Matiba: The man who accepted Moi's election 'victory'

Mr Kenneth Matiba addresses shareholders of Wangu Investment Company in Murang'a County. He once campaigned to be president of Kenya. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Two months after the December 1992 election, Matiba launched the People Weekly newspaper, which is now the People Daily.
  • Matiba helped Moi set up his first-ever business, a beer distributorship firm called Rift Valley Distributors.

For Moi-era Cabinet minister Kenneth Matiba there were no half measures. He went the whole hog.

While last year we cheered Cabinet Minister Najib Balala for climbing Mount Kenya, for Matiba getting to the top of Kenya’s highest mountain was a weekend pastime.

His achievement in that area was climbing the Everest. When a newspaper declined to run his paid-up advert, he launched his own newspaper.

And once, when an airline delayed in importing his cargo, he sought to launch his own airline but authorities weren’t keen on it.

When in high school, colleagues in the Journalism Club and I had a contest as to who was the most colourful member of the Cabinet.

I won the contest. My pick was Mr Kenneth Matiba.

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

My winning exhibits were a picture of the Cabinet minister atop Mount Everest and another picture where he had joined a school choir for a jig and taken over the role of the lead dancer.

The Daily Nation published pictures of Mr Matiba in different motions of the dance with a short caption: “Beat that if you can!”

I didn’t know that six years later I would be working for Matiba.

My first encounter with him was on October 1992. He was on a high profile campaign to be President of Kenya in the first multiparty elections held that year.

I was working for a public relations company that had been contracted to do campaign media work for the former minister.

Nyayo Bus cash in a gunny-bag

NYAYO BUS
One day, Matiba called us to his offices at College House on Koinange Street and instructed us to do a story on the scandal of the collapsed Nyayo Bus Services.

The latter was a government-owned public transport company operated by the National Youth Services (NYS) in the 1980s.

The company had started off well with a fleet of buses operating within the city, Mombasa and Kisumu and a fleet for major upcountry routes.

But just like with Ms Anne Waiguru’s NYS, one day some “hair-dresser” crawled from the woodwork, stashed all Nyayo Bus money in a gunny-bag and disappeared into thin air.

Police weren’t able to trace even the empty gunny-bag presumably after she offloaded its contents. Kweli Kenya ni nchi ya maajabu!

We gathered as much information as we could on the Nyayo Bus scandal and moved to the next step, which was to get a comment from a government source.

We called the Office of the President and were directed to the office of the Head of the Civil Service, Prof Philip Mbithi.

POLICE RAID
His personal assistant asked that we put our questions in writing and send them to him.

It was a Friday and he promised to get back to us on Monday morning. But his answer came earlier than scheduled.

On Saturday morning, a squad from the CID headquarters descended on our offices and combed it clean, taking away anything that had words “Nyayo Bus” on it.

When we hesitated to open one cabinet that contained confidential office files, they threatened to load it into their vehicle and have it opened in their office.

We had to back off. My boss, Haron Wachira, had dashed to the office in sandals when he heard police were there.

Come to think of it, if it were today perhaps Dr Fred Matiang’i would have ordered him “deported” to his home in Kirinyaga County while still in sandals.

ADVERT
The next episode involving Matiba had to do with a campaign advert he wanted to appear in a local newspaper.

We took the advert to the concerned media house, which was accepted and we paid for it in full.

But just as the advertising pages were leaving for the printing press, one of the media house top executives saw Matiba’s advert and ordered it removed on excuse that it could bring reprisals from the government.

When we told Matiba what had transpired, he was uncharacteristically calm and said:

“Leave them alone, after this campaign we are launching our own newspaper and where we will carry adverts from everybody, including President Moi.”

Sure enough, two months after the December 1992 election, Matiba launched the People Weekly newspaper, which is now the People Daily.
ELECTION
Something I came to admire in Mr Matiba those days was his respect for constitutionalism.

Despite being a bitter critic of President Moi, in his office hang a huge portrait of the President.

One day he gave us an explanation for it. “Look, everybody knows Mr Moi stole my election victory. But since he was declared and sworn in as the President, so be it. I just have to live with that much as I disagree with it.”

He proceeded to tell us a story of his relationship with President Moi.

They first met in the early 1960s when they served as minister and PS in the ministry of Education, respectively, in the short-lived coalition that preceded Kenya’s independence.

At the time Matiba was aged 30, and Moi 38. He told us he is the person who interested Moi and helped him invest and acquire property he could call his own.

BEER BUSINESS
When Matiba bought a 40-acre farm and built a family home in Limuru, Kiambu, in 1960s, Moi was among the few friends he took to see the property and encourage him to get a similar property.

The two became family friends and their children would talk of uncle Dan and Uncle Ken.

Later when Matiba was appointed chief executive of the beer-maker, the East African Breweries Limited (EABL), he helped Moi set up his first-ever business, a beer distributorship firm called Rift Valley Distributors.

When Matiba realised Moi was not particularly good in matters business, Matiba released his personal assistant, one Sammy Lui, to camp in Nakuru and not leave until Moi’s business stood on its feet.

As he told us that, I remember Matiba laughing loudly, saying:

“It is too sad that in later years Moi would discard all the good business practices we taught him those days.”

SACCO
Despite being pushy on things he wanted, I must say in all the years I worked for his newspaper, never once did Matiba interfere with our work.

He hardly ever came to our offices. The only one occasion I remember him showing up was when he heard we were launching a staff savings co-operative (Sacco) and he came to congratulate and encourage us.

“Even if it is my daughter asking for a loan, only give her the equivalent of her savings and make sure she pays,” I remember him telling us.

At the time, his daughter, a gracious lady called Ms Ivy Wambui, was chief executive at the People Weekly.

In my last encounter with Mr Matiba, I was working for Nation newspapers and had flown to the south coast to interview him.

His first question was: “I am told you used to work with us, why did you leave?”

“I was given a better offer by your competitor,” I replied. He laughed and asked: "Suppose I make you an even better counteroffer, would you come back?” “Yes, I would,” I said, which made him very happy.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
We talked about his life, politics, and all that.

But what I remember most is a personal advice he gave me that I either start my own newspaper or any other business but not forever be employed by other people.

“Young man,” he told me, “don’t aspire to work for other people the whole of your life.

"Working for other people is only good to give you experience. After that, be on your own. Otherwise no employer will ever make you rich. They only pay you enough to make sure you come back to work in the morning!”

I couldn’t believe it was my former boss talking. But what he said made a lot of sense, or what do you think?