He is a man not new to courting controversy. Sporting his signature grey beard and wearing a black bandana, he has granted us an evening interview in his office.
Wajackoyah The weed loving spy who wants to be president
He speaks to the Sunday Nation on his vision for Kenya, being tortured back in the day, his plan to suspend the Constitution should he be elected President and banking on marijuana sales to solve Kenya’s problems, among other issues.
When I was young, about 16, I found myself on the streets of Nairobi after my parents divorced. Luckily, God gave me a foster family who took me in and readmitted me in school. Even so, I did not get good grades to go to university. I missed the university by two points.
So, I joined the Kenya Police as a constable. After my initial training in Kiganjo, I was posted to Central Police Station in Nairobi. I would later be posted to Pangani and Kasarani police stations. Since then, I have diversified my career from a police officer to a lawyer. And now a presidential hopeful.
My children were born and raised in England. I don’t want to name the exact number of my children because I’ll be doing a disservice. Probably when I die, more will surface. My wife is American and works in the US where she stays now.
When Ouko was murdered, there were a lot of contradicting stories. I was commissioned by Mr (James) Kanyotu, the then director of intelligence, to find out from the system who might have been involved. We did what we did.
Then there was some attempt to cover up the Ouko story and as usual, it was on the system’s side because you cannot alter or doctor the gadgets that we were using, especially the telephone communications that we were using at that time. And, I’m speaking for the first time because I’m going to be the president of this country and people are going to ask me, like you are, about what I know.
So when we found out what we found out, those who wanted us to cover up and due to a change of guard at the Intelligence at that time with the retirement of Kanyotu, things went upside down. I was detained and tortured properly.
With a lot of issues that were going on, sometimes they would blindfold me in a place I didn’t know and open my eyes at the city mortuary at night. That was maximum psychological and emotional torture.
And, as God may have planned for me to escape, the Americans took me wherever and I found myself in Germany. These were the times I never knew what was going on. Then, I definitely ended up in Britain on the way to the US.
I was in exile from 1991 to 2012, when I came back. While in exile, I used names like George Walker. I reveal the name because it is over three decades since that happened. While there, I stayed with the homeless people to cover me from being an easy spot for harm until it was right and safe for me to even go to school. I have to hugely thank Mr James Orengo, Mr Julie Ward and Mr Raila Odinga, for playing a critical role in my life. I’m forever grateful to them.
In exile I had to do menial jobs to survive. While in exile, I joined the pressure groups to put pressure on Kenya and we put a lot of pressure on President Moi. We fought for the second liberation. But because at that time there were a lot of issues here, nobody would recognise that. But Raila recognises that.
Then, I worked quietly and I went to various universities to study and I became accustomed to being a security guard. I mean, that was the best thing and digging graves. It gave me humility. I could do my work; loved it. I also worked at the Royal Free Hospital as a morgue attendant where the late Wamalwa, whose home is this one (pointing), was taken many years later. Let me say I did all the jobs that people do. That was the best thing that happened to me; it matured me.
And I became involved in a lot of liberation struggles: in South Africa, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Angola. I was also involved in the struggle here. We wanted to bring change by force, by teeth, by arms. We did what we wanted to do to bring justice. While the likes of Raila were fighting here, we and others were fighting from outside and were prepared to do whatever it could take to bring down the then dictatorial government. And that became something that has helped me to earn a lot of marks with world leaders who struggled.
I learnt a lot of things from people in exile. I didn’t have so much to do other than going to school, working as a gravedigger, and what-have-you. And then fighting to liberate and democratise some of these nations. So my hand is everywhere.
I talked to my American friends, congressional members, some members of the House of Lords in London and some international organisations to speak to the Kenyan government to guarantee my return. By that time, Mr (Mwai) Kibaki was the president, the late minister Nicholas Biwott was still alive, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. So, the first time I ran for president, I knew I might not have won. However, they refused to register our party.
I am thankful to President Kibaki, though I’m not going into the details. What I know is that my security was guaranteed. And I’m also thankful to (President) Uhuru Kenyatta. But most importantly, Raila Odinga. Raila did not want to identify himself with me for my own security because some of the people that I had named as killers of Dr Ouko were still alive.
Raila played a big role in my life here, because had he identified himself with me, I would have been cooked meat. His wisdom kept me moving.
Do you think your tormentors are still around? Should you assume power, would you avenge?
Most of them have died. Bad luck. I have nothing to do with their deaths. And, huh, what can I say? Unfortunately, they died after I had returned. On naming them, I cannot, as I said before. When I assume the presidency, and on whether I’ll take revenge on them, I’ll decide when I arrive there. Let’s wait until I become the president then you’ll see what I have for them. I can’t reveal because I don’t know whether I’ll win or not.
