By JOHN OYWA
There were several attempts to kill charismatic Cabinet minister Tom Mboya before he was finally cut down at a Moi Avenue pharmacy in 1969.
Indeed, just months before his death, Mboya left the country briefly as rumours of an impending assassination attempt spread. His success in fighting the ideological battles of the day drew admiration for him and animosity in the Kenyatta and Odinga camps in Kanu.
Mboyaâs family and friends during the late firebrand politicianâs requiem Mass at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi. [PHOTOS:FILE/STANDARD]
But after the defeat and ouster of the Odinga camp from Government in 1966, the greatest threats came from corrupt officials close to President Kenyatta and foreign agents smarting from their loss of influence.
Details have emerged about a series of security mishaps that may have set the stage for the assassination that shocked the world and drove the country into the throes of tribal animosity. Whether these incidents were related to his assassination remains a mystery.
Suspicions that foreign agents may have worked with Mboyaâs Kanu colleagues to eliminate him also raise questions about how his killing was related to the 1965 murder of Jaramogi Oginga ally and specially elected MP Pio Gama Pinto.
Gunned down
Mboya, who was the MP for Kamukunji and Minister for Economic Planning was gunned down on July 5, Saturday afternoon, as he left the Chhani pharmacy on Government Road (now Moi Avenue). He was only 39. The man arrested for the killing was Nahashon Njenga Njoroge, a former waiter and watchmaker who was later employed as a Kanu youth activist and errand boy for various politicians. Njenga, who described Mboya as a friend, denied pulling the trigger and was keen to claim he did not act alone.
His cryptic questions to a police superintendent investigating the case â "Why do you pick on me? Why not the big man?" â have long tortured Kenyan minds with many people latching onto the most obvious suspects.
However, the list of people who may have conspired to kill Mboya, or been involved in the unsuccessful attempts, has always been much longer than most Kenyans realise. Information pieced together by the Standard on Sunday shows Mboya was a marked man from as early as 1962. Close associates say there were several apparent attempts on his life, which he chose to shield from the public for fear of alarming his supporters.
The most daring attempt came in early 1969, when an Administration Police officer guarding the ministerâs home in Nairobiâs Lavington Green area opened fire at him, missing his chest by a whisker. The incident was one of three attempts narrated to the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission last year.
