Muthaiga meeting that gave Kenya Uhuru presidency
Johnson Sakaja reveals intrigues behind Muthaiga meeting that gave Kenya Uhuru presidency
Johnson Sakaja reveals intrigues behind Muthaiga meeting that gave Kenya Uhuru presidency.
Before their breakup in the run-up to the 2022 General Election, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja was one of the well-known individuals in retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s inner circle.
And on Monday, December 26, Sakaja during an interview with Citizen TV revealed that he was instrumental in persuading Uhuru Kenyatta that he might become president as early as 2009.
Sakaja revealed that the decision for Uhuru to become the president was made at a closed-door meeting with Kenyatta, the current Kirinyaga county governor Anne Waiguru, and Anthony Kihara, at Jomo Gecaga’s home in Muthaiga.
Uhuru was given priority as he was one of the best-positioned candidates to succeed Mwai Kibaki, Kenya’s third president, after having made his first stab at the presidency in 2002.
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According to Sakaja, he presented anticipated numbers, which he claimed stoked President Kenyatta and his close associates’ ambition.
As the panel waited for Uhuru’s confirmation in response to Sakaja’s presentation, he contacted his brother and spent an hour outside in the rain considering the option.
However, the panel was, at some point, impatient and – according to Sakaja – even suggested picking another candidate if Uhuru was not ready.
“But in the time he had taken, Anne Waiguru and Kihara were so upset they told him ‘my friend if you are not ready we have another candidate, this Sakaja will be our candidate’ and he said ‘No, give me my 10 years’ and it was a journey,” Sakaja recounted the moment.
According to Sakaja, the panel decided on Uhuru’s candidacy at this point, paving the path for the formation of The National Alliance Party, which Uhuru used to win the presidency.
He went on to recount that Uhuru nearly gave up along the way in the famous turn of events that saw Uhuru declare his support for Musalia Mudavadi’s candidature in 2013, before retracting his own words.
Sakaja claims that the former president resigned under pressure from unidentified quarters, a move that upset Uhuru’s allies and friends.
“I led those who said no to the Mudavadi endorsement and took delegates to Multimedia University…I did not even know how to pay for them…That is the day I became a politician…I sang in the boardroom as I wore a yellow tie saying we have refused in totality (the withdrawal of Kenyatta candidature),” he said.
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