Reluctant politician who led for 24 years

The late former President Daniel Moi’s journey to the helm of leadership can be traced back to Kabarnet, where he was a teacher. But just how did an ordinary teacher rise to become a Vice President and later Kenya’s longest serving President?

Well, according to Joseph Komen Kimwochoch (pictured), Moi’s 95-year-old village mate, Mzee was prevailed upon by elders to join politics.

Kimwochoch was apparently among six emissaries who were sent by village elders to convince a reluctant Moi to join politics and represent Rift Valley in the Legco.

“Moi was a teacher at Kabarnet High School, while his wife the late Lena Moi taught at Kapropita, a local school within Kabarnet. Mzee loved teaching and was not ready to join Legislative Council, but out of respect agreed to represent the people of Rift Valley in 1955 marking the beginning of his journey to power,” Kimwochoch revealed when we met him in Kabarnet town.

Leadership skills

Due to his sobriety and impressive leadership skills, the former councilor says Moi was deemed the best candidate to replace Dr John Ole Tameno, the former representative at the Legco.

This was after it became apparent that Tameno was drinking too much amid suspected links with the then freedom movement.

“We went to meet Moi then at Kabarnet High School at around 6pm, I was with Luke Matete, Elijah Chemoiwo and three other men from Nandi one of them Isaiah Koskey. The elders from Nandi had come all the way to join us to convince Moi,” he said.

“Colonialist disliked working with Africans who took alcohol and had even asked the Asian Communities not to sell alcohol to any Africans because they would be unruly and disorderly,” Kimwochoch added.

A meeting with Moi, a teacher whom they believed would represent them well, was not fruitful. He was contented with his teaching job and loved his students and the humble village life.

“He, however, finally agreed to represent us since it was only for nine months in 1955. He wanted to get back to his teaching profession thereafter,” he added.

But as fate would have it, he got re-elected back to the Legislative Council in 1957. Later, Moi became part of the Kenya delegation at the Lancaster House Conference in London, which drafted Kenya’s first post-independence constitution.

He in 1960 founded the Kenya African Democratic Union, a rival party to Jomo Kenyatta’s Kenya African National Union. Kenyatta he said managed to convince Moi after independence in 1963 to merge the two parties.

He was later appointed Vice-President in 1967. Moi took over power when Kenyatta died in 1978 for a record 24 years.

[Caroline Chebet and Julius Chepkwony]