really changed.

The clincher as Hon Munyao left the brief function at the Landhies depot was his directive that the scrap metal dealers and a furniture trader operating along a road leading to the depot will have to leave within a month. You decide for yourself the number of desperate livelihoods that will be affected by this directive.

To make matters worse, the information I have in hand tells me that barring a major donor stepping in at the eleventh hour to save the day, that factory will never be fully operational before 2007 and reaching 1,000 animals per day is a laughable pipe dream for now.

Then we wonder why the crime rate has spiraled out of control.

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Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life

Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity

Monday, July 10, 2006

Kingsway House: Building In Nairobi That Holds Dark Secrets

July 5th Extra

Editor's note; Comments received from our July 5th Special seem to overwhelmingly demand for more information on Tom Mboya and his still unsolved assassination riddle. I have therefore decided to include a few more posts, specifically focusing on this. Many of our readers understand the simple fact that it is impossible to fully grasp and understand Kenyan politics today without understanding what Mboya stood for and why his life had to be so brutally snuffed out.


JM's torture and shooting happened here. Some Say Mboya's Assasination Was Also Planned In This Eerie Building.

Recently a company by the name of Kingsway Tyres has burst into the limelight. This firm has been mentioned adversely in the ongoing Charterhouse Bank controversy.

Actually the company is situated in a building that occupies a large chunk of both University Way and Muindi Mbingu street in Nairobi, with one side of the building facing the University of Nairobi.




Mboya with Kenyatta in happier times, selling Kenya together, most probably at the Lancaster Conference in London in the early 60s. Both men seem to be enjoying quite stiff drinks even as they chat with the then Israeli Prime minister Golda Meir. Something usually snaps in the head of Kenyans who end up occupying State House and deep Amnesia accompanied by insatiable desire for more power and to remain president forever set in. The result is that they completely forget, ignore and even kill those who helped them in more humble times to get to the damned State House in the first place.


If buildings could speak, then this particular building would have plenty to say from its' rather notorious history. Especially the side that houses offices which are accessed through a small door that is easy to miss along Muindi Mbingu street.

This building once housed the notorious dreaded Special Branch and what has happened here in the past would make the Nyayo House torture chamber look like a kindergarten. It is said that this is the building where the late JM Kariuki was tortured and interrogated, even shot, before being killed and dumped at Ngong Forest. That was sometime in early March 1975.

It is also believed to be the building where the assassination plot that took the life of one of Kenya's most illustrious politicians, Tom Mboya was planned. A prominent reader of this blog recently passed on this information to this blogger and brief initial inquires and research seem to support this amazing allegation. In later years this building came to house Kenya Times, the Kanu daily paper and I personally visited this building many times over the years.

I'm really not the superstitious type but there is something about that building that can only be described as eerie, and that was the feeling I used to get years ago before I even discovered any of this particular building's dark secrets of the past.

One set of secrets that many Kenyans would have liked Kingsway House to reveal, if buildings would talk, was the planning of details that led to the assassination Of Tom Mboya.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that whoever planned and executed the murder of Mboya had access to impeccable intelligence information. The day before Mboya was assassinated, he arrived at the then main Embakassi International airport from a conference he had been attending in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. The Standard newspaper on the morning of his assassination carried a photograph of Mboya arriving and waving to somebody who must have been at the waving bay in the airport. However, to have planned and executed this assassination, the person or persons who plotted must have had the information about Mboya's arrival back into the country, the day before.

More significantly, they must have also been aware of the fact that on most Saturday's Mboya would release his bodyguard and drive himself around the city alone, as he did on that fateful lunch time in 1969. Mboya's white Mercedes Benz was easily distinguishable in the considerably lower traffic in Nairobi in those days. It is highly likely that the killers were also aware that he was a frequent visitor to Chaani's Chemists where on the fateful day he had gone to purchase an ointment for a skin ailment he had had for years.

Mboya was a creature of habit and that is one of the aspects that cost him his life. Whilst it is possible that Mboya's killers followed him to Chaani's chemist, it is more likely, from eye witness accounts at the time, that the assassin waited nearby knowing very well that Mboya was on his way. There were no mobile phones in those days, anmd therefore once again, this minor detail in the whole execution of this murder points straight at official involvement by persons with access to the government's (more specifically, the government security personnel's) communication network.

