The man under whose watch Co-operative House, a sturdy Nairobi landmark that withstood the August 7, 1998 bomb blast was built lists the 25 storey bell bottom shaped building among his key achievements in a life spanning 90 years.
“President Jomo Kenyatta gave us land for the bank’s headquarters after I led a delegation to him with the request,” says Kathanga.
He recalls how then powerful head of the civil service Geoffrey Kariithi was ordered by President Kenyatta to write a letter allocating the land to Cooperative Bank after he tried to argue that it belonged to someone else.
Save for a stubborn hobble incurred from a healed paralysis, Bernard Kathanga is fit as a fiddle in his nonagenarian days, his memory lucid clear, his hearing and sight senses good and his humour great. He leaves a bubble of pride in is trail as he speaks of his myriad achievements.
“I view the building as the acme of my life long contribution to Kenya’s cooperative movement that started shortly after high school in 1947,” he effervesces, his face consumed by a smile that displays a dental formula incongruous to his years. His teeth are largely intact.
Kathanga rates three secondary schools he helped elevate in his backyard among his top achievements. Kabare Girls High School is today a national school while Kerugoya Girls’ and kianyaga Boys’ High Schools are centres of academic excellence. “I guaranteed loans worth millions of shillings for the schools to improve infrastructure while serving as managing director of Kirinyaga Coffee farmers cooperative Union,” he says.
A political animal from his early days, Kathanga in 1955 formed and chaired Embu African Democratic Party (EADP) that together with Tom Mboya’s People People’s Congress Party (PCP) and Nairobi African District Union (NADU) of Argwings Kodhek later merged with Kenya African Union (KAU) to form Kenya African National Union (KANU) in 1961.
The man from Gatunguru in Gichugu division, Kirinyaga County is an avid farmer with over 5,000 coffee trees to his credit besides bananas, vegetables and trees that have gradually mutated into a mini forest.
A lover of splendor, the compound on which Kathanga’s sprawling bungalow stands bespeaks finesse, with smart hedges, well-kept lawns and a medley of attractive flowers as beautiful as they come. “I got some of these flowers from the late Mbiyu Koinange’s compound when he was a powerful minister in Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s cabinet at a time I was MP for Gichugu,” he blurts out gleefully.
Kathanga’s face brightens up at the mention of Koinange. “He was instrumental in my appointment as founder chairman of the Cooperative Bank of Kenya, a lofty achievement indeed at the time” he says.
“Koinange came over to me after I defeated the government side in a motion I moved against Coffee Development Authority (CDA) dominated by white farmers sailed through in parliament with a popular vote and promised to convey my feat to Mzee although he had voted against the motion by dint of his capacity as a Government Minister, reminisces Kathanga..
He says similar plaudits for his rare feat came from Tom Mboya and then Chief Secretary, Geoffrey Kariithi.
He recalls how then Attorney General Charles Njonjo leaked to him three months after the motion that Mzee had given him an enviable job. “I went to my friend Tom Mboya for advice on the way forward and he asked me to take courage, citing his own example as Minister for Planning and Economic Development without the advantage of prior experience”.
“I had been thrust into the greatest challenge of my life when the new outfit opened its doors for business with a skeletal staff of 12 seconded from the Kenya Commercial Bank, the Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank with neither furniture nor stationery,” says Kathanga who doubled up as MP for Gichugu until the 1969 elections that he lost to first MP Njiru Gichoya.
“I went to the treasury for a loan and was given sh125, 000 by Finance Minister James Gichuru to start with instead of the sh1 million I had asked for. I was promised the rest in three instalments of similar amount if the use was prudent.
With pride surging all over his face, Kathanga narrates how he used sh250,000 to buy furniture and stationery and remained with enough to have countrywide meetings with cooperative movement leaders exhorting them to come forward and support the new bank through shares.
“Money started flowing after the meetings and I never went back for the remaining sh750, 000. Routine meetings followed, putting the bank firmly on its feet,” he recounts.
Financial flow triggered off the opening of branches countrywide, starting with Kisumu whose hinterland was the richest in co-operative societies followed by Meru, Nyeri and others.
Kathanga was chairman of the bank he founded for 15 years with Charles Rubia, Nairobi’s first African Mayor as his deputy.
His expertise in the cooperative movement saw him serve as board member of the defunct Kenya Coffee Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) for 18 years and as interim secretary general of Kenya National Federation of Cooperatives (KNFC) at its formation.
He played a pivotal role in the formation of Cooperative Insurance of Kenya where he served as Vice Chairman to Henry Kinyua. John Musundi was Secretary.
Outside the Cooperative movement, Kathanga served as a director in the higher education board, the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Maize and Produce Board (precursor of the national cereals and produce board) for many years.
Kathanga’s career in the co-operative movement dates back to 1948, after School Certificate at Kagumo African Government School in 1947. He landed a job as a clerk in the accounts department of Maize and Produce Board on the strength of his good command of mathematics and the English language.
“I was posted to Kisumu where I worked until 1952 when all Kikuyus were rounded up and detained on suspicion of belonging to the Mau Mau movement. Waruru Kanja who then worked with the police department was Chairman of Mau Mau Kisumu branch with m as secretary”.
Kathanga was to spend two years at the Molo detention camp followed by three months in Nakuru and four months in Gilgil before he was transferred to Embu and later released after one and a half months.
“I relaxed at home for three months, only to be asked after an interview pitting me against six others to volunteer my services as secretary at Kabare Coffee farmers’ Co-operative Union under which a coffee factory was being constructed at Kiringa. I agreed.
Kathanga remembers how a white Agricultural Officer in charge of Embu District that included Kirinyaga came to inspect the new factory and recognized him as the young man with whom he had worked in Kisumu at the Accounts Department of Maize and Produce Board.
“The white man had been my trainer in book keeping in Kisumu. One thing led to another, culminating in being hired as an accountant at the Embu Farmers Co-operative Union, hence marking the launch of my long career in the co-operative movement. Year- 1955.
Kathanga was four years later promoted to the position of Deputy General Manager at the union.
When Kirinyaga District was hived off Embu in 1964, Kathanga helped form Kirinyaga Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union of which he became the General Manager. He was elected Councillor in the new County Council of Kirinyaga a year later.
When Jaramogi Oginga Odinga’s Kenya People’s Union (KPU) swept politicians including then Gichugu MP Njiru Gichoya from Kanu prompting snap elections in 1966, Kathanga threw his hat into the ring on a Kanu ticket and was elected Gichugu MP.
His path in the public service is littered with awards, among them Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) awarded by President Kibaki in recognition of his contribution to the cooperative movement and fellow of International bankers Association (FIBA).
He had eight children by his two wives, the late Dorcas Karioko who passed on and Joyce Wanjiru.
