Former Attorney-General Charles Njonjo. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
In his days in power, Attorney-General Charles Njonjo behaved very much like the legendary American FBI chief, J. Edgar Hoover, who used secret dossiers he kept on individuals to force them to toe the line or else he destroys their career.
So did Mr Njonjo. If you were on his radar, he collected any dark secrets he could get on you. Then he pounced on your soft underbelly.
A Cabinet minister from the coast region during the Jomo Kenyatta era found himself in hot soup once he crossed Mr Njonjo’s path. It happened he was having difficulties servicing a loan advanced by a commercial bank where the government had a controlling interest. Then one day a terse letter from the bank landed on his desk demanding full payment within 14 days.
Short of that his property would be auctioned and he would be sued for bankruptcy which automatically meant loss of his Cabinet job as well as his seat in Parliament.
The same day he got a telephone call from Mr Njonjo asking him to go to his office. Caught where it mattered, he went to see Mr Njonjo running.
The latter told him he knew about his trouble with the bank and that as the AG, he’d move with speed to institute bankruptcy charges against him.
GOING ON HIS KNEES
The minister was almost going on his knees when Mr Njonjo offered to help. “Look here Mr Minister, you know I can help you in this matter. But the problem is that you aren’t a good man. You have been associating with some bad people and you rarely support my position during Cabinet meetings!”
The minister profusely apologised and promised to be a good boy. Henceforth he’d be on his knees whenever Mr Njonjo sneezed.
Others who refused to bow for Mr Njonjo dearly paid for it. One such case was a former Nakuru Town MP, Mr Mark Mwithaga. Known for his radical populist politics, he clearly was headed to capture the Nakuru Town seat with a landslide in the 1974 General Election.
But a few weeks to the voting day, a case surfaced in court that he once battered his wife. Mr Njonjo made sure the matter was rushed through the court and Mr Mwithaga jailed for six months, a few days to the voting day. There being no time to print other ballot papers for Nakuru Town seat, Mwithaga’s name was on the ballot on the voting day and he won with a wide margin. But, of course, he couldn’t be sworn in as MP being a convicted prisoner, and a by-election ensued.
COFFEE SMUGGLING
In the case of two other MPs, Embakasi’s Muhuri Muchiri and Makuyu’s Jesse Gachago, Mr Njonjo applied the stick first, then the carrot to force them into submission. First he ensured they were jailed for five years each on charges to do with the infamous coffee smuggling of late 1970s. Then before their jail terms were over, he ordered they be brought from prison cells to his private Muthaiga home.
There he told them he’d just spoken to the President to have them pardoned. Henceforth, the two would treat Mr Njonjo like a deity. After all, who else, but Njonjo, could free convicts at his private residence!
Another one to burn his fingers for touching a live wire that was the “Duke of Kabeteshire” is lawyer AR Kapila. He bitterly spoke against Mr Njonjo’s contempt for indigenous lawyers who he discriminated against in awarding government contracts and with appointments to the Judiciary. Then one day while returning from a trip abroad, he forgot to declare a few dollar bills he had with him, which was a criminal offence in those days of government-controlled foreign exchange regime. Within days, lawyer Kapila was hauled into court and jailed for 18 months without the option of a fine, which is available for the kind of petty crime he was accused of.
Elsewhere, broke MPs helping themselves by making false mileage claims lived to regret it when they discovered the “Duke” had kept a file on them long after they had forgotten about it all.
BULLY TACTICS
But the best illustration of Mr Njonjo’s bully tactics is a secret letter he wrote to then Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Murumbi, dated 18th June, 1965.
It read: “My Dear Jusufu.
Thank you for your letter which is headed London and dated 14th June but which appears to have been posted on 16th June as the date stamp is quite clear and the British Postal Authorities cannot be wrong.
2. I tried on several occasions to telephone you in your hotel as I was aware that you arrived on Sunday night, but all my efforts were abortive. It is possible that you were not in your hotel but that you left your shoes outside your door to give the impression that you were inside. I have made a full report to Mzee (President Jomo Kenyatta) about this and you will hear about it when you return. In fact, you will probably find yourself out of the Government!
3. I was there when you telephoned the other day and in fact this morning I just missed your daily telephone call. It is very useful and Mzee appreciates it because it keeps him informed of what is going on in London. I know you will do your best and play the role of mediator as the late Count Bernadotte.
4. I hope you saw my note about my short talk with our mutual friend Gaetan Duval. He called at my house early one morning and we had a discussion about their problem. My only purpose in sending you the note was to warn you that he might be approaching you in London and I was not aware that he was going to Lagos. I am glad, however, that you have seen him and have managed to analyse their problem and I entirely agree with your assessment of the situation in Mauritius.
EAST AFRICAN CURRENCY
5. Since you have been away there has been a break in the East African currency. That might not have surprised you because we all expected it. The Tanzanian people are behaving in a very peculiar manner and in fact we don’t understand what is going on. It was rather impertinent on the part of Julius (President Julius Nyerere) to make a statement in London saying that Mzee has just to say the word and they will federate (the three East African countries). This is a stupid simplification of the whole problem which is not as easy as all that. Tanzania is, of course, not making things easy for us. In today’s paper it was announced that the President of Tanzania has approved the design of their new currency and Tanzania politicians keep on attacking us over the statement which we made regarding the outrageous statement by Chou en Lai (then Chinese prime minister) that Africa is ready for revolution.
6. All is well here. Mzee is in good spirits. Jaramogi (then Vice-President Oginga Odinga) is subdued and we do not know what he is up to but we are keeping a close watch. Kangaroo (a reference to cabinet minister Tom Mboya) returned yesterday.
Please give my regards to Kitili (then PS, Kitili Mwendwa and later Kenya’s first African Chief Justice), Kiano (Cabinet minister Dr Gikonyo Kiano) and the others. I hope you are keeping a close watch on them. I hope Scotland Yard people are keeping a close eye on you. I have already given instructions through our police network and I get regular reports on your movements.
All the best, yours sincerely,
(signed)
(C. Njonjo)
***
With tormentors like that in the Cabinet, one easily understands why Mr Murumbi resigned as the country’s second Vice-President less than four months after he was appointed to the job.
But except for his political bad behaviour, Mr Njonjo is admired by many for his strict personal discipline. At the advanced age of 97, he still goes to office every working day. He keeps to a frugal diet of a cup of tea and two toasts in the morning, and lots of fruits and vegetables at lunch and supper. He has remained faithful to only one woman, an English girl (no less!) he married 46 years ago when he was 51 years old. He also has remained a close friend to his three grown-up children. Today, being a Sunday, I pray that he clocks a 100 years and beyond. I pray for you, too, and for myself. Amen.
kamngotho@yahoo.com
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