Matiba ate my pawpaws, says former Nyeri Town MP Kihoro

After a dramatic chase and arrest that had seen the heavily guarded prisoner ferried almost 100km from the city to Naivasha, Kenneth Matiba looked out of his cell and marvelled at the beauty of the pawpaw trees.

Less than 12 hours earlier, the man who had planted the 10 pawpaw trees had been a member of Matiba’s defence team as he tried to fight his legal battles and ensure his prized client and another former Cabinet minister, Charles Rubia, attended the much publicised Saba Saba rally on July 7.

Yesterday, former Nyeri Town MP Wanyiri Kihoro laughed when he recalled how Matiba had asked prison authorities who had planted the pawpaw trees near his cell at Naivasha.

“I had planted the fruit trees during my three-year detention at Naivasha. Matiba ate my pawpaws. I had secured the seeds from a fruit which had been given to me while in prison by a friend. I planted them where I was sure rain water would reach them,” Kihoro says.

The former MP says immediately Matiba, Rubia and Khaminwa were detained, he sneaked out of the country and assumed a new identity before fleeing to Europe. Had he not fled he would have been incarcerated yet again, barely seven months after his release.

His pawpaw trees are long gone but prison authorities told the Saturday Standard that there are bountiful, including avocado, fruits at the correction centre today. Kihoro would later reunite with Matiba in London after his release. He recalls that one evening he and his wife Wanjiru visited Matiba in his home in Westgate, Central London, and whiled away the hours talking politics until past midnight.

“On our way from his home, we received a call from Matiba’s wife Edith that he had suffered a serious stroke. This, it later turned out, was more serious and he had to be hospitalised at Kings Cross Hospital,” says Kihoro.

Former Nyandarua South MP Kimani Wanyoike, who also acted as Ford Asili Secretary General under Matiba who was the chairman, recalls how he met Matiba at foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro.

At the time, Wanyoike was at Machakos School and he and his schoolmates had gone to conquer the highest mountain in Africa. Matiba, on the other hand, was leading Alliance High School. It was only natural that Matiba was chosen to lead the two teams.

The two later met at Alliance High School where Wanyoike went for his A levels. In primary school, Wanyoike had shared the same class with Edith, who later became Matiba’s wife.

Wanyoike recalls that Matiba developed a special bond with the deputy principal, Mr Smith.

“During school holidays, boys who came from far found it difficult to travel home and Matiba was hosted by Smith. Later, the deputy principal assisted Matiba to start his business empire by introducing him to Barclays Bank,” says Wanyoike.

Matiba and Smith’s son became business partners as their friendship prospered past their childhood.

Wanyoike says he and Matiba reunited in politics and paid the ultimate price when they were detained for agitating for political pluralism. Wanyoike was detained at Kamiti and later Manyani.

Fr Joachim Gitonga, the founding Principal of Murang’a college of technology, says the former Kiharu MP was a giant who transformed the rural skyline as he played a pivotal role in replacing grass thatches with iron sheets.

Gitonga says he would never forget the days politicians trooped into funds drives and be serenaded by traditional dancers and their “high table swarmed with all types of drinks” but ended up contributing Sh500.

“That was before Matiba started attending harambees. The guests would give a measly Sh500 and then be thanked with a ram worth Sh300. However, Matiba started giving Sh5,000 and Sh10,000. Other politicians had no option but to increase their contributions. Life was never the same again,” he recalls.