Former civil servant says Kibaki was not good at appreciating art, culture
An 87-year-old retired civil servant Samuel Njuguna has vivid recollections on how he first met retired President Mwai Kibaki in 1964.
Njuguna who at the time was assigned to drive the first independence Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner Josiah Anyango, says Kibaki, then assistant minister for Finance and chairman of the Economic Planning Commission, would occasionally visit Nakuru where founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta loved to relax away from power mandarins in Nairobi.
The octogenarian who retired from public service in 1992, after what he describes as a long and eventful career spanning 40 years, indicates that despite his high station in life, Kibaki was humble, good-hearted and was never rude.
Small chat
“While I did not have the privilege of working with him directly, my association with him goes back many years when I was attached to the provincial administration. On occasion, he would stop to have a small chat with drivers and security personnel attached to high ranking officials after functions at State House,” he adds.
Njuguna who was hired in the pre-independence civil service in June 1954 and seconded as a driver to a colonial administrator he identifies as Button White, was in 1965 transferred to Kakamega District where he chauffeured the then Western Provincial Commissioner Simeon Nyachae; with the latter rising through the ranks to become Chief Secretary and Secretary to the Cabinet.
“In 1970, I was redeployed to Nakuru as chauffeur to Isaiah Mathenge who had been reassigned from Coast Province until Ndolo Njuguna took over, as Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner in September 1979 for a brief stint of six months,” he says.
Njuguna notes that Kibaki’s interest in people gave him an uncanny ability to remember not only names but also faces of those he met, however briefly or casually.
“Whenever an opportunity arose, he would approach drivers and security detachments at State House or government offices parking lots and enquire how our children were progressing academically. He encouraged us to make sure that all our children received the best education to the highest level possible,” the octogenarian points out.
Before his retirement, Njuguna also worked under successive Rift Valley Provincial Commissioners Hezekiah Oyugi, Ishmael Juma Chelang’a and Mohammed Yusuf Haji.
Amidst a mirthful of laughter, the former civil servant who indicates that he was born on December 4, 1935 in Solai Division indicates that Kibaki was not good at appreciating art and culture, as he did not fancy entertainment from choirs and school children.
“Kibaki was unique in his own way, unlike his predecessors who had tools symbolising their authority, Kenyatta with the walking stick and fly whisk and Moi with the fimbo ya Nyayo Kibaki had none, for he was plain and simple.
Njuguna reveals that Mzee Kenyatta would never go for official engagements within the country or across the borders without his fly whisk, while Moi would be regularly spotted in a stadium watching a football match or cheering athletes on the track, a sharp contrast with Kibaki who preferred serene lush golf courses.
Quiet and reflective
He also remembers Kibaki as quiet and reflective. “He had a penetrating look that went straight into your inside. You got the impression he was assessing the space between your words and your heart and mind,”
That Kibaki was a shrewd, sharp, knowledgeable and confident politician, according to Njuguna is manifested by his risky decision in his early political career, to decline to ally himself with the then influential Gikuyu Embu and Meru Association (Gema), which had been founded in October 1971 with Dr Julius Gikonyo Kiano as interim chairman and Jeremiah Nyagah as vice-chairman.
“Even when the Gema mantle was taken up by Njenga Karume in April 1973 at a meeting in Nyeri, Kibaki failed to identify with it. Young, suave and articulate, Kibaki won the hearts of Kenyans as a nationalist,”
Njuguna states that when he reconnected with Kibaki at Afraha Stadium in 1999 after a 12-year hiatus, the then Democratic Party leader’s cool, easy going character still stood out.
“He was never exuberant in display of emotions. As his companions engaged in animated discussions shuffling from one issue to the next, he sat quietly among them perusing documents and keeping a silent but keen eye. Only occasionally would he make a contribution here and there. Nevertheless, it was mostly to seek clarification on something someone had said. In his lifetime, Kibaki has never been identified with “cheerful giving.”
Entertain gossip
Njuguna confirms that neither flattery nor a fair song would make Kibaki part with his dear dime.
He, however, says he was always ready to offer financial support for the pursuit of education or development projects.
“This is what he did to everyone including those in his extended family. I would only say he is generous to those who can understand his way of giving,” Njuguna says.
The former civil servant notes that Kibaki was gifted with an enormous grasp of diverse issues and subjects, coupled with an easy manner of relating to people which made it very easy for many to work with him.
Njuguna says that the former head of state shunned politics in his private conversations.
“Kibaki did not entertain gossip at all costs. He would dismiss people who appeared to be gossiping because he favoured productive topics on development and economy,” he says.
—KNA
