Mary Wambui: Dirty family politics

Mary Wambui wa Munene: Fuming at the TNA offices yesterday when she discovered that no nomination certificate was forthcoming. 

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Sayings of the wise before you elect your leaders;“The wealthier a person is the more likely it is that they hate the human community.”


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Yesterday it was revealed that the President’s second wife Mary Wambui had been denied the TNA nomination certificate because an appeal lodged by her closest rival was being looked into, according to a statement from TNA headquarters. The appeal claimed that Wambui had bribed voters through her driver and even forged a letter of resignation from TNA purportedly written by her rival Gichuki Mugambi.

To those who know Wambui’s saga well it was amusing to realize that she is now using the name Munene which actually started as nickname early in the Kibaki presidency when people started calling her Wambui wa Munene. (Meaning Wambui who belongs to the big boss).

Wambui is probably the most feared woman in Kenya today despite her appearing pretty meek on TV and even invoking the name of God and saying that she was going to pray about the whole issue. She met the press flanked by her infamous daughter Wangui who is reported to have gotten married to one of the infamous Artur brothers.

Interestingly Wambui continues to enjoy state security although the president has publicly denied that he has any relationship with her.

Clearly the first family is behind Wambui’s current woes to be the heir of President Kibaki’s parliamentary seat.

Impeccable sources had informed this blogger earlier that the initial plan was for Wambui to go for a senatorial seat while Jimmy Kibaki (the president’s son by his first wife) would go for his father’s parliamentary seat. Those close to the first family were relieved because it appeared that an embarrassing political mud fight between the two wives and their children had been averted. However Wambui’s plan hit a snag when talk started about a Senatorial candidate being required to hold a university degree. She opted to play it safe and go for the parliamentary seat instead. Wambui did not go past class 7 and was brought up in an extremely poverty stricken environment.

It is worth noting that Wambui has been the chief campaigner for the president for years and was instrumental in intervening when former president Moi attempted to rig Kibaki out of his Othaya parliamentary seat in the infamous 1988 mlolongo (lining up) general elections. She quickly mobilized supporters who came out ready for trouble (complete with pangas) and frantic phone calls had to be made by the DC (the returning officer in those elections) to Nairobi after which the already announced results which indicated that Kibaki had been defeated were reversed and the future president made it back to parliament.

It is no secret that the president’s other family are behind concerted efforts to ensure that she does not inherit the Othaya seat. Last night frantic phone calls were being made all over the place which reminded me of the saying that when two elephants are fighting it is the grass that bear the brunt of the battle. Tension is still very high in Othaya even as you read this.

In the announced results Wambui beat her bitter rival Gichuki Mugambi by 13,050 votes to 10,080

I will keep you informed on how this amazing saga develops.

Mary Wambui to sue TNA over nomination

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Breaking News:
Mary Wambui has finally received her nomination certificate this evening and is now officially the TNA candidate for the Othaya parliamentary seat that has been Mwai Kibaki's for close to 40 years.  Read Daily Nation story.

Interestingly Wambui has always shunned the media but this time she freely gave interviews about her predicament and it seems the publicity over the issue caused the dark figures fighting against her nomination to give up their fight to frustrate her.

However this does not necessarily mean that the bid to stop her winning the parliamentary seat is over.

Kumbe bado..... 9:36PM Kenyan time 23/1/2013

Ooops latest reports indicate that there is still a hitch with the Othaya TNA ticket. Mary Wambui says it is not over yet despite assurances from the TNA. And sure enough her challenger Gichuki Mugambi has the nomination certificate and says that parties do NOT have the power to revoke it once it has been issued. Wow!!! wonders will never cease.

Mrs Fix-it in Kibaki’s Administration?

There have been a lot of similarities between the Kenyatta and Kibaki administrations. This in itself will be a very fascinating area of study for historians for many years to come bearing in mind the fact that those close to Kenyatta were so opposed to the presidency ever crossing the Chania river that they took several oaths to ensure that it would never happen.

The said river is what divides the Kiambu Kikuyu from the Nyeri Kikuyu. For those who do not know the 3^rd president of Kenya is a Nyeri Kikuyu whilst the first was a Kiambu Kikuyu. And despite all the blood oaths the presidency did in fact cross the Chania River in 2003.

The crux of the problem between the two Kikuyu factions is that Nyeri Kikuyus have always felt that they did the most to fight for independence (Dedan Kimathi and company hailed from Nyeri) while the Kiambu Kikuyus were mostly collaborators with the colonial government and even helped them smoke out and arrest freedom fighters (From Nyeri). And yet when independence finally came, the presidency and all other big positions went to those from Kiambu. The position of Kiambu Kikuyus is that they are smarter, better educated and better entrepreneurs and deserve every good thing that has happened to them in comparison to the lazy dreamers from Nyeri.

The last time this rivalry was played out in presidential politics was in 1992 when Kiambu fielded Kenneth Njino Matiba and Nyeri presented Mwai Kibaki. In those memorial first-in-a-long-time multiparty elections Matiba (Kibaki’s junior officer in government for many years) gave his former boss a through whipping at the polls and ended up as a close runner up to eventual winner Daniel arap Moi. However there are those (including this blogger) who firmly believe that it was Matiba who was the genuine winner of those polls.

The politics between the Nyeri, Kiambu and Muranga Kikuyus has always been explosive and should be the subject of a post here in Kumekucha in the near future. But for today we need to focus on the presence in both administrations of a Mr Fix-it. That was the nick name given to the most feared member of Kenyatta’s inner circle one Dr Njoroge Mungai. Mungai built a reputation as the man in the president’s court to look to when there was a crisis or “an obstacle that had to be removed.” Mungai has been linked to the assassinations of many perceived opponents and threats to the Kenyatta administration.

It is now emerging that the Kibaki administration also has its’ very own Mr Fix it in the inner circle. A person who deals with complex political problems ruthlessly. And in the case of the Kibaki administration it is the last person you would expect. In fact it is a woman. Her name is Mary Wambui (pictured below). That is one name that sends shivers down the spines of many men in Kenya who are in the know. And for good reason.

 

Early in the Kibaki administration she acquired the nickname Wambui wa Munene but has a much more chilling nickname amongst the intelligence community these days.

Interestingly political analysts have never been able to identify the politics played out between the two wives of the president. There have actually been two extremely powerful camps close to the president. The Lucy Kibaki camp and the Mary Wambui one. The latter has always operated much more quietly and less dramatically but has always been the more powerful faction. It is the faction that is credited to have done the most in getting the president a second term in 2007 despite the odds.

What has probably clouded a lot of the significant events linked to the factions are the petty battles. For instance people have very effectively gotten rid of those they do not like by simply linking them to the Mary Wambui camp. That has always resulted in immediate sacking and sometimes physical ejection by the first lady herself. These turf wars between two women married to the same man have drawn attention away from some other more serious and significant events and operations most of them extremely shocking and revealed in great detail in my subscription-only raw notes. You can get a free sample of these particular raw notes by sending an email now to rawnotes4@listwire.com

One thing is for sure. One day very soon analysts of Kibaki’s presidency will sit up and notice just how significant a role this woman who never saw the inside of a high school has played in this presidency. 

Earlier articles on Mary Wambui in Kumekucha;
Mary Wambui and her strikingly beautiful daughter hit the campaign trail
Will Mary Wambui seek political office?
Circus of two warring wives of the president
New marriage law targets Kibaki?