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Sceptics sniff a ploy in Nyachaes wish to quit
- Details
- Published on Monday, 04 June 2007 08:56
The decision could not have come at a better time given the political wave sweeping through Gusiiland.
Although the Nyaribari-Chache MP has attributed his intention to retire to health, many see it as a move to counter any eventual humiliation should he lose his parliamentary seat and the grip on Abagusii.
Ford-People has ten MPs, most of them have little choice except to toe the party line or suffer Nyachae’s wrath.
Currently, ODM-Kenya onslaught in Gusiiland is much pronounced to a level that its leaders — including Mr Raila Odinga, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, Mr Joseph Nyagah and Mr William Ruto — have penetrated his home turf unlike in the past when they would have been violently repulsed.
Apart from ODM-Kenya making inroads into the hitherto Ford-People zone, there is mounting tension pitting Nyachae and allies against Narc-Kenya parliamentary aspirants led by his long time nemesis, Mr Samuel Bede Ogembo, over who should spearhead President Kibaki’s re-election campaign in the area.
But Nyachae is quitting politics when he is convinced that he has consolidated the Gusii votes in Ford-People.
During the last General Election, Nyachae mobilised all civic and parliamentary seats in Ford-People, a feat no single politician from the community has ever achieved.
For close to three decades, Nyachae’s hand in Abagusii politics ignited controversy and led to emergency of two antagonistic camps.
When he was in the Civil Service, Nyachae was accused of undermining the leadership of former Cabinet minister, the late James Nyamweya, then an influential operative in the Kenyatta regime.
Before the multiparty era, the Gusii leaders were always in two camps fighting for political supremacy, survival and recognition in the Kenyatta and the earlier years of the Moi regimes.
In 1979, Nyachae threw his weight behind Mr Andrew Omanga to dethrone Nyamweya from the Nyaribari parliamentary seat.
The move culminated in a new political era both in Nyaribari and the larger Gusii region.
Later in 1987, Nyachae was accused of "meddling" in politics. The accusations peaked when then Cabinet minister, the late Dr Zachary Onyonka, led a group of Kisii MPs in urging people to "reject the wealthy man".
There were two political camps: one spearheaded by Lawrence Sagini and the other led by the late Dr Zachary Onyonka.
But when Nyachae entered politics in 1992, Onyonka and Sagini surprisingly united alongside Omanga, Prof Sam Ongeri, Mr Chris Obure, Mr Mogunde Anyieni and the late George Anyona in containing the rise of former powerful Chief Secretary.
Instructively, the son of former colonial chief, Musa Nyandusi, had to persuade Omanga to step down in his favour. The manoeuvres allowed Nyachae to easily capture the seat on a Kanu ticket, much to the chagrin of the Onyonka camp.
Earlier, during the infamous 1988 mlolongo elections, the quartet of Onyonka, Obure, Omanga and David Onyancha mobilised high powered anti-Nyachae campaign rallies in Gusiiland. The four held rallies in every constituency, which culminated in the famous Kebirigo Declaration, which effectively saw Nyachae being barred from contesting in the then single party polls.
In their campaigns, the four leaders accused Nyachae of planting candidates in every constituency for ‘his political dominion’.
But Nyachae was to hit back in style. In a paid up newspaper adverts, he accused the Onyonka team of being hirelings of external forces out to frustrate his entry into politics.
He outlined his differences with the then leaders in Gusii who he claimed had failed to address local issues.
Nyachae cited dwindling academic standards; failing coffee industry and unemployment as some of the areas that had been neglected.
He claimed the Kisii MPs, except Onyonka, had benefited from him financially and that they were attacking him after he allegedly declined to finance them.
But the Onyonka group maintained that Nyachae had sought to use his position in the Civil Service to dominate Kisii politics.
They said when Nyachae was the Chief Secretary he had ordered all the MPs — including Cabinet minister such as Onyonka and Omanga — to seek his consent before seeing the President.
In their argument, Nyachae was not a political entity to be consulted by elected leaders whenever they had issues that needed presidential intervention.
They maintained that their loyalty was direct to the president and not through any other person.
