Mungatana: I didn’t lose poll; people lost

Former Garsen MP Danson Buya Mungatana was one of the loudest defenders of President Mwai Kibaki in the latter’s first administration. He took on the then Roads minister Raila Odinga in the LDP-NAK power struggles with gusto, to the chagrin of Mr Odinga, who dismissed him as barking dog.

Then the crocodile-eating lawyer underwent a transition, resigning from government to follow Martha Karua in the early days of the Grand Coalition government.

Today, he is a pale shadow of his former firebrand mien, preferring to speak philosophically in low, measured tones.

He whispered to us the genesis of his financial woes and why he thinks Mr Odinga should be in Parliament.

Q. You were one of the most active MPs in the last Parliament as well as a member of ruling Jubilee coalition.  Why did you lose the election? 

A. The election went bad because of primitive tribal politics in our area. We have deep-seated tribalism. The pastoralists are unable to strike a balance with their neighbours and their way of life.

I am an idealist. Tribalism won over idealism.  I didn’t lose. The people lost. I walked ahead of my people. I have served the area as MP for two terms and I am happy for my contribution.

Q. What are you doing now? 

A. I have no letter from the government, but I do strategic political thinking for the leadership. Mimi ni kijana wa mkono wa viongozi (I am only an errand boy for the leaders). You can call me an informal adviser.

But I am also a member of the board in a private company, a co-director in another and a legal consultant. You know I have a Master’s degree in international trade and investment law.

Q. Who radicalised you?

A. I went to Alliance High School, where I met Mr Kabeberi who taught us French. He exposed us to Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude by Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill.  The book had a positive impact on my life to date. Mr Kabeberi told us that you can be anything you want to be.
The other book is the Bible. I have read it for many years. I was brought up in a Christian home. My father was a lay preacher at AIC Ngao and he made us read the Bible every day. I have read the Bible back to front. 

Q. What in the Bible do you find most inspiring?

A.  The story of King David is inspiring. He was the most unlikely leader for the Israel. A shepherd boy who overcame so much to became king. Samuel came to anoint him from amidst his brothers. He was working when God picked him. My favourite verse is Zachariah 4:6 which says: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” The other is Ephesians 6:12.  “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

I have won elections twice. But we have also faced crises in life. I always say that it is not what I see or do. It is all about God. I went to Alliance, the best high school in the country after emerging as a top student from Coast with 35 out of 36 points in CPE. God has been good to me. I have got opportunities that many people only dream of.

Q. Yet your parents last year organised a public prayer meeting over your financial woes. How did you find yourself in that situation?

A. It was an oil deal that went wrong. I had invested heavily abroad but we lost money, which included some from my friends. It hurt me and my friends. We dared to dream but things didn’t go as planned.

I am still in touch with those people abroad for a refund. It was a tough experience but we are able to take care of ourselves and our families. 

We trust in God that as long us you are alive, you will start again. God never allows you to go through certain difficulties without a reason. But if I return to government, I will push for legislation to protect those who dare to dream against such financial misfortunes. 

Q. Your defection to the well-oiled Jubilee did not help matters?

No, no, no… God is my witness. I was not given anything to sort out myself.

Q. So why did you dump Martha Karua, with whom you resigned as an assistant minister in solidarity when she decided to leave government?

A. Narc Kenya refused to grow when it was required to do so.  We spoke to Martha to make a pact with Uhuru Kenyatta’s TNA when it was clear that we had to join one of the blocks in order to remain relevant. But growing is painful. We would now be sitting at the high table had we moved at the opportune time. I didn’t dump her. I still respect and love her. She is good.

A. What are you reading now?

A. US Vice-President Joe Biden’s Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics. It is an exposition on his background; his illustrious career in politics and power. Like Lincoln, he lost elections a couple of times but it did not stop him from chasing his dream.

I have also been reading Leadership by the former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani. The book is an account of his two-term stay as mayor. It is a portrait of a transformative leader.