Roots Party of Kenya leader Prof George Wajakoyah gestures during the interview at Cara House in Karen on February 17, 2022.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
You are an immigration lawyer. What’s your view on Miguna Miguna? Would you consider bringing him back when sworn in?
Miguna is my client and I wouldn’t say anything. I’ll bring him back to swear me in when I win because he is my potential Chief Justice. He deserves better than that. He’s a human being. He’s a Kenyan. His rights have been violated. The courts have been with him. And I feel so pained whenever I speak with him. That I’m speaking when he is away pains too. He is supposed to be here. Miguna should be participating in the coming elections. But, you know what? This is a very small world. If you do something to someone and you hurt that person, that pain comes back to you.
You are aspiring to be the fifth president of the republic. What have you done to demonstrate your leadership?
I don’t need to do anything. Maybe you could have asked me whether I’ve stolen, whether I’ve been involved in corruption or caused any scandals. And the answer to you is that I have not done that.
I’m a Kenyan, sane and within the limits of the Constitution. I’m not going to stand here and start chest-thumping, saying I’m educated; I’m a lawyer. That’s nonsense. I’m just that common person, a gravedigger who is trying to make a living and justify that I have a right, also as any other Kenyans, to join the process.
I think the handshake was good for those who ‘handshaked’ themselves. They didn’t involve me and they did not call me. I’m a leader of a political party. My view as a political stakeholder, and because I run a political party, is that I also ought to have been called.
But the issue of shaking hands is for 2020 and I’m looking at 2096. I mean, I’m looking at Kenya in sustainability: Fifty years from today, where will we be? I don’t want to look at Kenya from 2022 and look at power-sharing. So I don’t think that I’m the best person to comment on BBI since I was not consulted.
Well, I cannot also say because I don’t have a yardstick to know how many people know it. I just held my NDC last Saturday and I had 128 delegates from the 47 counties. And its influence, as you can see, is growing immensely.
Weed. We’ve accumulated a lot of debt in this country and people are just playing. The only way to bring it out is to pay this off and then investigate those who got us into the mess and take them to court if not before a firing squad.
Because I’m suspending the Constitution, we need to grow weed as soon as possible for three things: exports, industrial purposes because of the pricing today, and for heritage purposes. The heritage purposes will be decided by those who grow it because they’ll also be involved.
You cannot grow something that you cannot be asked how you want it to be used. So, that will be up to the farmer to tell Kenyans that, “Yes, I’m growing; but then also I need it to be used this way so that regulations can be tailored specifically to the ones of farmers and those who are consumers.”
Well, I have a 12-point agenda. I’ve mentioned a few. I’ll make radical changes in the education and healthcare sectors. Look at the security forces in this country. The police are the most deprived of human beings in this country. It is planned for them. They’re not asked to consent to what is being planned for them.
I will be the minister of Immigration, because immigration has become a laughing stock in this country. Passports are taking forever to be processed. I’ll remove the intelligence from the immigration. I’ll also look at the Indians. They’re forgotten. Many Asians are paperless. A lot of Somalis are paperless. Yet you have the Congolese people coming in. We have many foreigners who come in without proper documentation. I’ll overhaul the immigration department. I’ll stand with indigenous Kenyans of this country.
The corrupt will face a firing squad for at least the first two years, to tame the appetite for corruption.
You appear bent on changing the structure of the Constitution. Aren’t Kenyans fatigued because BBI was here the other day?
They’re not just fatigued by the whole Constitution shenanigans. They are tired because every time, whenever a Constitution is changed, it is the big people who insert clauses.
Now, what I’m trying to say is this: I will suspend the Constitution in the first six months to ask Kenyans to look at it again; to find out what they want to retain and what they don’t want to.
You are likely to ask me this question and let me pre-empt you because I’m a lawyer: what will happen with swearing in? You find out that there are countries that are working without a written Constitution.
The Constitution you have is a mockery of democracy, 264 pages compared to the US Constitution that only has eight pages. What went wrong? What went wrong to put the entire world in there? A Constitution must be progressive. Let people look at what they want and live with it.
Let people think, and then look at it and see what they want. It is a gradual process. What we are given is what would have been given to a country which was 200 years old in independence. Look at how messy it is when it comes to the Judiciary. Look at the Constitution today; how Muslims have been given nothing apart from the Kadhis’ courts.
Roots Party of Kenya leader Prof George Wajakoyah gestures during the interview at Cara House in Karen on February 17, 2022.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
About the four-day work week you are championing, what effect do you think it will have on the economy?
