Nyeri businessman who sacrificed to ensure Uhuru win

Members of Team Adonai Peace Caravan that was sponsored by Nyeri businessman Ephantus Thuku on the campaign trail for Uhuru Kenyatta ahead of the October 26 repeat election. [File]

After two presidential elections and two legal challenges, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s inauguration yesterday was a long time coming for him and his supporters.

This was especially so for Nyeri businessman Ephantus Thuku, who took it upon himself to ensure that the Jubilee Party leader was re-elected.

In January, Mr Thuku, who operates a fleet of matatus plying the Nyeri-Nairobi route, dedicated two of his vehicles to shoring up voter registration numbers and later drumming support for Uhuru.

He transformed the two public service vehicles into campaign vehicles, complete with mounted public address systems and emblazoned with Jubilee Party colours.

Initially working on his own, he would go into homes in Nyeri County to identify eligible voters who had not registered and transport them to the registration centres. Most of those he targeted were the elderly and youths - Thuku puts the numbers at 4,000.

On August 8 and October 26, he was on hand to provide transport to the polling centres for those he had facilitated to register.

Political ambitions

Although he maintains that he has no political ambitions and merely did it because of his belief in Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto, he has left people guessing about his true intentions.

For Adonai, as he is also known, yesterday’s inauguration ceremony at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi was the culmination of 10 months of laborious capital and human investment. Chief Justice David Maraga’s September 1 nullification of August 8 poll threw his plans to celebrate into disarray. Soon after the ruling, Thuku was admitted in hospital with shock and high blood pressure.

He claims to have spent about Sh12.8 million on campaigns with the sole goal of getting Uhuru and Ruto a second term in offfice.

“It was a big shock for everyone who was involved in the campaigns,” he said.

Undeterred, he got back on his feet with a new mission: identifying voters who did vote on August 8 and ensuring that Uhuru’s political bases recorded an even bigger turnout.

He convinced voters who queued for hours on August 8 to do it again. This time, he moved to the villages. His interventions appear to have paid off. And as Uhuru took oath of office yesterday, Thuku stripped down the vehicles to signify that his mission was complete.

He was part of the crowd that gathered at Kasarani to witness the swearing-in of Uhuru and Ruto.