Anyang' Nyong'o: The Mwai Kibaki I knew

The year was 1964. I was a Form Three student at Alliance High School. The Philosophical Society of the AHS had invited Mwai Kibaki, then assistant minister for Finance and chairman of the Economic Planning Commission, to talk to the students on the policies of the new Kanu government and the future of Kenya.

Apart from then-Economic Planning and Development Minister Tom Mboya, none was qualified to talk on this subject but Mwai Kibaki. Young, suave and articulate, Kibaki won the hearts of the students when he answered questions with ease and spontaneous humour.

Arthur William Ogwayo, then a fifth form student, asked Kibaki a tricky question: “Mr Minister, when you, as the Kanu group, went to London to negotiate our independence at Lancaster House, you promised us that you would stand for an indivisible Kenya. But we now see that you gave in to Kadu demands for regionalism and now we have the so-called Majimbo Constitution. What are you going to do with this ‘Majimbo thing’ in the long run?”

Kibaki posed for a while and looked at Ogwayo rather intensely. “Let me assure you as students of this great school that Kanu has not given up its mission to unite Kenyans as one nation under the leadership of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. As for this ‘Majimbo thing’, as you rightly call it, we shall break it.”

And he got an applause from the students crowded in that Form Six lecture room.

Quintessential

That was the quintessential Mwai Kibaki. Not mincing his words and shooting straight to the point. And this is what we later enjoyed in Parliament as Opposition MPs whenever he stood on a point of order or to contribute to some major debate on the Budget, for example.

I remember one day Mwai harassing a minister who had tried hard to respond to a question Mwai had raised on the floor of the House. After much rumbling and fumbling, Kibaki got rather impatient and stood on a Point of Order.

“Yes Hon Mwai Kibaki, what is your Point of Order?” asked the Speaker.

“Mr Speaker, Sir, it cannot be that a whole minister in government can speak on the floor of this house without any point whatsoever. No, no, Mr Speaker. It simply cannot be like that for the reason that I asked a question whose answer should be very easy for the minister if only he cared to do his homework. But this kind of performance is simply horrible. It cannot simply be allowed in a house where people think and are expected to be educated.” Applause and foot thumping from the honourable members.

I may not reproduce exactly what he said, but I think anybody who was in Parliament in the 1990s will easily recognise Kibaki making such eloquent and engaging contributions in the House, especially when discussing the Budget, obviously his cup of tea.

Narc dream

Wind the clock forward. The year is 2002 and Kibaki has just appointed me his Minister for Planning and National Development. Knowing my new boss well, I hit the ground running with a proposal to form the National Economic and Social Council (NESC).

I had earlier discussed this proposal with Matere Kereri, the first of Kibaki’s appointments as Controller of State House. Matere assured me that the President would most certainly welcome the idea. And he did.

The next thing was my proposal for holding investment conferences that would help the Narc government re-engage the private sector and investors. This, too, the president approved.

The next item on the agenda was to transform our Manifesto, Democracy and Popular Empowerment into a development plan for the Narc government. This, too, he agreed to include, giving me the go-ahead to get together a team of advisors to help craft the plan, which we eventually called Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation. This is what later morphed into Vision 2030 in which the NESC members played a leading role.

Serving as a minister in the Narc government was perhaps my most productive years in politics. Since planning was very much close to his heart, he followed very keenly what we did and was always ready to give us support.

The head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet fondly referred to him as Mkubwa (The Boss). The two of us had a standing appointment with Mkubwa every Wednesday at 10am to discuss planning matters, the NESC programme, New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the African Peer Review Mechanism.

I was given instructions to prepare a two-page brief with three copies at these meetings: one copy for Mkubwa, one for Francis [Muthaura] and the other for me to read as we went through [the document] point by point.

“Yes,” Mkubwa would say: “Hiyo ni mzuri sana; itekelezwe, (that is very good; let it be implemented)” he would say approvingly. “Lakini this one you should discuss with huyu jamaa (this man).” Francis [Mutaura] would cut in: “I think we should discuss it with Michuki before we come back next time.”

Kibaki was never fussy. You could discern from his rather cynical smile when you had goofed with an issue you had put across rather clumsily. And this was so common in our Cabinet meetings where a minister could talk for a long time not making much sense and the President would just look at him indifferently. He would then move on to the next point without bothering to agree or disagree with the honourable minister.

The economy grew by leaps and bounds under the Kibaki administration because he restored sanity in government, helped put in place sound management of the economy and allowed ministers to do their work while insisting on positive results. A stickler for detail, he never, as far as I can remember, tried to influence minsters’ decisions to favour friends, relatives or business partners. 

Constitutional review

The Constitutional Review Process from 2002 to 2005 could have been managed much better had the President not fallen sick at this critical moment in the life of our government.

I must credit Francis Muthaura for his efforts to try and save the situation in favour of more dialogue for a common front in government, especially when some ethnic chauvinists drew a wedge between the President and Hon Raila Amolo Odinga.

While the president was supportive of the much-needed rapprochement, his health would not allow him to be as assertive as he would have wanted. The rest, as the famous saying goes, is history.

Rest in peace, Mkubwa, till we all meet again at the feet of our Lord and Saviour in heaven above.

Prof Nyong’o is the governor of Kisumu County.