Why Mwai Kibaki should be blamed for Saba Saba chaos, death and destruction

Today, every Kenyan knows about Saba Saba, whether they like it or not. But unbeknownst to most Kenyans, the cause of Saba Saba can be traced to one quiet afternoon at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi. The year was 1982. The month was June. The date was the ninth. The Kanu Governing Council had on May 26, 1982, met and given strict instructions to the then Attorney-General (AG) to draft a Bill to amend the country’s constitution to make Kenya a “de jure“ (by law) one party State.

On June 8, Mwai Kibaki, then Vice President and MP for Othaya had moved “a procedural motion” to reduce time allocated for publication of a Bill from 14 to six days.

On Wednesday, June 9, 1982, the AG, Charles Njonjo moved the Amendment Bill. It was seconded by Mwai Kibaki. In less than one hour, the amendment, (Section 2A) had been passed, with an overwhelming 220 MPs out 222 voting for the amendment. And just like that, Kenya had been yanked onto the path of Saba Saba, maandamano, destruction and death.

Since the Kibaki-Njonjo Bill became law, President Daniel arap Moi never knew peace. Barely two months later, in August 1982, the abortive military coup happened. Though the coup was crushed, Kenyans were not done with the sneaky draconian amendment. In 1987, Bishop Henry Okullu boldly called for the repeal of the offensive Section 2A to usher in multi-party democracy. After that, there was no let-up in the chorus, leading to the first Saba Saba rally at Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi in 1990.

Majority of the current crop of MPs were alive in 1990; a few of them may have actively participated in the Second Liberation. Others actively participated in terrorising the freedom fighters on that day at Kamukunji and similar efforts afterwards.

Youth for Kanu '92 (YK '92) was formed to “deal with” the Opposition in the run-up to the dramatic 1992 elections. The core leadership of YK '92 comprised the top leadership of the current regime. The activities of YK 92 were and are frighteningly similar to the modus operandi employed by the thugs we see these days terrorising Kenyans during peaceful protests. That year, the Chairman of Kanu Nakuru Branch, one Wilson Leitich, angrily announced that anyone found waving the two-finger salute that was the physical logo of the multi-party crusade would have their two fingers sliced off with precision. In fact, one noisy student had suggested that “YK” was an acronym for “Young Killers.”

Lest we forget, during the 1997 Saba Saba, the police killed 14 Kenyans in cold blood. Two people were shot and killed inside All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi. Again, in the aftermath, Moi acceded to the formation of the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group on electoral and political reforms.

By and large, the present regime is a product of and beneficiary of Saba Saba. Never mind the tragic irony that those who fought the freedom fighters and vigorously opposed the present constitution are the prime beneficiaries of the very freedom they fought hard against and the very constitution they vigorously opposed in 2010.

The singular agenda of Saba Saba was the push for repeal of the old Lancaster House Constitution and the immediate repeal of Section 2A to make the country a multi-party democracy. The blood and destruction witnessed that day at Kamukunji was without precedent.

In the aftermath of the mayhem, Moi promptly appointed a committee of MPs chaired by Vice President George Saitoti with Elijah Mwangale as vice to "seek the views of Kenyans" on whether or not Kenyans wanted multiparty democracy.

A couple of weeks later, Saitoti delivered the report in Parliament: Kenyans were indeed very happy, satisfied and very comfortable and at peace with Kanu as the only party in the country and would have nothing to do with many parties. Chama cha Kanu ni Baba na Mama, (KANU was their father and their mother), Kenyans reportedly said.

In December 1991, Moi, the wily fox he was, the self-declared professor of politics sprung into action. Destination, Moi Sports Complex Kasarani. Here, Moi announced to the Kanu delegates and the country that he, (not Saitoti and Company) had carefully listened to Kenyans and had decided, as their father, that Section 2A of the Constitution was in fact a very bad idea and should be repealed with speed, to pave way for multipartism in Kenya. There was great, thunderous applause at Kasarani, reverberating all the way through Busia, to Lamu, to Loitokitok, to Kehancha to Lokichogio. But not without an ominous warning shot from the professor: "Mtakuja kujuta" (You will regret).

The most immediate and greatest beneficiary of Saba Saba was Mwai Kibaki. Two days after Kenya formally became a multi-party state, Kibaki resigned from Kanu. On Christmas Day 1991, he, flanked by John Keen, Joseph Munyao, Eliud Mwamunga, Kyale Mwendwa and others launched the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP).

Moi must have celebrated Kibaki for dividing the Opposition some more when he refused to join Kenneth Matiba's Ford Asili or Oginga Odinga's Ford-Kenya. Kibaki's decision to run for president on DP saved Moi probably a most humiliating defeat at the 1992 elections.

Ironically, the same Kibaki, while in Kanu and a Cabinet minister had famously taunted multi-party crusaders that their efforts were akin to "cutting a Mugumo tree using a razor blade." End of quote.

