CS Kamau saga revives Nyeri-Kiambu rivalry

A few days before suspended Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau’s mother, Maria Immaculata Wanjiku passed on, she had a word for her brother, Mr JB Kirore Mwaura concerning his troubled son.

“I sat down with my sister as she slept on her death-bed and she told me, ‘You know the late Kamau (her husband) said never touch anything that does not belong to you’,” said Mwaura during the burial of Wanjiku.

The sentiments reflected the aspirations of the community in Njoguini village, Nyeri County and Mt Kenya region where the citizenry strongly believe that Mr Kamau is being persecuted unfairly.

Mwaura said he asked his sister about her relationship with his son, Kamau, and the answer was, “He is my son. My lovely son. He has never touched anybody’s property and the accusations against him are troubling me.”

During Wanjiku’s burial last Wednesday at her farm in Njoguini area in Mwichuiri, Nyeri County, leaders and members of the public did not have kind words for the perceived persecutors of the only senior-most representative in the national government from the area.

Already, public opinion court claims the Jubilee government is out to re-stamp authority on the legendary and mythical ‘Chania River’ border in national leadership.

The myth implied during the founding President Jomo Kenyatta’s era that the presidency will never cross River Chania and head to the northern part of the Kikuyu land.

In 2003, immediately after former President Kibaki’s election in 2002, leaders from all corners of the country who were in the then Rainbow Coalition had to accompany him from Nairobi for the homecoming in Nyeri.

But the essence of their ‘escort services’ was only to ensure he crosses Chania River in Kirinyaga County, a sign that leadership had gone to Nyeri County.

Word on the street had it that during Kenyatta’s era, the then Kiambu mafia ruled the country and had to do everything to ensure that the northern part of Kikuyu land did not get influential leadership positions.

Recently, former Nyeri Town Mayor Wanyaga Gathaka broke the ice when he accused Nyeri elected leaders of keeping quiet when their son, Kamau, was being persecuted.

Mr Gathaka also recounted the history where every successful government vests its energies on sacrificing a leader from Nyeri, starting with the late Waruru Kanja who was the first victim of Jomo Kenyatta’s rule.

Sacked unceremoniously

“Kenyatta government saw Kanja as a threat and that is why the Kiambu mafia did everything to ensure he does not ascend to national limelight.”

“He was followed by Kibaki who was sacked unceremoniously by Moi as the minister for Health and also the Vice President,” said Gathaka.

Former powerful Internal Security Minister Chris Murungaru became the next victim in Kibaki’s administration, after he was allegedly implicated in corrupt deals.

“He was sacked while the investigations did not proof that he was involved in the alleged scams. There is a plot by successive governments to ensure that upcoming political heavyweights are silenced before they ascend to power,” he said.

Central leaders are already up in arms over what they claim as persecution of Kamau, and whom they have termed as the best CS in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration. The CS, who was arrested by EACC officers on the day his mother passed on, said he was a victim of false accusations as his track record in three successive governments was goodc.

“I want to make a personal statement here. The person addressing you is not a thief. Sijakula kitu ya mtu yeyote (I have not stolen anybody’s property)” he told the mourners.

Speaking at the burial, Starehe MP Maina Kamanda claimed there is a cartel working to see Kamau ejected out of the government. Although Mr Kamanda did not disclose the names, he noted that he and other MPs revealed the scheme during a Sunday service in Nairobi, and the gangs have started feeling the heat.

Kieni MP Kanini Kega, who sent condolences from Korea said the gang had started advising President Kenyatta to appoint other people to the position held by Kamau.

Last week, Kamanda said he would name a ‘few businessmen’ he alleged were controlling the two institutions tasked with fighting corruption, the EACC and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

“The group is directing these institutions who, on the list of 175 individuals President Kenyatta presented to Parliament, should be prosecuted for corruption,” he said at the African Independent Pentecostal Church of East Africa in Nairobi on Sunday.

Yesterday, Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru also claimed that the EACC has become a clearing house and it is failing the war on corruption. “Why have so many high-ranking individuals cited for corruption been cleared so quickly? Why the rush instead of doing deep and detailed investigations? We want more commitment from the EACC and the DPP.”

However, word on the street has it that Kamau is being kicked out to create space for retired Chief of Defence Forces General Julius Karangi. But Nyeri County Interim JAP chairman Wambugu Nyamu cautions that the war on corruption should not be politicised, and instead called for thorough investigations to ensure nobody is sacrificed at the altar of politics.