Listen Philip Leakey was the first Minister of European descent in President Daniel arap Moi’s Cabinet. This was not his only first. In 1979, he became the first white Member of Parliament to be elected in independent Kenya. He was MP for Langata Constituency from 1979, when the first General Election under Moi was held, […]
Listen Paul Joseph Ngei had a burning, often-expressed ambition to succeed Kenya’s first President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. This yearning for power would later become his albatross when he was a Cabinet Minister under President Daniel arap Moi. Due to his close association with Kenyatta spanning nearly 20 years, Ngei regarded himself as second only to […]
Listen Paul Kipkorir Marsin Sang was the MP for Bureti and Minister for Health shortly before the Opposition’s National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) dethroned the ruling party, KANU, from power. He had been a teacher before plugging into politics in 1997. He mobilised grassroot support and defeated the late Jonathan Kimetet Ng’eno, who was a confidant […]
Listen Ojwang’ K’Ombudo, an erstwhile Member of Parliament for Nyakach, worked for a relatively brief period in the Cabinet of President Daniel arap Moi. The fiery MP served for several months during a turbulent time in the country’s history as Moi, who doubled as Chairman of the ruling party, KANU, gave in to pressure from […]
Listen Stockbroker Ngenye Kariuki was elected Member of Parliament for Kiharu in 1997 on a Safina party ticket. He was among the Opposition politicians who were vocal critics of President Daniel arap Moi’s regime, but in the twilight days of the administration he shifted his support to the ‘Uhuru for President’ campaign and accepted a Cabinet […]
Listen Wilson Ndolo Ayah’s political fortunes took a turn for the better when President Daniel arap Moi appointed him Minister for Research, Science and Technology. The story surrounding this promotion is worth re-telling. It all began on a certain day in August 1987. Ayah had been unwell and was resting at home when the […]
Listen Nahashon Kanyi Waithaka was an influential figure, especially in the 1970s and early 1980s when he was mayor in his home town of Nyeri, the administrative headquarters of Central Province. President Daniel arap Moi appointed Waithaka to the powerful post of Minister of State in charge of Internal Security in late 1991 after transferring […]
Listen Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi joined politics in 1989 after the death of his father, Moses Mudavadi. He won the parliamentary seat vacated by his father, becoming the Member of Parliament for Sabatia Constituency. He is credited with saving the country from runaway inflation and resumption of aid when he became Minister for Finance after the […]
Listen When President Jomo Kenyatta died in 1978, Mwai Kibaki was his long-serving Minister for Finance. Once Vice President Daniel arap Moi took over and constituted his Cabinet in October the same year, he retained Kibaki in the Finance docket and elevated him to the vice presidency. At the height of the ‘Change the Constitution’ clamour, Kibaki […]
Listen Suave, witty and distinguished even into his sunset years, over the course of his colourful life Frederick Lawrence Munyua Waiyaki cultivated an enduring international reputation as a man who could hold his own in the highest echelons of power; one who demonstrated uncommon courage in a sycophantic era and could be trusted to think […]