Eyewitness account indicate that as Mboya was in the chemist a short man with a balding head and a brief case could be seen hanging around outside, as if he was window shopping. He waited and the minute Mboya stepped out into the streets again, there were two loud bangs and Kenya's minister for economic planning fell backwards on the door to the chemist. He was quickly whisked inside the chemist by the couple inside who had known him for years. They claim he said nothing before losing consciousness before their very eyes.

It is even more significant that the assassination did not take place in the more deserted areas of the city in the drive from Jogoo House, where the Treasury and Mboya's office as Minister for Economic Planning was then situated, To Government Road where he was shot. Instead it took place in the much busier Government Road (Moi Avenue today, next to the Standard Bank headquarters). As usual this place was busy with the usual Saturday lunchtime crowd and interestingly enough plenty of security personnel, who arrived at the scene of the shooting within moments of the incidence. If you get my drift, this was no amateur job. It was a well-orchestrated, intricately planned well executed assassination that had access to vast resources.

It is instructive to note here that there had been an earlier attempt on Mboya's life either early in 1969 or towards the end of 1968. A policeman guarding his house apparently went berserk and emptied several bullets at his official vehicle's back seat. But Mboya was not in the vehicle at the time. The policeman was later arrested and charged. The intricate planning and execution of this second successful attempt seems to suggest that the plotters were categorical that there should be no slip-ups this second time.

Some people have suggested that there were some foreign powers involved in his assassination. The point where he was shot seems to point a finger straight in the direction of the government of the day. It was like somebody wanted this thing done as far away from government offices as was possible. The Saturday lunchtime crowd was also an advantage because in the confusion, the killer would quickly get away (which he did).

There is even a theory that there was more than one gunman at the scene on that day in July – just in case the first gunman failed to hit his mark.

All this detail are hidden away, probably forever in the dark corners of Kingsway House, Nairobi.

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Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life

Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity
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Tom Mboya: American Friends Were Expecting Assassination Attempt

July 5th Extra

Editor's note; Comments received from our July 5th Special seem to overwhelmingly demand for more information on Tom Mboya and his still unsolved assassination riddle. I have therefore decided to include a few more posts, specifically focusing on this. Many of our readers understand the simple fact that it is impossible to fully grasp and understand Kenyan politics today without understanding what Mboya stood for and why his life had to be so brutally snuffed out.

David Goldsworthy in his epic book, Tom Mboya: The Man Kenya Wanted To Forget points out that Mboya's American fiends had offered him extra security which he declined. It is clear that it was felt that his security was a joke.

Why did Mboya not seem to be scared for his own life?

Having launched his political career in the 1950s against the dreaded colonial government, and survived, it seems that both his past and the huge and growing national popularity he enjoyed conspired to give him a false sense of security.

Mboya probably felt, quite rightly, that despite the government's uneasiness with him, they would surely not dare take his life.

Those close to the Kenyatta administration had already started using their position and power to accumulate their vast wealth. Mboya was a hindrance, because he could see what was happening and he was a smart political operator. Actually he was the only thing that stood between them and untold riches. To make matters worse, there was general election slated for later in the year and there were all sorts of rumours flying around. Including one to the effect that Mboya would challenge President Kenyatta for the presidency.

Then there was this issue that ironically was the very same on that was destined to cause the murder of foreign minister Robert Ouko 21 years later. Everybody knew that Mboya help a lot of sway with the Americans and it was even believed that he was a CIA operative.

This influence he had with super power America, really unnerved Kenyatta and his kitchen cabinet. Just three years earlier the Americans had ruthlessly influenced things in Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) and had brought their man Mobutu Sese Seko to power, causing the assassination of charismatic Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. This had been done right under the watchful eyes of other Earopean powers like the French and the Belgians who had longer associations with Zaire.

The Kenyan government was very close to its' former colonial master Britain and it did not take too much imagination to picture the same sort of thing happening in Kenya. Congo was extremely significant to the Americans because it was rich in minerals and more so because of one particular type of mineral that was found in Zaire – Uranium. In the same way, Kenya's position made it a very strategic place for the Americans in the event of a war with the Soviets.

If the Zaire situation were to be repeated in Kenya, there was no doubting whom the Americans would favor for the presidency. It had to be their own man Mboya.

Mboya probably made things worse for himself from the efficient clinical and ruthless methods he had used to consign his nemesis Jaramogi Oginga Odinga to political oblivion.

