The bungled attempt to deny
Ms Mary Wambui the chance
to contest the Othaya
parliamentary seat is the
culmination of concerted
efforts by some members of
the First Family cheered on by
a cabal of professionals and
business people from the
area, the Sunday Nation can
reveal.
Senior government officials
were also roped in the
scheme that sought to
mobilise the State machinery
to shatter Ms Wambui’s
political dream.
The Sunday Nation, which has
been keenly following politics
in Othaya since election fever
gripped the country,
established that
businesspeople felt that Ms
Wambui lacked the pedigree
to succeed President Kibaki.
The solution, it was felt, was
to front the Othaya
Development Association
(ODA) chairman Gichuki
Mugambi for the seat.
President Kibaki is the patron
of the ODA, a group that has
fashioned itself as having the
President’s ear and
responsible for the
development projects in the
constituency.
Sunday Nation has learnt that
a section of the First Family
was unsettled when Ms
Wambui declared her interest
to succeed the retiring Othaya
MP. Immediately, Jimmy
Kibaki and his sister Judy, as
well as the Nairobi group,
started moves to ensure Ms
Wambui loses in TNA
nominations or, better still,
that she doesn’t contest at
all.
The favourite
A closed-door meeting of the
business people from Othaya,
and which Judy attended, was
held at the Outspan Hotel in
October, last year. Judy
conveyed Jimmy’s apologies
for not attending. The
meeting, which the Sunday
Nation reported on
November 4, sought to
endorse Mr Mugambi as the
favourite to succeed the
President in the constituency.
It was also agreed that Ms
Wambui be prevailed upon to
drop her bid, a move she
seems to have declined since
a few days after the meeting,
she rented an office in Othaya
town where she set up her
campaign secretariat.
Many people interviewed by
the Sunday Nation were
unwilling to be quoted, saying
the matter is sensitive. Civil
servants and government
operatives familiar with the
intrigues feared reprimand if
they were identified as having
discussed the matter in the
media.
This fear was not far-fetched.
After Mr Mugambi lost, long
serving Nyeri South (Othaya)
DC David Koskei and District
Officer Hellen Chege were
transferred from their
stations.
The DC and his deputy were
accused, alongside the entire
security team, of favouring
Ms Wambui and not doing
enough to help Mr Gichuki
clinch victory in TNA.
Mr Koskei was moved to
Igembewhile Ms Chege
moves to Kabete. The two got
their letters to move on
Monday evening and handed
over the next day.
During the October meeting,
it was felt that the President’s
endorsement was important
if the Mugambi candidature
was to succeed. The presence
of Jimmy and Judy seems to
have settled that score.
The meeting was held in the
background of intelligence
reports indicating that Ms
Wambui was the favourite for
the seat.
“I can tell you that intelligence
reports filed on the issue
showed that Ms Wambui was
popular and it seems nobody
took them seriously until it
was too late, resulting in the
blunders you have seen in the
last week,” an officer involved
in preparing the reports told
the Sunday Nation .
To add weight to the
President’s hand in the
matter, Jimmy visited Othaya
in December and declared
during a campaign rally for Mr
Mugambi that President
Kibaki and TNA leader Uhuru
Kenyatta had endorsed him.
Coincidentally, Ms Wambui
was also campaigning in the
area on that day. When the
media asked her to react to
the claims, she locked herself
in her car and made several
calls only to come out
laughing. She dismissed the
claims and dared Jimmy to
run against her for the seat.
A week before the
nominations, it was evident
the personal endorsement by
the President was not
forthcoming, yet time was
running out. Something had to
be done to secure Mr
Mugambi’s victory. It was at
this point that Head of Civil
Service Francis Kimemia and
PS in charge of provincial
administration Mutea Iringo
were brought in.
On Friday, January 11, a twin
effort was launched with
Central PC Japhter Rugut and
Othaya DC Koskei being
summoned by Mr Kimemia to
his office to discuss the
matter.
Although they had arrived in
the morning, they were kept
waiting until 4 pm when the
meeting started. Mr Iringo
attended the meeting, which
explored all the options
available on how to secure Mr
Mugambi’s victory, but by the
time it ended at 10 pm, no
solution had been found.
The PC and the DC are said to
have put it categorically that
Ms Wambui was too strong
on the ground and, barring
any surprises, she would
cruise to victory easily.
That same Friday, Jimmy
launched another effort this
time with the help of four
trusted friends of the
President — Othaya CDF
chairman Karanja Mwangi, his
relatives, Mr Michael Kibaki
and Mr Bernard Nderitu, and
finally Mr Egidio Wahome, the
chairman of Holy Family
Basilica and a schoolmate
who was instrumental in
convincing President Kibaki to
move from Bahati in Nairobi
and contest in Othaya in the
1970s.
They were asked to meet at
the Serena Hotel the next
day, a Saturday, from where
they would proceed to State
House to plead for Mr
Mugambi’s case. But by 12
pm, only Mr Wahome had
turned up and found Jimmy
waiting.
Little is known of what the
two discussed with the
President but the personal
endorsement did not
materialise.
Again, the DC, Mr Koskei, was
summoned back to Nairobi by
Mr Kimemia on Monday, this
time without the PC, where
the matter was again
discussed in the presence of
PS Iringo.
After the deliberations, the
only option available was to
approach TNA with a request
that the certificate be given to
Mr Mugambi irrespective of
who wins the race.
But when he spoke to the
Sunday Nation yesterday, Mr
Kimemia laughed off
suggestions that government
officials took more than
necessary interest in the
Othaya nominations.
“We were monitoring
nominations by all parties in
all parts of the country for
security reasons. It’s
preposterous for anyone to
imagine that anyone in the
Civil Service took any more
interest than was required by
the call of duty in the
nominations,” Mr Kimemia
said.
“There was tension on the
ground because of delayed
materials and we were trying
to do whatever it takes to
calm the situation. Our focus
was not on Othaya. The
nomination process helped us
to know the potential
hotspots,” he added.
TULIA.........UFUNZWE!