Dr Robert Monda first hit national headlines when he trounced former Nyaribari Chache Member of Parliament and Gusii kingpin Simeon Nyachae in the 2007 elections.
A little-known veterinary doctor before then, Dr Monda’s face-off against Nyachae, who had commanded a massive following in the Gusii region, was akin to the contest between David and Goliath as chronicled in the Bible.
Nyachae had seen it all, having served in plum civil service positions before he plunged into politics, won the Nyaribari Chache parliamentary seat, served as Cabinet Minister in different portfolios and ran for the presidency on the Ford People party ticket in the 2002 general elections.
Nyachae, whose party won all the then 10 parliamentary seats in the present-day Nyamira and Kisii counties in the 2002 general elections, had cut the image of the Goliath in Gusii politics even as his bid for the presidency flopped.
He served as MP in line with the constitution, which allowed presidential candidates to also run for parliamentary seats, which, in Nyachae’s case, had won.
Like the biblical David, Dr Monda went into the 2007 General Elections on a National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) ticket and defeated Nyachae, who resigned from active politics following the outcome.
Kisii Deputy Governor Robert Monda arrives at Senate on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 for his impeachment hearing.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
Born in 1959, Dr Monda, who confesses to be a staunch Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) and church elder, studied at Nyankororo Primary School in Nyaribari Chache in the 1960s before he joined Nduru Boys High School in South Mugirango Constituency.
After his O-level, he proceeded to Murang’a High School for A-level, where he joined the University of Nairobi for a Bachelor of Science degree in 1984.
In 1988, Dr Monda graduated with a degree in Veterinary Medicine and joined the civil service before he established several veterinary businesses, and later on joined active politics in the run-up to the 2007 General Elections.
In Parliament, Dr Monda articulated issues that were not far from his profession, including the push for harmonisation of curricula for training of doctors in private and public institutions.
Parliamentary records show that in August 2008, Dr Monda said that the existence of two curricula for trainee doctors disadvantaged those from private institutions since it was not easy for them to acquire recognition and accreditation by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDU) like their counterparts who graduated from public colleges.
On June 24, 2008, Dr Monda told Parliament: “…I want to propose that members who have carried the business of this House out there; to debate in funerals and barazas should desist from the same.”
After serving his term, Dr Monda unsuccessfully defended the Nyaribari Chache parliamentary seat in 2013 and stayed in the cold until Kisii Governor Simba Arati picked him as his running mate in the 2022 elections, although he had served as the chairman of the Accreditation Board in between.
The combination of Mr Arati and Dr Monda on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket earned them a sweet victory, with current Education CS Ezekiel Machogu coming in a distant second in the Kisii gubernatorial contest.
Kisii Governor Simba Arati (second left) and his deputy Robert Monda cut a celebratory cake during the occasion of the lighting of the governor’s Christmas tree at the county headquarters in Kisii on December 23, 2022. The leaders called on residents to support the less fortunate by sharing during the festivities.
Photo credit: Ondari Ogega| Nation
Cracks eventually emerged between Dr Monda and his boss when he met the governor’s political nemesis at his home.
Last month, diverse claims against Dr Monda emerged, including abuse of office and corruption, leading to the tabling of the impeachment motion against him at the Kisii County Assembly after intervention from the political leadership and the clergy in Kisii flopped.
“I am not begging to be in this government, I am there in my own right as DG. Qualified and allocated that position by the laws of Kenya. It is not by intimidation to me or by anything else that will make me do the work, but by the laws of Kenya. You have understood what is causing the impeachment motion debate that is in the assembly,” said Dr Monda after the motion was tabled in the assembly.
The often soft-spoken leader, who at this time of the interview spoke arrogantly and with a don’t-care attitude to the shock of many, added: “What is it that MCAs found that they think that I am incompetent. Am I incompetent? A person who has led in this country as a civil servant, MP? I have chaired the health committee in parliament.
I have been the chair of parastatals under the previous regime twice. And you believe I will come to the county and become incompetent? That I will come to these offices and become abusive to the office I am holding. Let us be serious with what we tell people….”
“I am a leader in my own right, nothing will stop me. I did not come here as a beggar deputy governor, let everybody understand.”
