Interview with Mwai Kibaki revealed a side of him only known by a few

Former President Mwai Kibaki (centre) in a past political event [File]

On August 17, 1995, the East African Standard (predecessor of The Standard), published a feature story headlined ‘Mwai Kibaki – His own story). It was a colourful magazine feature, revealing inside details by a top politician who rarely opened up his personal life to the media.

I was a budding features writer, having worked for the newspaper for four years, and the Kibaki article remains one of the gems in my career scrap book. It took me two months to secure an interview with him.

He repeatedly begged us not to...