Gichangi, Karangi bad blood to blame for exit

Chief of Defence Forces Julius Karangi     PHOTO: COURTESY

Kenya: Wrangles between Chief of the Defence Forces Gen Julius Karangi and immediate former Intelligence boss Maj-Gen Michael Gichangi are one of the major reasons that made the spy chief quit, The Standard on Saturday has learnt.

Also understood to have played a big role is the on-going cases at the International Criminal Court in which the National Intelligence Service (NIS) is believed to have played a crucial role during its submissions to the Waki Commission -- and the consequent submission of those documents to the ICC -- where President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto are facing trial for crimes against humanity.

Those familiar with the power-games in State House said the pressure on Gichangi to resign, to save himself embarrassment of being fired, was “overwhelming”.

The Standard on Saturday is privy to reports that President Kenyatta could have commenced  edging out advisers he inherited from former President Kibaki’s government.

The President’s aides believe Gichangi and some senior bosses in NIS and a few other high ranking public servants under former President Kibaki, were part of a team that conspired to ensure Kenyatta and Ruto were tied up in cases at the ICC to prevent them from vying in the last General Election.

This was being done in favour of an alternative candidate, who the team believed to be ‘easy to handle’, revealed some senior government officers who spoke to us on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The candidate, said our sources, received support from the spy agency through its proxies. Apparently, all this was done without Kibaki’s knowledge.

“It is true that President Kenyatta’s candidacy was causing jitters to what you might call systems men of the day. Because he refused to cut deals with them, they feared the situation would get worse if he was elected President,” said Senior State House Director of Public Communications Munyori Buku, who was Kenyatta’s spokesperson when he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance.

People who worked with the President at The Treasury yesterday told The Standard on Saturday of Kenyatta’s frustrations from senior officers at Harambee House. One senior officer narrated how the Head of State, then Minister for Finance, had his travel to Turkey cancelled the last minute, about two days after he had obtained approval to travel from former President Kibaki.

TRIP CANCELLED

“We were going to Turkey with the minister, then that morning he came prepared to travel but as we prepared to go to the airport, we received a call from Harambee House saying approval for his trip had been cancelled,” said a senior Treasury official.

Aside from the politics of power, critics say Gichangi may have been shown the door due to the increase in terror attacks, which have raised questions on collection and sharing of intelligence by the NIS. The former spy chief has come out strongly in the past to defend the NIS against these claims, pointing out that the service had always done its job.

 

Sources in State House, at Harambee House, in the parliamentary committees on defence and foreign relations, and the one on administration and national security, told The Standard on Saturday that Gichangi’s exit has been on the cards.

The State officials who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of a backlash, said the committees have been working round the clock to reconcile the spy chief with the military boss. Gichangi is still in the powerful office as he awaits a replacement.

The Deputy Minority Leader, Jakoyo Midiwo, who sits in the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee, confirmed that there was bad blood between Gichangi and Karangi. The Chief of Defence Forces has the ear of the President and his inner circle, and inevitably, Gichangi had to go.

“There has been too much struggle between Karangi and Gichangi. Even the Committee in which I sit of defence and foreign relations has been struggling to reconcile the two. The two have been fighting for too long,” said Mr Midiwo.

He said the tension between the two officers had reached a level that even the committee could not understand how they were co-ordinating security functions.

Midiwo added: “Gichangi was obviously sacked. Jubilee government believes he knows how they went to The Hague. It was just a matter of time. It can’t be a different story. More people will also be sacked. You see they have taken away Mutea Iringo, if I were Francis Kimemia I would be preparing myself to exit.”

Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi and Senior Counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi lauded Gichangi’s purge from the NIS. They said he was fired.

“Gichangi did not resign: he was fired nicely... Now they must purge the NIS deadwood without mercy,” said Ngunyi on Twitter.

Ahmednassir in a series of tweets said it was out of step for a high-profile public servant holding a plum State job, to quit.

Colonel Benjamin Mwema, Chairman of Political Parties Collaborative Forum, one of the agencies retained by United Nations Development Programme to oversee the implementation of the National Accord following the 2007 post-election violence, said the ICC cases played a big role in Gichangi’s exit.

Mwema said Gichangi’s role in the Waki Commission was part of the cause for mounting pressure on him to quit besides the President’s desire to exit what he termed as ‘Kibaki’s old guard’.

GROUND WAS TOO HOSTILE

“Gichangi is my age-mate. We joined the military together on April 14th, 1975. I went to the army and he went to the air force, but we both became pilots. He has been under too much pressure to quit the service. I think politically speaking, the President is slowly exiting Kibaki’s old guard,” he said

 

He said the ground was too hostile for the former spy chief that his continued stay in the service would have been a difficult job to do.

“But more importantly, there is a big feeling that NIS was part of the network that ‘fixed’ the President and his deputy at the ICC through the submissions to the Waki Commission. Gichangi was the head of NSIS then. He had to quit, the ground was too hostile for him and a few other people, I suppose,” added Mwema.

Yesterday, Defence and Foreign Relations Committee chair Ndungú Gethenji said his committee had recommended a reduction of the NIS budget by Sh2 billion after Gichangi failed to explain how the service intended to use the money. This recommendation was, however, shot down on the floor of the House.

Among those being mentioned as possible replacements to Gichangi include Director of Military Intelligence Major General Philip Kameru, former Commissioner of Police Major General Hussein Ali and Karangi. Leaders are also not happy about decision to move Interior PS Mutea Iringo to Defence.