- Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr who recently testified at the inquest probing the cause of his father’s death in April 2013 spoke to David Odongo about riding in matatus yet his dad was a millionaire lawyer
- Mutula also touches on gossip in Bunge and why Mutula Kilonzo Snr’s coffin had a red lining
You are in your second term, but what first shocked you when you joined politics?
I was shocked by the deceit in parliament. It’s all smoke and mirrors, and nothing is what it seems to be. Politicians backstab each other every day. What they say, is not what they mean.
When a politician tells you something, the only true thing would be his name, when he introduces himself, the rest inaeza kuwa uongo.
You once said you hated politicians for their gossiping. What have you learned from such gossip?
Power is wielded by brokers, and the currency they use to trade is information. It could be true, gossip or false, but that is what drives politics.
And this country has brokers; unknown powerful people who are trusted and listened to by all major politicians.
You said your father was killed by close friends....
I don’t know who exactly killed my father. But the danger always lurks around me. The person who wanted him dead eventually got him dead.
If he posed a threat to whoever killed him, the killer wouldn’t hesitate to look for me if he thought I also posed a threat.
What character traits did you inherit from your father, the late Hon Mutula Kilonzo?
Apart from the physical traits, I inherited the spirit of discernment. I will weigh options before making up my mind, and once I know that I am doing the right thing, I will forge ahead, even if others shy away and I am alone.
Like my father, I am independent minded, I don’t conform to crowd mentality and I am fearless in my approach to issues.
What unforgettable memories do you have of him?
He was tough and a strict disciplinarian. In high school, he used to give me appointments at seven O’clock in his office. I would come, stand, present my budget for the entire term. You then had to convince him why you need X amount of money.
Using a red pen, he would strike out things he didn’t think are important and cut down your budget by half. I realized I had to inflate the budget because he would always cut it down by half (laughs) Growing up through high school and campus, I never had any extra money, just enough to survive.
So you never got anything you wanted yet your father was rich?
When I started my pupillage, he refused to buy me a car. For almost a year, I took matatus to the court, office, to meet clients and back home. When I had proven my mettle, he gave me a Nissan Sunny B12.
He made it very clear that it wasn’t my car, but a loan to me, and he could call it back anytime. It’s the same car I later passed on to my sister Kethi (Kilonzo). In 2007, I had saved enough to buy my own car, a Mitsubishi Pajero, and my father was very pleased.
He could then allow me to use any of his cars.
Can money buy happiness?
Absolutely no. I grew up not enchanted with money. So I am not a heavy spender. I am a man of simple means. I subscribe to the mantra of simple living, high thinking.
The most I have ever spent on my self is buying a car. A Land Cruiser…I also spent a lot in my wife’s wedding (chuckles). It was lavish.
What happened to his custom made bullet proof Mercedes SEC 500? His Saville Row suits all of which had red lining?
He had a thing for colour. Bold colours. Even his coffin had a red lining. His cars are still at Maanzoni and his suits are nicely packed, still in Maanzoni. The Mercedes is amazing, its beautiful strong car. I used to drive it once in a while.
My father was Aslam Kassam’s lawyer, when he died, my father was his wife’s lawyer and she was pleased by his work, so she gifted him the Mercedes.
Mutula Kilozo was a workaholic, are you like him?
Very much. Working for him, he would be in the office until midnight, and as he leaves, would ask you to be in the office by six, as he himself, would be there before six.
He taught me work ethics. If you are to do something, do it very well. If you won’t do it well, then don’t start doing it.
Would your father be proud of your achievements now?
He would be very proud. When I was a young man, my father had a nice red leather swivel chair in his office. It was very comfortable. He told me, ‘Son, I am teaching you so that one day, you can sit in this chair.’
Nowadays I sit in that chair. When he died, I sat down with my sister and step-mother. I told them not to get involved in politics because dad never involved them in politics.
Any memorable court cases you’ve ever handled as a lawyer?
Njenga Karume, a Kenya Breweries Limited Distributor, got into bed with Castle Breweries. KBL then terminated his contract and he sued for Sh241 million. We represented KBL and won the case.
The other one was during the Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry. Kamlesh Pattni (Goldenberg architect) claimed he had taken a briefcase stuffed with Sh5 million to State House Nairobi. We bought a similar briefcase and tried stuffing Sh5 million into it. It couldn’t fit.
It’s not important to accuse someone of lying, but is much better to prove them as liars.
Are there cases you can’t touch?
Yes. My father warned me never to take three cases at a go. Or drug related, family wrangles and sexual matters. Family wrangles were to come back and haunt me after my father died.
What saved us is we found his Will which was written in 1987, when we were both (Kethi and I) very young. As a family, we aren’t quarrelling over money, we simply want to be able to control mzee’s estate since we are all adults of sound mind.
Were you a rebellious child?
Yes, but in a respectful way. We used to disagree, but I would never talk back at him. I would just keep quiet and not do what he asked me to do. He will eventually notice and change tact. We would then talk.
You must miss him a lot?
Prestige Bookshop misses him too (chuckles). They used to bring a box full of books every month, and he would pick several. And being a fast reader, he would finish one book in a weekend.
Where were you and what were you doing when you heard of his death?
I was in in Lavington when I got a text from the farm manager. It said, chairman is very sick, please come urgently. I left the house very fast and driving to Machakos, I started organizing for an ambulance or helicopter to take dad to hospital. I was driving and also on phone. I could have killed myself.
It was at Mlolongo that it hit me, dad had cars and drivers at home. If he fell sick, they would have simply driven him to hospital. It hit me that he was dead (tears linger in his eyes and he looks away) I then called my wife and I was crying.
I also called Kethi and told her dad is dead. I got to Machakos and found his lifeless body still in bed. A book he had been reading before he slept was next to his bed.
What happened to your father’s lions?
The license to keep the animals expired a year after my father’s death. There were the lions, the rare bird lammergeyer, buffaloes, cheetahs, and Egyptian geese. We took them back to KWS.
He also kept three buffaloes, a wild pig named Mutula, more than 1,200 leopard tortoises, Ferret monkeys, Thompson’s gazelles, zebras, giraffes and elands. He also reared camels, beef and dairy cattle and goats.
What’s your take on the new amendments proposed by Jubilee?
It a heap of nonsense. The laws seeks to reduce quorum of IEBC and provide for the vice chair to take over in the absence of chair or both. The electronic transmission is proposed to be provisional paving way to 2007 scenario that the Krigler Report found to be an abomination to transparent elections.
They want manual ‘transmission’ to be the way it’s done. They want to pass this legislation, have it assented at record speed and the assenting authority is already a candidate for the election proposed to be legislated upon. It is synonymous with a referee taking a penalty.
Why do you always fight for media freedom?
A government has three arms, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary all act on behalf of the sovereign, the people. The fourth arm, which is the silent one, is the media. And it is only the media that is the bridge between the three arms of the government and the people.
It is the voice of the voiceless. Stifling media freedom is the first step in the wrong direction, a journey back to the old days.
Do you miss the life you had before joining politics?Before parliament, I sued to keep schedules. Being a politician has made my schedule so erratic. I have missed being at home during weekends with my family. Most importantly I miss reading. Nowadays, I can’t read uninterrupted for an hour.
