Sabina's Jubilee coup mirrors Gema takeover in Jomo era

Jacob Mwongo (left) and Njenga Karume(standing) addressing GEMA meeting, in October 1973. [File, Standard] If Kenya's first President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was alive, he would be amused to see his son being thrown out of a party he had created by minnows he helped prop. Kenyatta's son, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, has been out of State House for less than one year but he is already tussling for the soul of Mt Kenya and Jubilee party with a nominated MP, Sabina Chege. A vintage fly-whisk waving Kenyatta known for liberally using his bakora (walking stick) would never have suffered such indignity. In fact, he had the charisma of convincing elected leaders like Kariuki Njiiri and James Gichuru to vacate seats for him, shortly before Kenya gained independence. Njiiri vacated Kigumo parliamentary seat in Muranga while Gichuru relinquished his Chairmanship in Kanu after Kenyatta was released from detention. Uhuru too got into politics when nominated MP Mark Too resigned after the 1997 general elections giving Uhuru a chance to go to parliament. Ironically, his political fate now is in the hands of a nominated MP, Sabina Chege who he chaperoned into politics. 52 years ago, there was a bitter struggle between two groups that wanted to control Mt Kenya politics. Members of parliament from Mt Kenya formed the Gikuyu Embu and Meru Association (GEMA). It was to be chaired by Dr Julius Gikonyo Kiano while other officials were Jeremiah Nyagah (vice chairman), Lucas Ngureti (secretary-general), Mwai Kibaki (treasurer), Waruru Kanja (organising secretary), and Jackson Angaine, assistant secretary-general. Soon after, a rival group met at Wambugu farm in Nyeri where they hatched a plan to take over Gema claiming that the interim officials were too elitist. The ensuing squabbles compelled Kenyatta to call a meeting at Gatundu where he advised both camps to merge and form an interim office that would remain in place for two years. This is how Njenga Karume, Duncan Ndegwa and Matu Wamae found themselves as interim Gema officials. When the elections were finally held in 1973, the original Gema founders were outsmarted by the newcomers who used a string of tricks including lists of bogus delegates. The new Gema leaders were Njenga Karume as chairman, Duncan Ndegwa (vice chairman), Ireri Njeru (secretary-general), Jacob M'mwongo (treasurer) Wilson Macharia (assistant secretary-general) and Kiragu Stephen (assistant treasurer). What had started as a welfare group morphed into a well funded political movement whose outspoken and flamboyant members could crash anybody. So strong were the likes of Karume and Kihika Kimani that they even attempted to change the constitution to bar the then Vice President Daniel Arap Moi from automatically ascending to the presidency in the event of Kenyatta's death. The Gema group's power grab failed after Kenyatta banned them from publicly prosecuting their plan and they were the first casualties when Kenyatta died in 1978. The current struggle for the control of Mt Kenya is happening after the exit of Kenyatta's son, Uhuru, but will ultimately determine the region's current and future political fate.

Sabina's Jubilee coup mirrors Gema takeover in Jomo era

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Sabina's Jubilee coup mirrors Gema takeover in Jomo era

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