It can now be revealed that Mwai Kibaki was packaged by the international community and local patriots to contest the 1992 General Election so as to block the opposition firebrand Kenneth Matiba from seizing state power.
Longtime career administrator Joseph Kaguthi, who has served all the four governments since independence says “omitting the sensitivities around the issue, it can safely be said Kibaki saved Kenya from going down the ditch had Matiba ascended to power”.
Mr Kaguthi reveals that “generals fight the war but rarely gain the credit of the win and that was Matiba…he was good for the democratisation battle but not good for the presidency”.
He says the diplomatic community was happy with Mr Matiba as an activist for multipartyism “but many developed economies did not fancy him becoming the President”.
Kenyans’ apparent embrace of Matiba as the saviour who deserved to be elected the third President sent chills through diplomatic circles and among the who’s who in local economic circles.
Mr Kaguthi’s words are corroborated by a now retired senior diplomat who leads a quiet life in Murang’a County.
Read: Kibaki, the fence-sitter with a ruthless streak who knew when to jump in
“I was serving in Germany then and there was a lot of concern about Matiba’s understanding about power … He was not a man who appeared to know the sensitivities of power handling and how to safeguard dynamics in interests that go with consumers of that power,” the former diplomat said.
The world, he said, was grappling with too many African countries going bananas owing to reckless application of authority.
“The nightmare being anticipated in a possible Matiba presidency was in his declarations that he did not value Asians in the Kenyan trading space, that his rule would kick them out and hand the opportunity to Kenyans,” he said.
Among other public declarations that pained development partners were Matiba’s pledge to throw wide open the doors of correctional facilities and release all inmates because “they had been jailed by an illegal President Daniel Moi’s regime”.
But though Moi’s regime was regarded as a dictatorship, it was not illegal. It had been put in place through universal suffrage, except that Kenyans did not have much freedom of choice in a one-party state.
Mr Kaguthi says Mr Matiba had been profiled as “an explosive presidential material who was finding it difficult to conceal hard feelings about the incumbent and the system that had imprisoned and tortured him in the fight for multiparty democracy”.
Read: Matere Keriri: Why Kibaki played Raila
When Moi ceded ground under pressure in 1992 and agreed to change the law to pave the way for the first multiparty elections, those who loved Kenya acted.
"Mr Kibaki all along appeared all content to go into the 1992 elections while in Kanu. He had publicly declared that agitating for multiparty democracy and trying to dislodge Kanu and Moi from power was like ‘trying to cut down a fig tree with a razor blade’.”
But beneath the waves, a series of events were underway, some financed by Moi himself to survive the Matiba euphoria that was peaking and others bankrolled by the business community and foreigner actors.
Nominated Senator Beth Mugo, a relative of the Kenyatta family, states that "there was unanimity of thought that Kibaki was the best for the country in the event Moi vacated office”.
How effective was this though?
Seems to me the Ford split was the reason Matiba never became president in '92.
Kibaki wasn’t too popular back then, older folk around me used to call him General Kiguoya (fearful/cowardly general)
With the benefit of hindsight, I agree. Now, my point is that democracy is really not what we read in the books… There are many other forces working together to bring up such leaders… I bet that even the Raila push could have come from those forces that do not want a Ruto presidency… I am not voting in 2022 for it is nonsense.
It was said detention messed up his head. Went into nyayo house a brilliant man, alliance and makerere alumni, came out broken and increasingly ‘demented’ (for lack of a better word) and erratic
Btw, the narrative of this thread is wrong. Moi, with the help of his intelligence agency and people he had planted in the opposition, engineered the split btw Jaramogi and Matiba.
It was not a plan to have kibaki wreck Matiba. Kibaki was not seen as a front runner at the time. And infact, Moi was happy to have him as a contender since he knew he would take away valuable votes from the opposition.
Mois percieved main challenger was FORD led by Jaramogi in which Matiba was a member. He knew that he could split Matiba from FORD thereby dividind the oppositions votes
Thats why when Matiba came from London after treatment, he was given heavy security (secretely) when he landed at the airport and infact Moi operatives ensured there was a sizeable crowd to welcome him as part of the narrative to make him think he doesnt need Jaramogi.
Matiba was essentially being set up to wreck FORD.
Moi knew as an incumbent, he would win over a divided opposition
Hehe… what happened to you? Thought ulivuka border ukaingia Azimio. Kumbe ulivuka tena ukarudi kwa Africa’s most dangerous man? Wacha kua watermelon banae