Q. What form of literature most fascinates you?

A. I read real life books especially autobiographies of top world leaders. I have read A Journey: My Political Life by Tony Blair, Museveni’s Mustard Seed and The Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty by Peter Schweizer. 

I find the Obama books and Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom quite inspirational as well as Duncan Ndegwa’s Walking in Kenyatta’s Struggles. The other book I found educative is Gerald Loughran’s The Birth of a Nation, which beautifully marries newspaper’s history with that of our country.

Q. South Sudanese scholar Prof Taban Lo Liyong was recently in town and he celebrated polygamy, saying it was a way of absorbing women in society. As a polygamous man yourself, what do you find redeeming about the institution?

A. No..no..no.  Let us not talk about it. This is not the time to talk about it. The right time will come. 

Q. What do you consider your biggest achievement as MP?

A. When President Kibaki came to Tana River for the inauguration of a 133-kilowatt power project. But the crème de la crème of any legislator is legislation. The Public Officer’s Ethics Act is my brainchild.

I was instrumental in the passing of the Coconut Bill. Unfortunately it was not signed into law. Former Agriculture minister Sally Kosgei requested that I give it to the ministry for her to marry with a larger Bill. It never saw the light of day.

There is the amendment I took to the House, which sought to give a window to presidential losers to be nominated to Parliament. It was thrown out, with MPs saying I was doing it for myself and Martha. But it was a good law for  the country. Senator John Mcain (Republican presidential candidate 2008 US polls) went back to Senate after he was defeated by Obama from where he continues to put the administration on check.

Raila and Kalonzo should be in Parliament to articulate their party policies. After losing the election, they are now speaking from the streets. I saw Raila standing with the President at State House during the Westgate tragedy. Who is he? They have no locus standi. They were only enjoying the President’s goodwill.

We should find a way in which credible leadership can speak from Parliament and keep government on its toes.

Q. Talking of Raila, as NAK’s most virulent warrior in 2003, you said you detested the then Roads minister because he was ‘huyo mtu mweusi!’ (that very dark man.) Is colour a good indicator of somebody’s character?

A: He brought it upon himself. Many people don’t know that I am a marathon runner. If you pick a fight with me, you must be prepared to go the whole hog. At that time, LDP was staking claim to the post of Prime Minister. I suggested we could not have two centres of power.

Then Raila retorted: Who is Mungatana?  Where was he when we were fighting for the Second Liberation? He even compared me with a dog and declared that he would rather deal with the master. I found that to be intellectually abusive.

Q: Is this why you pushed for a presidential system in Naivasha?

A: Yes. I made a presentation on a presidential system and its structures. A strong President, Opposition, an independent Judiciary, Senate and National Assembly. That is how we came up with positions such as Majority Leader. It is clear where the buck stops in a presidential system.

It stops with the President. Cabinet secretaries such as (Joseph) ole Lenku and Raychelle (Omamo) may fail or succeed in their duties but the buck stops with the President. Raila wanted the German system in which power is shared amongst parties in a coalition. Look at what is happening now, Angela Merkel has just won the election but she is forced to woo reluctant partners to form government.

Q. But you have since mellowed considerably; that radical politician we saw then is a different person from the laid back consultant now.

A: My people say that you cannot pick a warrior to chair the elders’ council. I was a warrior then; now I am an elder.

Q. People at the Coast sold land for which you have been fighting for even before the ink could dry on the titles they were given by the government.  

A. There is no substance in the allegations. That is exaggeration and stereotyping by the media, just like saying Coast people are lazy and uneducated. If one person sells titles, you cannot say everybody has sold land. There is a difference between adjudication titles and settlement schemes titles. Most of the titles were for land people are settled on.

Q. Do you think Jubilee has an answer to the land question at the Coast?

A. We think that the President is genuine. We have begun the long walk but we still have issues. There were outsiders who were given land at the expense of the coastal people. 

Q. But there those who say that the President should lead the way by giving the landless huge chunks of land owned by his family.

A. Many families and individuals took land during the post-independence period.  But the sins of the fathers cannot be visited on the sons.

By Emeka-Mayaka Gekara and Julius Sigei