The Kenyatta administration had used Mboya as independent Kenya's first minister for constitutional affairs to water down the Lancaster House Independence constitution by dismantling the federal-like aspects in the document pushed through by rival KADU at the constitutional talks in London. This was done while transferring a lot of power to the presidency. One master stroke of constitutional-changing genius by Mboya forced Jaramogi out. Mboya simply proposed a new party structure where the party would have 8 vice presidents, one from each province. This amendment sailed through and effectively wiped out the power base of the then party vice president. Jaramogi resigned in a huff. But Mboya's craftiness did not end there. Yet another constitutional amendment, this time in parliament swiftly sailed through requiring that any candidate who changed political parties would have to seek fresh mandate from the people. This amendment still haunts politicians in parliament to this day. There is a particularly messy situation in parliament at the moment where there are virtually no MPs left in the original Narc which won an overwhelming victory in the last general elections.

In 1969, Jaramogi swiftly registered the KPU (Kenya People's Union), but Mboya was a step ahead and was already working on water-tight technicalities (a different one for every popular KPU candidate) that would disqualify them at the nomination process, leaving the Kanu candidates to sail through to election victory.

The writing was clearly on the wall – having Mboya as an opponent in any political contest was just plain suicide. It was clear that this was a very dangerous man indeed. Something had to be done.

Kenyatta's inner circle had to find a way to deal with Mboya, if they planned to stay in power so as to continue with the rampant corruption and land grabbing. This is the most plausible of all motives for the assassination of Mboya

(To be continued)

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Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life

Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Secrets And Scandals In Kenya's Media

Most Kenyans hold the press in very high esteem. In fact in the days to come the Kenyan media is set to rise in prominence and importance even more as we approach the general elections.

Although it is true that standards in Kenya are very high when compared to other African countries, Kenyans should be very careful about what they read in their newspapers. Always seek to carefully chew and digest what you read in your newspapers.

First of all there are always business considerations (see the other post that talks in great detail about the circulation side of the business amongst Kenyan newspapers.)

In the 1980s there was a major strike at one of Kenya's largest companies. A reporter who lived close to the factory noticed a commotion in the morning as he was preparing to go to work, he called his news editor and a photographer promptly arrived. The reporter knew that it was the kind of story that was capable of being a Page one splash and was very excited about it.

The story was never published. The company in question was one of the biggest advertisers at this particular newspaper and usually spent millions every year (a lot of money in those days). One call between the managing directors of the two companies effectively "killed" that story.

Then there was the time that a prominent reporter at one of Kenya's leading dailies died from Aids. There was panic at the newspaper and some very senior management staff at the paper almost went crazy. It emerged that there was a lot of "sleeping around" within the newspaper and the female reporter had hit the sack with a list that was effectively the who is who in that newspaper's top management team. Luckily there were only one other person who dies at the newspaper that could be linked to this sex scandal. But then Aids is said to have an incubation period of years, so let's give it another five years or so to make a conclusion on this one.

Talking of sex scandals, there is this very well known radio queen in Nairobi who shares a bed regularly with the owner of the station. Other staff members have noted that she is extremely powerful. By the way this particular radio outfit is viewed as very professionally run, so the big question is it possible for a management team to remain professional and focused when key members, some of them married are hopping into bed with each other. Many will say that it happens all the time. My belief is that inevitably cracks will emerge and maybe even crisis. One of the major things that brought down the mighty Roman empire was immorality.

Reporters usually get news by being sent out to cover press conferences and various functions that their news editor lines up for them. There are some politicians in Kenya who have understood this system for generating news very well and have compromised it. There are major politicians in Kenya today who rose to prominence by making sure that reporters would never miss their press conferences. They did this by issuing special "press releases" at the end of each press conference. These "press releases" rather than being statements from their good offices were actually small brown envelope containing cash. Kenyan reporters have been receiving them for years. The giver usually dismisses them as "transport money" or "soda money". Reporters laugh about it in news rooms and talk quietly (where the editor is unaware) about "press release" amounts dished out.

At times reporters have quietly pocketed the money and then editors have later reworked their story so that the final result ends up painting the reporter in negative light. You can understand why politicians sometimes get very angry as a result of newspaper articles. Sometimes they have spent money.

For years this blogger used to supply exclusive business stories to the daily newspapers. At one point, I had a detailed analysis to prove that the Uchumi Supermarket chain was in a serious financial crisis. I delivered my story but it was never used. Various excuses were given from lack of space to the story not having enough details. Later I discovered that the editor in question was a very close friend of the Uchumi Manager at the centre of the cash crisis.

