Veteran politician Joseph Kamotho will be remembered for his loyalty

The late Joseph Kamotho

Former Cabinet Minister and long-serving Kanu Secretary General Joseph Kamotho died on Friday at a South African hospital. Kamotho, popularly known as JJ leaves behind a widow and five children.

At the height of his career, JJ was known to have the ear and heart of then President and Kanu leader Daniel Arap Moi who used him and many others as his eyes and ears in a volatile pro-Opposition Central Province.

For 13 years, Kamotho was a vocal and hawkish voice for the ruling party. His demonstration of unswerving loyalty to the State earned him friends and foes in equal measure. As an outspoken defender of his party he often found himself on the receiving end of scathing attacks from the Opposition on the rigid views he had on governance and politics.

In a previous interview with this publication, he said of his description by the media and politicians as hawkish as follows: “Being the secretary general of a political party, where I am expected to pronounce the party’s viewpoint in the current multi-party landscape, I had to be a bit hawkish. The nature of my job demands that I always be on the offensive rather than on the defensive. I have to be in a position to counter our party’s opponents at all times.”

Kamotho was first elected to Parliament in 1974 as MP for Kangema and spent his first parliamentary term on the back bench, a place he occupied for five years before being appointed minister for Higher Education after retaining his seat in the 1979 elections.

He served as the Higher Education Minister from then on until 1993 when he was moved to the transport and communication docket. He however did not last in this post and was soon moved back to education where he stayed until 1998 when he was appointed Trade Minister. Two years later he was moved to Local Government and a year later appointed the Minister for Environment.

Little known

Although as a seasoned politician his career spanned more than three decades, he was a little known name before 1983 when he was associated with the ‘traitor” political intrigues that claimed the political careers of many of his tribesmen, including the then Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Charles Njonjo. Kamotho however survived the party purge that followed. He also lost his parliamentary seat.

He however, went back to Parliament in 1988 after beating John Michuki and was elected Kanu Secretary General the following year. After that Kamotho never looked back as he cut his image of a raspy and forceful Kanu hawk that clung tenaciously to its turf.

However, no matter his grip, he was soon to find himself out of the fold of elective politics. After the reintroduction of multi-partyism his traditional home support was increasingly pro-opposition. He lost the 1992 elections but was nominated back to the party. At home however, he became an object of ridicule.

Kamotho lost party his post of Kanu Secretary General to Raila Odinga, after his party, the National Democratic Party merged with Kanu as Saitoti also relinquished his vice-chairman’s position, after making his famous comment: “There come time come when the nation is more important than the individual.”

In 2001, Raila would later quit Kanu and was soon joined by other Kanu rebels including Kamotho, Saitoti, and Moody Awori in the Liberal Democratic Party, which linked up with Mwai Kibaki, Kijana Wamalwa, and Charity Ngilu’s National Alliance of Kenya, that ultimately gave birth to Narc, the party that swept Kanu out of power in 2002.

Kamotho however fell out with Narc leaders and said the party ran into problems “because of a pre-election coalition agreement, which was not honoured, leading to internal wrangles”.

He recollected the challenges from this period in yet another Standard interview: “The kikuyu community had decided not to vote for Moi. I became an object of ridicule, hatred and insults from their leaders. I was even persuaded by church leaders to ditch the party, promising to campaign for me for the Mathioya seat.”

His life in politics had its sacrifices. For JJ, the greatest sacrifice he had to make for the sake of his political well-being was time. “Politics has drawn me away from long-time friends because I spend so much time dealing with public affairs, leaving me with very little time to spend with my peers,” he said in a 2013 interview. For a man who rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty, he still found it hard to single out an individual to call ‘mentor.’

“I do not have any. What I admire in many people is their ability to make firm decisions,” he said in yet another interview.

Those close to him say in his spare time, he found pleasure in watching football, wrestling and athletics. Leaders from across the country sent their condolences to the Kamotho family. Muranga Senator Kembi Gitura said Kenya had lost a true son. “The people of Mathioya have lost a great man.” Kieni MP Kanini Kega said Kenya had lost a true patriot.

John Joseph Kamotho. Long serving Education Minister and die hard supporter of Kanu. Dead at 72.