What difference will it be between Monday and Friday? When somebody wakes up in the morning and he lives in Kiambu while working in Kitengela, by the time he reaches Kitengela, how much time is he taking on the road? Then he works till tea break. Then there’s lunch break. Then after that, going home. What productivity is there?
We shall have a 24-hour system of work. For four days, there’ll be no fatigue. In fact, people will be re-energised and rejuvenated. In the UK, they passed legislation for people to work for four days. Are they fools? How do we actually have a human being rejuvenate himself when he works for five days a week? And then one of the days he goes to church, what is he left with? Let’s give him a day to rest.
In four days, I believe, there will be more production because somebody will be mentally prepared for the marathon of the week ahead.
Do you have a budget for campaigns? Also, please tell us about your recruitment plan and your campaign secretariat.
I have my plans and a budget which I’m not sharing with anybody apart from those in my campaign team. I also have a secretariat. On recruitment, my party has a membership of about 58,000 countywide. I’ve been recruiting. I’ve been on the ground.
Nobody. It’s not that I’m getting money from anywhere. The people fund themselves, unfortunately. It’s like the Narendra Modi campaign. That’s the style I’ve taken. If I want to go to Kajiado, Roots Party Kajiado delegates will send me a vehicle.
In a layman’s language, what is your source of income?
I’m a lawyer. You have seen my office. I have a law firm here. I’m also a lawyer in the UK and the US. And I’ve worked for many years because I’m 62 years old.
Well, I don’t necessarily need to do what they’re doing. Otherwise, I’ll be recycling myself like them. For the past two years, I’ve been out there talking to the people, individuals, and groups of people, and my candidature is now gaining traction.
If you look at the internet, you can see a lot of Kenyans around the world rejoicing, in ghettos and what have you. They are rejoicing and forming their own songs, and sending to me those things and I’m like, “Are these decoys?” Having been in the intelligence, I look at things twice. Not only once. I’m never excited. I have to look at something twice to find out where that source is. So maybe that experience is also helping me reach out.
Do you believe you stand any chance, or are you just rabble-rousing?
I see myself as a winner who stands a 100 per cent chance of being elected. And, no, I’m not a joker. I have never joked in my life. That’s why I have so many degrees. Because, that’s me: a policeman, a (former) chokoraa.
I have to prove myself. It’s only my wife to whom I didn’t have to prove myself. Because she looked at me and she said, “This one, let me just take this one.” But everything that I do, I have to justify.
Some are telling me I’m mad because of marijuana. No, I’m not mad.
Wherever Kenyans will decide. Wherever we shall have enough land so that we can actually have an administrative process and also lure in companies with tax havens to go an invest so that we can expand. We are expanding. Nairobi is polluted. But I’d probably prefer Isiolo or Nanyuki because there is plenty of land there where we can build enough infrastructure, have an international airport and then put Kenya together.
You intend to review Chinese contracts. Why just them? Why Chinese when, really, we have other non-functional contracts within and outside the country?
Yes. I’ll review not only Chinese contracts, but contracts for major contractors from those big players, those big companies and national corporations. I’ll need to review all of them. Because I want to know why they did not involve Kenyans yet the Constitution talks of public participation. And, that’s why I want to do away with the Constitution.
Kenyans do not know how those contracts were signed, how these people reached at a decision to borrow the huge amounts, why they brought in the Chinese to take over jobs that could be done by Kenyans, why they’re not including our engineering students from University of Nairobi and the engineering battalion from the Army to incorporate what we want and suitable for own specifications.
We want to know why these companies are coming and coming with their employees who cannot even speak our language yet the immigration laws are very clear.
Many politicians are big on making promises and little on delivery. How different are you from them?
I’m not joining Azimio, if that’s what you meant. I’m a performer. For the 62 years I’ve lived in this world, whenever I promise you something, I’ll do it. You ask my ex-girlfriends, they’ll tell you: “This man, if he promises you something, he’ll deliver.”
I will devolve infrastructural development to the states, which will have counties within. We’ll have state highways, federal highways, and county highways. So that we shall devolve planning that if it’s a road passing from one state to another, it would be a freeway and those passing on those roads will be policed by the federal police on highways.
For those in the counties, we shall have the county police to man the situation there. Then we shall also have the state police. So we shall devolve our police units into different categories so that we can have service rendered to the people.
Similarly in health service, we shall do the same. Now, when it comes to education, definitely parents will have a bigger say and a bigger role as to what they want their children to be.
Yes, definitely. On a scale of one to 10, I’m at 10.