The lead-up to Kebirigo Declaration was an incident of 1983 snap General Election, in which Onyonka was involved in a fierce campaign confrontation with John Bosco Mboga near Kisii town. During the skirmish, the minister’s bodyguards reportedly shot dead an 18-year-old youth, Ouru Ndege.
Onyonka was arrested and detained in Kodiaga Prison in Kisumu on murder charges.
He was to later accuse Nyachae of orchestrating his incarceration.
He wondered why, though he was a Cabinet minister, he had been arrested and detained before the Attorney General had carried out any inquest as required by the law.
This, he argued, would have enabled the authorities to establish the circumstances of the shooting before being arrested and arraigned in court on murder charges.
As fate would have it, Onyonka won the elections in absentia, sending a strong message that he was not a political pushover in Kitutu-Chache and by extension Kisii.
In 1984, long after the Cabinet had been constituted, Onyonka emerged from Kodiaga to spend the next three years without a flag.
In 1986, Nyachae announced his retirement from the Civil Service and showed keen interest in the Nyaribari seat.
In 1987, Onyonka was appointed the Foreign Affairs minister. Soon, the entire Gusiiland was experiencing turbulent political waters.
With Onyonka in the Cabinet, and Nyachae having exited Harambee House, it became apparent that Kisii politicians were getting increasingly jittery.
Many of them were worried about Nyachae’s entry into politics and needed a strong leader to protect their interests.
Having been locked out of the 1988 polls, Nyachae took a low profile until 1992 when a besieged Moi, reeling from the fear of a multiparty resurgence, baited him with the Vice-Presidency if he steered Kanu campaigns.
The promise, which was never honoured, energised Nyachae to push for pro-Moi campaigns in Gusiiland.
The idea of their own as V-P endeared the Gusii to Nyachae, particularly in his constituency.
The Ford-People leader came with a vengeance, which the whole crop of MPs in the region including Obure (Bobasi), Onyancha (West Mugirango), Ongeri (Nyaribari-Masaba), David Kombo (South Mugirango) and the late Momanyi Bwotieno (Kitutu-Masaba) bundled out of Parliament and the seats filled with his allies.
Prior to the 1997 General Election, Nyachae realised he was losing grip of the community’s support after falling out with Moi’ s administration.
He embarked on a series of constituency campaign rallies traversing the hilly terrain as he convinced the electorate to support his presidential bid.
But he was to later shelve the ambition with the excuse that he had mended fences with Moi and the latter was ready to honour his V-P pledge if the community supported him.
The Abagusii bought his idea and voted for Kanu overwhelmingly.
Although Moi did not appoint him V-P, the slot remained vacant for 14 months but Nyachae got the Finance docket, a portfolio then considered the second highest office in the land.
However, Nyachae was to soon fall out with Moi after a Cabinet reshuffle that incensed him so much that he resigned from the Moi Government in 1998.
The wounded Nyachae went back to the drawing board and emerged with a new game plan that would see him dominate Gusii political arena and punish the likes of Ongeri and Obure, whom he felt had championed his fall for the umpteenth time.
The presidential idea worked immensely as a campaign for Nyachae.
The Abagusii believed that he was being victimised by the Moi regime and the resultant sympathy translated to fanatical support not only at home but also from among members of the community in the Diaspora.
Hence in the last General Election, Nyachae contesting for the presidency on Ford-People ticket, got over 300,000, votes while a combined vote count of Narc’s Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta (Kanu) was less than 10,000 in Gusiiland.
At the same time his party romped home with all the ten seats and a further four from outside the area.
Observers say Nyachae converted the community into one voting block even though he did not win the top seat.
In his recent Ford-People campaign rallies in area, Nyachae has been urging the Abagusii to continue supporting the Government of National Unity through Ford-people.
He has laboured to convince the electorate that they stood to achieve a lot if President Kibaki was re-elected.
Political pundits argue that Nyachae plans to retire from active politics after his tricks failed for three consecutive times.
Others view his decision as a move aimed at eliciting sympathy from voters to compel them to petition him to recapture the Nyaribari-Chache seat for the fourth term.
Already, his allies and local leaders, including Mr Juma Musa, Mr Gisemba Oriku and Mr Stephens Arika are conducting consultative meeting at the grassroots to persuade Nyachae to reconsider his retirement wish.
