Moi was a man of his word, former PC Makhanu

Former Provincial Commissioner, Maurice Makhanu, after the interview on Tuesday. [PHOTO | RAPHAEL WANJALA | STANDARD]

Retired President Daniel arap Moi is a man viewed differently depending on how one interacted with him.

Many see him as a tough administrator, political professor and opponent, but to one former provincial administration officer Maurice Makhanu, he is a man who keeps his promises.

Mr Makhanu said if the former President promised you something, he was sure he would deliver on the same no matter the period.

Makhanu recalls that in 1987, former Cabinet Minister Moses Mudavadi, approached him while working as the under secretary in the Office of the Vice President with a proposal that President Moi was largely impressed with his work as a civil servant and had wanted him to join politics and contest for the Kanduyi constituency seat under KANU.

He said he was taken aback by the proposal and tried to resist but Mudavadi worked to convince him that the President had assured him that if it did not work out he would resume his duties.

“I was a bit resistant to the request but when Mudavadi told me the President had assured me that I would get my job back if I failed, I resigned and went to contest,” he said in an interview. He left office in February 1988 and was given Sh70,000 to kick start his campaign for the Kanduyi seat.

He eventually won the seat and served till 1992 when he was approached by Masinde Muliro to quit KANU and join FORD that had just been formed.

Makhanu declined the offer and stuck with KANU which made him lose his seat as he was swept away by the FORD wave that had gained momentum.

Makhanu recalls that after he lost the elections, the then Bungoma District Commissioner, a Mr Ndolo was tasked to look for him and found him in his rural home in Bumula and informed him that he was needed at State House the following day by 7am.

The following day at 9am, he met Moi in his State House office who handed him a letter asking him to resume his duties as a District Commissioner for Maukeni district.

Makhanu says that in that one-on-one meeting with the President, Moi thanked him for sticking with KANU and discussed various issues and asked him to continue with the good work in the civil service as he had done before.

“I was surprised when I got the invitation. When I walked into his office, it was only him and I. We discussed at length many issues before he personally handed me a letter posting me to Makueni as a District Commissioner,” he said.

After 19 months in Makueni, he received an order that he had been promoted to the position of the Provincial Commissioner and started in Eastern before moving to North Eastern.

Makhanu said of Moi that he had a strict schedule that he would follow every time and always kept abreast with the happenings around the country.

He said that before he got to the office by 7am he always received briefs and reports from the eight provincial commissioners.

“We were always allocated five minutes each and he would start by greetings and we gave our reports between 6am to 6.45am. My slot was between 6.25am and 6.30am and would give directions accordingly on trouble hotspots,” he said.

Makhanu said the briefing routine was followed every time and that even when he was visiting the provinces, he would be up by 5am, have a meal and begin his briefings

Makhanu says that Moi was like a father figure to people who worked under him and would at times shed off the presidential tag and serve tea to his guests whenever they visited him either in Kabarak or Kabarnet Gardens in Nairobi.

The former provincial commissioner said President Moi discouraged civil servants against misappropriating and stealing public funds and advised them to seek his assistance whenever they were in need.

“I remember when I was fundraising for my daughter to go to the United States for studies, Moi personally gave a contribution of Sh200,000. He discouraged civil servants from stealing public funds,” he said.

Makhanu stated that Moi loved to empower the girl-child and women and that he had lacked a proper legislation that would have helped him saying that it was the reason many girls schools were named after him.

“Celebrating the less fortunate in society was why Moi Day was set aside and this is why I have followed this philosophy as I help in making sure the less fortunate in my community get access to education,” he said