Another State House exit raises eyebrows

By Gakuu Mathenge

Uncertainty surrounds the fate of Nelson Githinji as State House Comptroller, with reports indicating he may have been the latest big shot to be controversially ejected.

Dr Githinji’s predicament follows the ignominious exit of his predecessors, Matere Keriri and Hyslop Ipu, who had to exit after falling out with the First Lady Lucy Kibaki.

Indications that things were not sitting pretty for Githinji were raised when he failed to join President Kibaki on a trip to Australia last week.

Before joining State House last October, Githinji had left another high-flying job as the Head of Policy, Corporate and Government Relations for Coca-Cola East and Central Africa.

Nelson Githinji

As Comptroller, Githinji was the accounting officer of State House and was in-charge of all administration affairs and overseeing logistics.

With the turn of events, many now are wondering whether serving in State House – irrespective of how glittering your CV is – is a plus or a blot on one’s career.

Sources told The Standard On Saturday that it was just a matter of time before Githinji was appointed to a public office as a soft landing, as happened to his predecessors.

Mr Matere was named the chairman of the Energy Regulatory Board while Mr Ipu was posted as Secretary in the Ministry of Roads.

Friday, Githinji declined to respond to our enquiries whether he had been removed from his posting. State House has had its fair share of turnover in key positions, with insiders saying the First Lady was instrumental in cutting short many a high-flying career.

If confirmed, the turn of events would leave Presidential Press Service Director Isaiya Kabira as one of a few to enjoy the status of "the last man left standing".

Kabira is said to be in good books with Mrs Lucy Kibaki, and seems set to escort the First Family into retirement barring dramatic changes before the General Election, due next year.

It is, however, worth noting that he, too, had been shown the door in mid-2009, but was saved by Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura’s intervention.

Among the notable State House exits are figures that had to do with differences with the State, the President or the First Lady.

Most memorable for the defining roles they played in shaping and defining the various phases of the Kibaki presidency – both glorious and ignominious – include former Internal Security Minister Chris Murungaru, who at one time wielded immense powers, Kibaki’s first Finance Minister David Mwiraria, and Kibaki’s long-serving personal assistant, Alfred Gitonga, who left under the Anglo Leasing cloud.

Former ‘Policy and Strategy Advisor’ PS Stanley Murage left as quietly as he had crept back to power, under the shadow of the 2007 PNU campaigns row.

Former Ethics and Governance PS John Githongo, who operated from State House, became the first PS to spy on his masters, with admirers praising him as having taken whistle blowing to a new level. But detractors dismissed him as a treasonous traitor.

In recent days, the First Lady has shunned the public limelight, skipping Mashujaa Day on October 20, President Kibaki’s thanksgiving prayers in Othaya, and the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.

In March, she accused the V-P, of engaging in "barefoot falsehoods" over comments he allegedly made to former United States Ambassadors William Bellamy and Michael Ranneberger about the First Family’s composition and President Kibaki’s performance as Head of State.

Mrs Kibaki had been incensed by secret conversations between the VP and American ambassadors, as revealed by online whistleblower Wikileaks.

The leaked cables published online by Wikileaks depicted Kalonzo – just as did several other senior Kenyan leaders – as bad-mouthing Kibaki and the First Family.

Among other things, the VP is alleged to have said President Kibaki had slept on the job, and that the First Lady was alleged to have moved to State House from the family’s Muthaiga residence, ostensibly to stop night meetings. Mr Bellamy, in the leaked cables, quoted the VP as saying: "She went to State House, where she stayed for two days to make her presence felt."

Lucy did not take this lying down and in March, she released a stinging statement to newsrooms describing the comments attributed to the VP as "barefoot falsehoods, innuendos, unkind and against African values".

"I further take great exception to Mr Kalonzo Musyoka’s reported allegations that President Kibaki slept on his job due to drugs administered on him. As Kenyans are fully aware, at no time has President Kibaki slept on his job… Indeed, it is at this time that the economy began to record unprecedented levels of growth (growing by 5.8 per cent in 2006 … and rose to seven per cent compared to one per cent in 2002 when the President took office.

"Obviously, this is an indicator of a country under sound management in every respect and does not suggest a chief executive asleep on his job…" Lucy went on to say.

Musyoka’s predecessor, the elderly Moody Awori, was the first to publicly get a taste of Lucy’s nerves.

During New Year’s Eve Party in Mombasa on the night of December 31, 2003, Awori’s tongue is said to have slipped as he introduced guests.

What followed was unexpected, with the First Lady storming out of the function in an inconsolable state and ignoring Awori’s apologies. A political firestorm soon followed the incident, and in a matter of days that followed, President Kibaki’s chum, political aide and State House Comptroller Keriri was jobless.

Although Keriri has never told his side of the story, it is speculated that his woes arose from the characters he would invite and admit to State functions.

Regardless, Keriri’s departure firmly established Lucy as a power to reckon with in State House matters.

Gitobu Imanyara, the Imenti Central MP, was bold enough to admit a rare thing in Africa – that he had been slapped inside State House in February 2008.

In February 2009, the First Lady earned herself accolades in the social media when she publicly told off Internal Security Minister George Saitoti as reckless and insensitive for publicly implying that the Sachang’wan fire tragedy in Nakuru in which 120 people died was a lesson on how not to play with fire.

"How can the dead be taught a lesson? Our people are ignorant but are innocent. They need to be educated; people in this ministry have failed in their duties," said Lucy in a direct jibe at Prof Saitoti.

Another to face Lucy’s wrath was Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet and Principal Administrative Secretary, Francis Musyimi, who was slapped during a state function in 2007 in front of TV cameras, diplomats and dignitaries. Mr Musyimi had introduced the First Lady as ‘Lucy Wambui’.