From lawmaker to university boss, Nyagah wore many hats

The death of former Cabinet minister Joseph “Joe” William Nthiga Nyagah, 72, on Friday robbed the country one of its most visible sons.

Joe was gregarious, a story teller and self-effacing despite his admirable professional and public service credentials as banker, diplomat, lawmaker and Cabinet minister serving Presidents Daniel Toroitich arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki.

He was a scion of one of Kenya’s founding fathers and pioneer nationalist – Jeremiah Nyagah, who also served in colonial Legislative Council as the representative for Central Province.

Jeremiah Nyagah would serve as a Jomo Kenyatta Cabinet Minister for Education, Natural Resources, Information and Broadcasting and Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

He was a long serving MP for Gachoka in Embu, and later Mbeere district.

Jeremiah Nyagah served in the Moi Cabinet until 1992 when he retired from politics and public service.

“I was disappointed when he insisted on retiring after the 1992 General Election,” writes Moi in 2013 foreword of Jeremiah Nyagah’s biography Sowing the Mustard Seed.

“I felt he could still continue making some contributions. But I understood my friend Jerry’s position.”

Both Moi and Nyagah were teachers during colonial times before joining politics when the representation for the majority Africans was expanded in the Legco from 1957.

Moi represented the expansive Rift Valley region.

The civil service tradition set by Jeremiah Nyagah has taken root in the family.

Joe and his younger brother Norman, would be parliamentarians at the same time in the 1990s, with the former representing Gachoka on the ruling Kanu party ticket, while Norman was the MP for Kamukunji in Nairobi on Mwai Kibaki’s Democratic Party platform.

 While the two were on opposite sides of the political divide (1997-2002), their younger brother Nahashon was calling the shots at Central Bank of Kenya as governor from 2001 to 2003.

It was significant coincidence that Norman was the government chief whip of the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) troops in the National Assembly during the Bomas 1 Constitutional talks while Joe chaired the vocal Minority Communities Caucus that pushed for some of the most generous clauses for such groups in the country’s current Constitution.

During and after the talks, Joe made no bones about his pride in extracting generous concessions “from the big boys” – the country’s most populous communities – at Bomas.

“Every time they became difficult, we would threaten to walk out and deny the process the legitimacy it required. Even in 2010, President Kibaki had to lean on me to persuade the Mbeere and other minority groups to endorse the document using the credentials I cultivated at Bomas in 2005,” Joe recounted recently.

“The Mbeere were sceptical about being lumped together in one county with the populous Embu, owing to historical reasons. But this is not unique to the Mbeere. We told the people that we must learn to trust one another since the Constitution would safeguard the interests of everyone.”

The Nyagahs continue to serve the Kenyan public in many capacities.

In June, President Uhuru appointed the eldest Nyagah sibling – Mary Mbiro Khimilu – the chairperson of the Water Fund Board of Trustees.

Infrastructure development.

Dr Khimilu once served as the country’s ambassador to Unesco.

The latest chip off the bloc whose star seems to follow her elders’ footsteps is Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi, 34.

Dr Mwangangi’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has earned her praises.

She has continually given daily briefings in the absence of her colleague Rashid Aman and Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe since March when Kenya recorded her first coronavirus case. Dr Mwangangi is a cousin of the Nyagahs.

From 2013 to mid-2017, Joe was chancellor of Co-operative College University, Nairobi County and an adviser and coordinator for Northern Corridor Integration projects.

He constantly flew from one East African capital to another, briefing presidents and coordinating programmes for infrastructure development.

Joe resigned to launch his presidential campaign in 2017.

He wanted to take advantage of the shambolic Jubilee and National Super Alliance (Nasa) primaries.

The main Nasa outfits were the Orange Democratic Movement, Wiper, Ford Kenya and Amani National Congress while The National Alliance and the United Republican Party made up Jubilee.

Unfortunately, this decision did not gain traction as Joe’s key supporters were quickly “persuaded” by the bigger parties to jump ship.

Asked if his move would not be perceived as a disruptive distraction to President Kenyatta’s re-election, Joe had a quick answer.

“ I need to address the problems we are facing . I have never seen such a high number of disputes and independent candidates,” he said.

Independent candidates

“Independent candidates have their place, but the country needs to pay attention when they are many. Jubilee and Nasa have missed something.”

Joe added that he saw a sentiment that was not represented by either big formations.

He said ordinary Kenyans needed to feel represented,acknowledged and accommodated.

“Kenyan should wake up to the dangers of such a large number of independent elected leaders running institutions like parliament and counties. They are floating like hawkers out there,” he said.

“Who speaks for these people? Who brings them together? Should they be heard or ignored? Don’t they have a following? Who should be held to account when primaries are messed up?”

It was not the first time Joe was making a political move that appeared maverick initially but which came in handy during a crisis.

He joined the ODM Pentagon in 2007 and ended up a minister in the coalition government.

Joe said he would use his diplomatic skills to moderate extremist positions in the ODM-Party of National Unity (PNU) power struggles, including helping end post-election suspicion and violence.

One of his most famous statements when he resigned from government in 2017 was: “There is no legal provision for co-presidency .”

It was in reference to what was perceived by some in Kenya the huge influence of Deputy President William Ruto in the running of the government.

Whatever happened in the months and years that followed vindicated him for Joe was not the only one with such views.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Kenya, Joe had been reaching out to grassroots groups in Mt Kenya through vernacular radio and TV stations to prepare the region for post-Kenyatta dispensation.

“As the second elderly leader after Kibaki in this region, I can help chart the future,” he would say. Someone else,it appears, will assume the responsibility.

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