Senior government officials were also roped in the scheme that sought to mobilise the State machinery to shatter Ms Wambui’s political dream.
The Sunday Nation, which has been keenly following politics in Othaya since election fever gripped the country, established that businesspeople felt that Ms Wambui lacked the pedigree to succeed President Kibaki.
The solution, it was felt, was to front the Othaya Development Association (ODA) chairman Gichuki Mugambi for the seat. President Kibaki is the patron of the ODA, a group that has fashioned itself as having the President’s ear and responsible for the development projects in the constituency.
Sunday Nation has learnt that a section of the First Family was unsettled when Ms Wambui declared her interest to succeed the retiring Othaya MP. Immediately, Jimmy Kibaki and his sister Judy, as well as the Nairobi group, started moves to ensure Ms Wambui loses in TNA nominations or, better still, that she doesn’t contest at all.
The favourite
A closed-door meeting of the business people from Othaya, and which Judy attended, was held at the Outspan Hotel in October, last year. Judy conveyed Jimmy’s apologies for not attending. The meeting, which the Sunday Nation reported on November 4, sought to endorse Mr Mugambi as the favourite to succeed the President in the constituency.
It was also agreed that Ms Wambui be prevailed upon to drop her bid, a move she seems to have declined since a few days after the meeting, she rented an office in Othaya town where she set up her campaign secretariat.
Many people interviewed by the Sunday Nation were unwilling to be quoted, saying the matter is sensitive. Civil servants and government operatives familiar with the intrigues feared reprimand if they were identified as having discussed the matter in the media.
This fear was not far-fetched. After Mr Mugambi lost, long serving Nyeri South (Othaya) DC David Koskei and District Officer Hellen Chege were transferred from their stations.
The DC and his deputy were accused, alongside the entire security team, of favouring Ms Wambui and not doing enough to help Mr Gichuki clinch victory in TNA.
Mr Koskei was moved to Igembewhile Ms Chege moves to Kabete. The two got their letters to move on Monday evening and handed over the next day.
During the October meeting, it was felt that the President’s endorsement was important if the Mugambi candidature was to succeed. The presence of Jimmy and Judy seems to have settled that score.
The meeting was held in the background of intelligence reports indicating that Ms Wambui was the favourite for the seat.
“I can tell you that intelligence reports filed on the issue showed that Ms Wambui was popular and it seems nobody took them seriously until it was too late, resulting in the blunders you have seen in the last week,” an officer involved in preparing the reports told the Sunday Nation.
To add weight to the President’s hand in the matter, Jimmy visited Othaya in December and declared during a campaign rally for Mr Mugambi that President Kibaki and TNA leader Uhuru Kenyatta had endorsed him.
Coincidentally, Ms Wambui was also campaigning in the area on that day. When the media asked her to react to the claims, she locked herself in her car and made several calls only to come outlaughing. She dismissed the claims and dared Jimmy to run against her for the seat.
A week before the nominations, it was evident the personal endorsement by the President was not forthcoming, yet time was running out. Something had to be done to secure Mr Mugambi’s victory. It was at this point that Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia and PS in charge of provincialadministration Mutea Iringo were brought in.
On Friday, January 11, a twin effort was launched with Central PC Japhter Rugut and Othaya DC Koskei being summoned by Mr Kimemia to his office to discuss the matter.
Although they had arrived in the morning, they were kept waiting until 4 pm when the meeting started. Mr Iringo attended the meeting, which explored all the options available on how to secure Mr Mugambi’s victory, but by the time it ended at 10 pm, no solution had been found.
The PC and the DC are said to have put it categorically that Ms Wambui was too strong on the ground and, barring any surprises, she would cruise to victory easily.
That same Friday, Jimmy launched another effort this time with the help of four trusted friends of the President — Othaya CDF chairman Karanja Mwangi, his relatives, Mr Michael Kibaki and Mr Bernard Nderitu, and finally Mr Egidio Wahome, the chairman of Holy Family Basilica and a schoolmate who was instrumental in convincing President Kibaki to move from Bahati in Nairobi and contest in Othaya in the 1970s.
They were asked to meet at the Serena Hotel the next day, a Saturday, from where they would proceed to State House to plead for Mr Mugambi’s case. But by 12 pm, only Mr Wahome had turned up and found Jimmy waiting.
Little is known of what the two discussed with the President but the personal endorsement did not materialise.
Again, the DC, Mr Koskei, was summoned back to Nairobi by Mr Kimemia on Monday, this time without the PC, where the matter was again discussed in the presence of PS Iringo.
After the deliberations, the only option available was to approach TNA with a request that thecertificate be given to Mr Mugambi irrespective of who wins the race.
But when he spoke to the Sunday Nation yesterday, Mr Kimemia laughed off suggestions that government officials took more than necessary interest in the Othaya nominations.
“We were monitoring nominations by all parties in all parts of the country for security reasons. It’s preposterous for anyone to imagine that anyone in the Civil Service took any more interest than was required by the call of duty in the nominations,” Mr Kimemia said.
“There was tension on the ground because of delayed materials and we were trying to do whatever it takes to calm the situation. Our focus was not on Othaya. The nomination process helped us to know the potential hotspots,” he added. - Daily Nation
