34 years later, the return of Ngengi Muigai

The first time the dashing young man with distinct sideburns solicited for votes, his opponents called him a kahii (a little boy).

Well, it was demeaning for some villagers to refer to somebody who had been to Amherst and Havard business school as a small boy. The subject of this ridicule was a topnotch corporate baron with an ear to the president. But this was not the corporate world where finely cut suits and silk ties carried favour with the clients.

This was the murky world of politics where university graduates at times wrestled with school dropouts in duels whose outcome was impossible to predict. Ngengi Muigai was not a stranger to politics and its weird ways and was therefore not surprised by these derogatory references for he had learnt from the best. If there is one thing he had picked from his master, it was to respect the electorate.

The setting of some of these mismatched duels was Gatundu whose electorate had never voted for an MP since 1963. It had always been automatic that every five years, Jomo Kenyatta would hold a number of symbolic meetings where he would remind his people that he was still in the race and that he needed their vote to continue serving as their MP.

Wind of change

All this changed in August 1978, when the president died, plunging his country and constituency into uncharted waters. These are the circumstances under which Ngengi, found himself. Suddenly he was now at the centre of a political vortex. From the boardroom of Mackenzie and Company, he was now a candidate expected to fit into Jomo Kenyatta’s gigantic shoes as the next MP for Gatundu. At the time he was relatively young at 30 and that is why his opponents, Zachariah Gakunju and Wanguhu Ng’ang’a referred to his as a small boy. But he triumphed and had a good run.

The school children loved him too. Some teachers detested him. Ngengi chuckles when he remembers some of the “funny rules” he introduced which infuriated some of the teachers.

 “Do not tell me about a road or a school building. I want to know how many of your pupils performed well and got admission to secondary schools and universities.” he would tell teachers in meetings.

At a time when guests of honour were feted with gifts ranging from beer and whisky whenever they graced an occasion in school, Ngengi earned a few enemies for insisting that he would not accept such treats. He chided some of his benefactors for clutching onto alcohol too much to a point of skiving classes to the detriment of the child. That was 43 years ago. The last time Ngengi represented the people of Gatundu in parliament was in 1988 before he was unceremoniously tossed out during the infamous mlolongo elections.  

When the multi-party politics came in 1992, he allied himself with Kenneth Matiba’s Ford Asili. Matiba and his party were defeated in the 1992. So why does Ngengi want to come back as an MP for Gatundu South? How is to have succeeded Mzee Kenyatta and to try and take the same seat after Uhuru Kenyatta, a man he had to sacrifice his dreams to campaign for in 2002?

“Gatundu parliamentary has never been and will never belong to the Kenyatta family. That seat belongs to the people of Gatundu. Any member of the Kenyatta family who would want to be an MP must show great humility to the people of Gatundu South.” 

This time round, he hopes to secure the seat on a Jubilee Party ticket.

 “I last represented the people of Gatundu in 1988. The Government of Uhuru Kenyatta has implemented many projects a such as roads and water. I believe now it is the time to look at the individual at the household level. “

Ngengi explains that he has been approached many times to contest the seat but he always been reluctant. 

“I have been asked many times whether I would stand and my answer has been no. This time I have reluctantly agreed. I feel I can serve the people, not as a politician but as a leader.”

According to Ngengi the difference between a leader and a politician is as distinct as day and night. A politician lives for the people. Ngengi is convinced that his people who are mostly small scale farmers need to earn decent incomes from their produce and do not require handouts from politicians or government. Despite producing high quality avocado, macadamia, milk as well as other crops which are in demand both at the national and international market, they are at the mercy of brokers.

“I have been involved in looking for better markets for farmers in the last one year. Due to my intervention, coffee payments in the last season have shot from Sh25 a kilo to between Sh75 and Sh100 a kilo.”

 Even though his cousin has been the president for the last ten years, Ngengi who is the patron of over 36,000 Internally displaced persons says the Government has failed these people have been exposed to a life of poverty and miserly.

 “Our people have suffered. Lives have been lost. Property has been destroyed by senseless clashes. The Government has not lived up to its duty of protecting the lives and property of all its citizens.”

Suing the government

He explains that he has taken the Government to court on behalf of the IDPs whose property was destroyed in clashes and some lost their relatives. Ngengi says under Azimio, a policy should be formulated where cases involving such victims are settled out-of-court because the costs of filing and sustaining cases are astronomical. He believes coffee farmers could get higher pay, and cites the example of coffee where the end user ends paying Sh400 for a cup of coffee in Europe meaning a kilo fetches Sh40,000. 

Ngengi says that he has always admired Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga and explains that the next government should establish mechanisms of protecting its citizens who are in diaspora.

”Kenya gets Sh3.1b from diaspora remittances. The ambassadors sent to various countries must realise they are the protectors of these citizens. Here in Kenya, the Government should negotiate the immigration status of its people living abroad so that they can live without fear,” he says.

The Government should also introduce a form of travel insurance for those venturing abroad such that should they get into hardships they can travel back. Kenyans working abroad are big income earners and they constitute of a sector which should be nurtured.

It’s time, Ngengi believes, the country stops thinking that the only form of employment is boda boda and retail market by mama mboga. Kenya and particularly Gatundu has hardworking small scale farmers who do not require handouts. All they need is to be guided in value addition and assisted to market and sell their goods without brokers.

“I will not accept that out future lies in the motorcycles. We must raise the vision and tell our children that the world is their stage. We must negotiate with governments abroad who need these people’s skills so that their visas and passports are not a problem,” he adds.