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NYACHAE THE MAN

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Published on Monday, 04 June 2007 02:40

The inclusion of Mr Simeon Nyachae in Government on June 30, 2004, was perhaps one of the boldest moves President Kibaki made since taking power in December 2002.

With a stroke of the pen, the President expanded his Cabinet and embraced the Government of National Unity (GNU).

Kibaki made the Ford-People leader Minister for Energy and went on to poach Mr Njenga Karume, Mr John Koech and Mr Abdi Mohamed from Kanu and named them ministers.

Kibaki included Nyachae and other veterans into his Government after it became clear that the President was under siege from his own Cabinet.

Nyachae was appointed minister at a time when Cabinet ministers allied to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were rocking the Government from within, openly ridiculing the President.

In a word, his inclusion into the Cabinet was meant to bolster a tottering Kibaki administration.

A career civil servant who rose from a colonial District Officer to the rank of Chief Secretary and later a Cabinet minister in President Moi’s Government, Nyachae has never been comfortable on opposition benches.

Even after losing the battle for the presidency to Kibaki during the 2002 General Election, Nyachae was never the type of politician that openly disagreed with Government policies, even while in the opposition. Nyachae’s behaviour in the opposition benches during the first two years after 2002 created the image of, as poignantly encapsulated by one writer, a "once misplaced general condemned to serve briefly in the rearguard".

A formidable politician, Nyachae had what it took to contain dissenting voices in Government and his inclusion into the Cabinet helped restore some sanity and stability in Kibaki’s ranks.

He quickly reached out to his former allies in the civil service, who had since joined politics to ensure the Government had gained stability within a year.

When Kibaki later fired his entire Cabinet soon after the Government lost the national referendum on a proposed Constitution in November 2005, the President found it irresistible to reappoint Nyachae.
This time round, Kibaki had become bolder and sacked the entire lot of LDP ministers and gave out their jobs to his close friends and associates as well as elements drawn from other parties in the GNU.

Among the LDP ministers shown the door included Mr Raila Odinga (Roads), Mr Kalonzo Musyoka (Environment), Mrs Linah Jebii Kilimo (Immigration), Mr Ochilo Ayacko (Sports), Mr Najib Balala (Heritage), Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o (Planning) and Mr William ole Ntimama (Public Service).

Nyachae was named minister for Roads and Public Works, a docket formerly held by Raila, and which he keeps to date.

By naming Nyachae into the powerful docket of Roads and Public Works, the President was passing the message that he had confidence in his old friend and wanted to keep him close within the remaining period of his term.

But in spite of his achievements, Nyachae belongs to the generation of leaders who are gradually reaching the sunset of their career and searching for successors.

Perhaps the biggest jolt of his career came when he lost at the referendum in his own Nyaribari Chache constituency where he garnered 9,393 votes against the Opposition’s 10,092.

The Government side (Banana) suffered a major humiliation in the Kisii districts, the bedrock of his Ford-People, where the opposition (Orange) led by the West Mugirango MP, Mr Omingo Magara, got a landslide victory.

That Nyachae has dominated the political landscape in Kisii since he quit the Civil Service in 1987 is not an exaggeration.

It only remains to be seen whether he — when he finally quits — would wish to concentrate his energy in managing his vast wealth or continue pulling strings from the sidelines by virtue of his position as Ford-People leader.