Will bribery claims dim Mbarire’s rising star?

When the Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, Prof Patrick Lumumba, recently made the sensational allegation that Tourism assistant minister Cecily Mbarire and her husband Dennis Apaa had clandestinely tried to bribe him with Sh100,000, the reaction from the MP was expected.

The straight shooting Ms Mbarire called a news conference at Parliament Buildings. But then the unexpected happened. She cancelled it to “sleep over it”.

When the Runyenjes MP finally honoured her date with the journalists, she was in her element.

Like every girl does on that wedding show on TV, recalling the first date, Ms Mbarire vividly remembered her first meeting with the Kacc boss.

She had the date, the place, the details about how and why she found herself in the same place with the anti-corruption director, complete with the topics of their discussion.

She had copies of photographs showing Prof Lumumba at a fundraising meeting, receiving a cheque from her husband, a copy of the cheque and even asserted that Ms Millie Odhiambo, a nominated MP, was ready to come out in public and tell all about that meeting between her and the Kacc boss.

Ms Mbarire was visibly angry. Her voice was soft and tender and at times her eyes looked like they would unleash torrents of tears.

She said she was betrayed. To her, Prof Lumumba was a friend, a man who invited her to his residence in Runda for an afternoon drink and they would lounge out in the gazebo talking about politics and many other issues – the stuff that makes general talk for any group of Kenyans.

Ms Mbarire recalled her days at the Bomas constitutional conference back in 2004 when the country was grappling with the writing of a Constitution.

She was the convener of the working group on the Bill of Rights, while Prof Lumumba was the secretary of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission.

But things have changed since that meeting. A lot. Ms Mbarire, then a nominated MP, is now an elected MP for Runyenjes.

She is also an assistant minister, though not for the first time. In the last Parliament she served in a similar capacity in the Transport ministry.

In all of her 39 years, Ms Mbarire has grown from a students’ leader and programmes officer of the Youth Agenda lobby to hobnob with the big names in power and politics.

She occasionally speaks for the larger Mount Kenya region. Early this month, she led 20 MPs to endorse Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta as the presidential candidate for the region.

“Our eyes are on success; our train has set off and is on its way to other regions. We will ensure that we tap friendships that will build into a national rhythm. Let unity ring from every village, ridge and region. This is the song; this is our way,” she said.

But soon she was back in the news in a different theatre. Here she was, quite aware that her husband’s firm was under investigation for alleged malpractice in the procurement scandal in the Water ministry – headed by her friend Charity Ngilu – yet she still hobnobbed with the investigator.

She believes that even as they shared a cup of tea and small talk with Prof Lumumba, she wasn’t in any way trying to influence him to stop the investigations or even trying to make him tilt the investigations in her favour. She says she believes it was possible that the Kacc boss had cleared her husband’s company.

One would expect that whatever confrontations Ms Mbarire has had with the Kacc boss regarding the Water scandal were “nothing personal, but just business”, but tell that to her and you will have a fight on your hands.

“I treated PLO (Prof Lumumba) as a friend I had worked with … we’re still in shock that you could do this to us,” she said. “Actually, I always thought he was a man beyond reproach. Now I know better. He’s a politician using a public office with grave responsibility to pursue his political agenda in the disguise of fighting corruption.”

Ms Mbarire says she is not naïve to attempt to bribe a man who earns over Sh1.5 million with Sh100,000.

She knows it would be irresponsible to walk with a wad of cash to Integrity Centre to bribe the director because the closed-circuit television cameras will definitely capture the illicit transaction.

“Am I that daft, naïve and irresponsible?” she asked, obviously pointing to her intellectual capacity. The MP holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and a post-graduate diploma in gender and development studies.

The teary woman seen at that press conference was a sharp contrast to the tough-as-nails activist and politician that is Ms Mbarire.

During the vetting of the Chief Justice, she was remembered for asking Dr Willy Mutunga, “Are you gay?” Although Dr Mutunga was unfazed, this seemed to have rubbed some of her colleagues the wrong way.

The Runyenjes MP admitted before a packed House that the question was simply meant to clear the Chief Justice, Dr Willy Mutunga, of the rumours that had been flying around at the time about his sexuality and the little stud on his ear.

But then minister Fred Gumo thought the question unreasonable, unhelpful and lacking in dignity.

“She (Ms Mbarire) does not know how serious it is to ask a man whether he is gay or not! Does she know what it means for a man to be gay? I am very bitter about this and I think it is wrong for such questions to be asked,” said a piqued Mr Gumo. “What do you tell your wife and children when you get home? It is not fair! Let us be people of dignity and put across questions that are reasonable and good to the people of Kenya. Let us ask questions that can help this country.”

Ms Mbarire shot up and said she was sure Dr Mutunga was not gay.

Being gay

“Where did you expect Dr Willy Mutunga to defend himself if not in the (Constitutional Implementation Oversight) Committee? That is why I asked him that question. I asked him so that he could speak the truth. He was in pain for three weeks. Some of you here accused him of being gay. I knew he was not gay and that is why I asked him that question,” she retorted.

Ms Mbarire is a Christian. She is spiritual and considers herself a very prayerful woman “who’ll never sleep without praying”. So when she says that even if Prof Lumumba and his Kacc sleuths plan a sting operation, it won’t succeed, she leaves no doubt.

But when she was targeted early in the week she overslept.

“For some reason, God must have tipped me (off) ... It was God protecting me from the acts of an evil, evil, malicious man,” she said.

She explained that her daughter had been sick, so she spent the better part of the night looking after her, to the extent that, when she woke up, she had to change the appointment time.

Some would call Ms Mbarire’s rebuttal of the Kacc director’s allegations a classic case of corruption fighting back; others would say she is raising valid questions about the substance.

Many others will just want the truth about the alleged grand theft in the Water ministry to come out and all the corrupt nailed.

As she sues the Kacc boss for allegedly maligning her name, it is hoped that the truth will be unearthed.

According to KACC, the alleged bribe has everything to do with Mr Apaa’s involvement with a company accused of fraudulent dealings at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

So what about her relationship with minister Charity Ngilu and the alleged fishy deals which are now the subject of Kacc investigations?

“Their relationship goes way back from her days at the Egerton University where she was deputy leader of the students’ union. She campaigned for her (Mrs Ngilu) when she ran for presidency way back in 1997. That is how far back their friendship goes,” said an aide of Ms Mbarire.

Ms Mbarire’s nomination to the Ninth Parliament was attributed to Mrs Ngilu, then a senior minister in the Narc government.

Close friends also confirm that the Water minister backed Ms Mbarire’s election as a PNU candidate in the last General Election, although Ms Ngilu ran on a Narc ticket.

Ms Mbarire’s handlers maintain that she is her own person, notwithstanding the fact that she hails from a political family.

Her father, the late Njagi Mbarire, represented Runyenjes in Parliament in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

“We believe she is her own person. Her development record speaks for itself and that is why we believe she will become the first Runyenjes MP to serve two terms. Look at what she has achieved so far. She has set up a trust fund for Runyenjes women. We started with Sh4.7 million which we raised through a harambee two years ago. Today, the fund has Sh11.9 million and it is able to disburse between Sh800,000 and Sh1.3 million in loans to women’s groups every week,” one aid said.