(To be continued Next week with more shocking media scandals and little known secrets. Subscribe to my free email newsletter now and I'll alert you the minute I publish stories in this series on the Kenyan media scandals. This fascinating series will run for weeks to come. To receive my newsletter, send a blank email now to KUMEKUCHA-SUBSCRIBE@YAHOOGROUPS.COM)

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Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life

Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity

The Truth About The "Silly" Regular Debates About The Nation and Standard Newspapers Circulation Figures

Business Special


Too often I come across the following statement on the net, especially in the days before the Nation exposed Anglo-leasing and in effect silenced many of its' critics;

"Standard circulation is rising rapidly and will soon overtake that of the Nation."

In one particular discussion forum I came across the other day, there was this guy who insisted that they were very experienced and were already sure that the Standard newspapers circulation had overtaken that of the Nation. I read it and laughed, as you will when you are through reading this post.

The best way to understand anything really well is to dive back into its' historical background. That is the guiding principal of this blogger when writing about Kenyan politics and it has helped this blog stand out in terms of political commentary and sheer understanding of the Kenyan political scene today.

Started in 1901, the East African Standard was the only newspaper in Kenya for six decades (that's over half a century). The Nation only showed up in 1960 as the country was on the verge of getting its' independence. Its' founder the Aga Khan correctly read the winds of change blowing over colonial Kenya in those days and made one of the best investment decisions he has ever made. Already a few "local" publications mainly written in Kiswahili (the gutter press of those days) had started appearing on the scene and were enjoying brisk sales, especially in the estates where the Africans lived.

It was not surprising that the Aga Khan's new media company started off with a Swahili title called "Taifa". Naturally the English title that followed soon after was a direct English translation of this title and was called The Nation (to be more accurate the Sunday Nation).

It was a difficult start. The people with the cash (mainly the settler community) all read the East African Standard. Still the market the Sunday Nation was targeting was huge and set to start rapidly growing as soon as Kenya attained independence.

From the beginning the newspaper consultants brought in to help set up the new media company knew that they would have to target the masses and go for a very high circulation. So a system designed to do exactly that was set up. One of the ingenious ways of distributing the newspaper that the Nation came up with was that of setting up street vendors who hardly existed in those days. To this day the senior Nation management still behave like they own the newspaper vendors. Recently, there was a move by the Nation management in conjunction with the Nairobi City Council to legalize a standard newspaper stand designed for all newspaper vendors in the city that would make it impossible for them to display anything else other than the Daily newspapers. Studies clearly showed that the Nation was losing sales to magazines and the gutter press, not to the Standard or other rival dailies like the Kenya Times or People Daily.

This distribution system set up by the Nation circulation department reached well into remote parts of rural Kenya and has for years enabled the newspaper to enjoy unrivaled circulation and reach. The simple truth is that you cannot out-sell the Nation if it is available in many places where your newspaper is never seen.

So why doesn't the Standard just set up a distribution system that is equal or better than that of the Nation? Good question.

The truth is that they have tried many times but it has never quite worked. The concept in the minds of Kenyans that is virtually impossible to change is that The Nation is the leading newspaper. So picture this situation where the Standard sets up a new distribution point in a remote place where the Nation does not reach, they even finance the vendor to launch their business. But then everybody starts asking for the Nation, so you can guess what the vendor does. They dump the Standard and start selling The Nation. In effect the Standard helps its' rival to set up yet another new distribution outlet. This sort of thing has been going on for years.

While it is true that at the beginning of the Narc administration (right up to the Anglo-leasing episode) the Nation was reading more and more like a Narc government hand out, The East African Standard never came anywhere close to unseating The Nation. It did not matter that there was a time when it was clearer the better and more balanced newspaper as far as the local political scene was concerned. Marketers will tell you that you never outsell somebody who has more distributors than you do, especially when the difference is in the thousands.)

You can now laugh about that fairy tale concerning Standard newspaper sales rivaling those of the Nation.

(To be continued Next week, look out for an informative "Business Special" post about the Newspaper wars in Kenya and how this bloggers' thriving publishing business was a victim of dirty tactics from the staff at a leading Kenyan newspaper. Look out for Newspaper Wars. Subscribe to my free email newsletter now and I'll alert you the minute I publish stories in this series on the Kenyan media business. This fascinating series will run for weeks to come. Send a blank email now to KUMEKUCHA-SUBSCRIBE@YAHOOGROUPS.COM)

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Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life

Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity
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