WHY MOI MADE ME VICE PRESIDENT CHAPTER4

MUSALIA MUDAVADI’S BOOK SOARING ABOVE THE STORMS OF PASSION

Ngala’s Constituents excoriated him as cowardly and un ambitious as my supporters would later do when on, 05 September i made a tactical retreat to rejoin KANU. A cocktail of factors led to this faux pas on my part. Historical ties to Mzee Moi, family pressures and assorted threats, intimidation and even persuasion led to my decision to rejoin KANU. But the ultimate driver for my retreat was the family ties and the traditional amity between my father and President Moi. I must admit that Mzee Moi was very much like a father to me. I must also admit that he wronged the country and wronged me by imposing upon us the Uhuru project.

In the same way, i admit to the political mistake of making a retreat that i did on the fateful day of September 2002. In mitigation, the finer side of me won for there have been times when circumstances have led us to stand with our parents, guardians and mentors, even when we knew they were wrong. I had no illusions whatsoever about the mistake and the sacrifice i was making by standing with Moi and Uhuru at this delicate time. I told myself however that i was still a young man. If Moi had made me a politician as he had indeed made many others, i would pay back my debt by standing with him and risk losing the election. I would come back someday without the burden of the thought that someone had crafted my and charted the path that it travelled. They had said in the good book that we should give to Caesar what belonged to him. And so i was giving back to Caesar my Sabatia seat and shelving my ambition for the time being. My moment was stolen but not lost, i would come back someday,

We went to the election against the tide of a rebellious country. The election looked lost from the very outset. We faced a euphoric united opposition. We put a spirited fight as we could. Perhaps in the effort to shoo our waning support in the Western Province, President Moi appointed me Vice President on 04 November 2002. It was a noble but not very useful exercise. Had he done this a year earlier and left things to take their natural cause, maybe things would have been different. But this was too little too late, and even i knew this, but there was nothing to do at this point except accept the appointment for what was left of this Government. On 03 December 2002, Mwai Kibaki was involved in a near fatal car crash on his campaign trail, sending shivers across the nation. He was rushed to London for specialized treatment. He returned to the country on 14 December to a rousing welcome that set us in KANU a few more steps behind. Moi has sensed defeat. His primary concern it seemed was his security and that of his family, as well as securing of the family business interest in the country and elsewhere.

We lost the election. Mwai Kibaki ammassed 3.6 million votes against Uhuru’s 1.8 milliom. He took Nairobi, Eastern, Nyanza, Coast and Western Provinces, Uhuru only got North Eastern and Rift Valley Provinces. I lost in Sabatia, The constituency slipped through my fingers with a narrow margin and a mammoth spoilt votes. KANU got a thorough drubbing in the poles. The country was in a euphoric mood.

I was naturally in the rural area, my home constituency when the election results came out. Uhuru called me to ask what next, now that the election was lost. I advised him that the best thing to do was to concede defeat, Unfortunately i was upcountry and could not join them. Uhuru quickly mounted a press conference at the Nairobi Serena hotel and conceded defeat. Soon i got another message from Uhuru, KANU wanted to nominate me to Parliament. Even before i could come to terms with this, the announcement was made that i had been nominated. I called the press and turned down the offer for nomination. I also called for the resignation of Mzee Moi from party leadership so that he could give the party a fresh chance to re-energize

I travelled back to Nairobi and visited State house to bid farewell to President Moi. It was the same morning that Mwai Kibaki was to be installed at Uhuru Park. I found Moi packing his stuff and getting ready to vacate the place. Kibaki’s people were around and exhibited a lot of impatience and an overwhelming sense of importance. They wanted Moi out of Statehouse without further delay. Everything was extremely rushed. There was no time to consult on anything, no need. The tension in the place was palpable. For some reason, some of them even thought would not vacate this seat of power. We had a brief chat with Moi, who told us he wished to hand over as soon as possible. We deliberated a little on how this should be done, everything looked rudderless. eventually as agreed, Moi went over toUhuru park to hand over to Kibaki.

There was a total collapse in security and protocol and indeed handing over became quite chaotic. It was unbelievable that security could collapse to this extent but when the new kid arrived in power, kicking everyone out of their way, they bullied out the civil servants who would usually plan and coordinate such functions. Euphotic crowds pelted the retiring Presidents motorcade and flung mud at him. Moi came back to Statehouse after handing over. We took tea together, presently, two choppers were brought to fly him to his home in Kabarak. We lined up for him to bid us farewell. A number of people broke down. The head of public service Sally Kosgei, wept. She was one of the few people to accompany him to the chopper. As she boarded, one of her shoes came off and was left at Statehouse as the chopper’s door was closed, ready for take off. It was the end of an era- the KANU era.