Fast forward, 2003 and the country was in the grip of a euphoria never seen before. My old man opined that the collective national frenzy that followed the defeat of Kanu could only compare with the activities that preceded Independence Day, culminating in the lowering of the Union Jack in 1963. This was a watershed moment in our history; the climax of Saba Saba, or so we thought. Mwai Kibaki had been elected President of the Republic. We looked forward to being drenched in goodies. Or So we thought.

The moment Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of the 2002 presidential elections, the country literally went berserk. Kibaki’s win against a hapless Uhuru Kenyatta was nothing compared to the infinite opportunities and possibilities that defeating Kanu and Moi presented. Or so we thought. The day Kibaki was sworn in as President, the country came to a standstill.

Everywhere across the country, in every village, every marketplace, every footpath, it was "Yote yawezekana bila Moi" (everything is possible without Moi). Except in some villages around Tambach and Karbatonjo.

We sang and danced to patriotic songs with new meaning. Thieves and the corrupt were practically running scared. Petty corruption among traffic police officers and in police stations stopped instantly. 

I remember sometime in March 2003 when I stormed a police station in Kitale and confronted a hefty Chief Inspector of Police to process my cousin's P3 form, pronto. I gave him 10 minutes to do so, or else..utashangaa sana leo. The man was done in record four minutes and he smartly saluted me as he handed me the form. Today, I would be mad to try such a stunt at any police station. 

In short, in early 2003, all government departments started functioning seamlessly. It was as if Kibaki had just landed with the solution to everything that failed the country. And Kenyans were ready, available and eager to help Kibaki run this country. The presence of hope and excitement in the country could have been way beyond 10 on the Richter scale. 

We looked forward to a deliberate and systematic reorganisation of our value system as a nation. But Kibaki thought the economy was everything. Instead of making an inventory and a checklist of the cause and course of Saba Saba, Kibaki talked about economics. And then some more economy.

Granted, it's factually correct that so far, nobody with solid economic credentials like Kibaki’s ever rose to the highest pinnacle of power in Kenya. And its factual that indeed he turned around the economy in record time. No wonder, his friend and Cabinet minister John Michuki publicly said Kenyans no longer needed a new constitution, now that we had run Moi out of town. 

Being the number one beneficiary of Saba Saba (he resigned from Kanu two days after Kenya became a multi-party state and went ahead to form Democratic Party), the least Kibaki could have done was to 'immortalise' Saba Saba, engrave it in the hearts of Kenyans so it claims its special place in the history of our country. A declaration of Saba Saba Day as a national public holiday should and ought to have been the first business of the Ninth Parliament. No less. Not free primary education. Not CDF that turned into an ogre. Not Thika Superhighway.

The commemoration of Saba Saba would never, ever, have plunged the country into the massive destruction of property, loss of precious human life and heightened political temperature we witnessed on July 7 or during earlier attempts to remember a day that changed the course of our history positively. The mention of Saba Saba should not evoke panic and fear of skirmishes but a welcome structured day of celebration anchored in our national calendar.

Other than a declaration of Saba Saba Day, it should have been a matter of course for the Kibaki administration to buy, at any price, Mutugi Bar & Restaurant building at Dagoretti Corner where “The Mutugi Four” freedom fighters, Isaiah Ngotho Kariuki, George Anyona, Prof Edward Oyugi and Augustine Njeru Kathangu were arrested during the vicious crackdown on multi-party crusaders. The Mutugi Four were later jailed for seven years for sedition and related charges.  The Mutugi building would be a public Museum today where Second Liberation material would be on display. A source of national pride and patriotism.

History records that it was Anyona and Jaramogi Odinga’s attempt to form a political party in 1982 that threw Kanu in a spin, and in panic, decided to make Kenya a one-party state.

Everyone must remember that old Toyota Pick-up truck in which multi-party luminaries, Martin Shikuku, Masinde Muliro, James Orengo, Mirugi Kariuki, Rumba Kinuthia and other brave sons of Kenya, the vehicle mounted with speakers, the men flashing the two-finger salute, used to ride into Kamukunji Grounds on July 7, 1990. The vehicle ought to have been acquired, at any cost by government, and kept on public display as an artifact of the struggle for liberation.

The horror visited on frightened children, men and woman who had taken refuge in Kiambaa Church in Eldoret during the post-election violence of 2007-2008 should have been immortalised in the history of Kenya by the government taking over, at any cost, the church building and grounds and making it The National Monument of Horror and the graves of the victims clearly marked with clear epitaphs on their tombstones stating their cause of death.

It would be reckless over-imagination to entertain any thoughts that this regime could do what Kibaki regrettably failed to do; give Saba Saba its rightful place in Kenya’s history as a national holiday or doing any of the things suggested herein. Truth is Kibaki squandered the public goodwill which I doubt any other Kenyan president will ever enjoy. 

During his tenure, Anglo-Leasing happened. 'M-pigs' also made it possible and were allowed to decide their own salaries and allowances without paying taxes. Ever heard of an employee who decides how much he must be paid?

I gave up. Kenyans unknowingly and quietly gave up. And we went back to begging for services we already paid for. And looting everything that can be looted.

Now, instead of looking forward to a celebration, any mention of Saba Saba strikes terror in the hearts of Kenyans.