Kalonzo rose from humble beginnings to be a key player in Kenya’s political scene

Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka scored average in conduct, industry and effort, according to records at Kitui High School where he studied between 1968 and 1971.

And his long career in politics has largely mirrored this assessment.

In the Kanu days, he perfected the art of survival by generally not sticking out his neck on any controversial issue.

Indeed, his official biographer says he treated the presidency like a burning bush; stay close enough to be warm but not too close to get burned.

Even when he finally quit Kanu in the run-up to the 2002 elections, many saw him as a weak politician unable to stamp his authority on Ukambani like other kingpins in Kenya’s highly tribalised politics.

In the March 4 elections, however, there was nothing average about Kalonzo’s industry and effort, especially in his Ukambani backyard where he delivered a solid bloc vote for Raila Odinga, the Cord presidential candidate for whom he was the running mate.
Kitui, Machakos and Makueni

Mr Odinga scored 768,075 votes in the counties of Kitui, Machakos and Makueni.

This was Odinga’s second highest regional score behind his Nyanza stronghold which gave him 1,150,355 votes.

Kalonzo’s strong showing swept away some of his strongest critics in the region, including Charity Ngilu who lost the Kitui senate race.

It is ironical that Kalonzo’s best political showing still ended in defeat after the rival Jubilee pair of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto were declared winners.

Now only the Supreme Court, where Mr Odinga has petitioned the outcome, can give him a second chance.

There is no doubt that Kalonzo’s performance was largely motivated by the shabby manner in which Kenyatta and Ruto treated him when they were still allies in G7, forcing him into Mr Odinga’s corner.

Caleb Atemi, a former Nation journalist and author of Kalonzo’s official biography, Against All Odds, says the VP had to go to Raila because of the betrayal of people he thought were his friends.

“He must have felt betrayed and vilified by Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto. He obeyed President Mwai Kibaki, did global runs trying to seek favour on behalf of the two ICC suspects. He suffered public humiliation and in the end they still belittled him.

“Wisdom must have dictated that it was more prudent to work with a perceived enemy in Raila Odinga, than with two of his political juniors who only harboured utter contempt for him,” Mr Atemi says.

So what kind of politician is Kalonzo? What is his leadership style?

Unlike his mentor Daniel arap Moi, who was a micro-manager, and his current boss Kibaki, who delegates a lot, Kalonzo is somewhere in between.

“If there is a major issue that needs tackling,” says Kaplich Barsito, his spokesman for nearly 10 years, “he meets a trusted team and puts it on the table. He will listen to suggestions, disapprove some, endorse others which are debated until a decision is made. So he is more of a consensus builder who likes waiting for everybody to come on board before the bus leaves.”

Apart from the politicians David Musila, Johnstome Muthama and Philip Kaloki, other people in his inner circle include technocrats and religious leaders.  

Among the technocrats are Dr Ludeki Chweya, an academic who was named PS for Home Affairs and Dr Cleophas Mailu, the chief executive of Nairobi Hospital.

The religious leaders include the Rev David Oginde of Nairobi Pentecostal Church, Valley Road; Cyrus Malwa of AIC Milimani; and Prof Abdulghafar El Busaidy of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims.

Naturally consultations with this team take quite a while to come up with a decision. This has led critics to describe Kalonzo as a fence sitter, water melon and even indecisive.

The fight against poverty is the driving force in his life. Kalonzo receives a lot of flak over his development record in the long years he has been MP. Questions are raised why people in an area with fertile soils still depend on relief food, for example.

But a closer look at Mwingi North and the larger Kitui County reveals a different picture.

In Mwingi North when he became MP in 1985, there were only 37 primary and seven secondary schools. Now they are 271 and 73 respectively.

This massive development of the education sector has all happened under his watch.

He is also credited with the Sh2 billion Kiambere-Mwingi water project that was funded by the Italian government in the late 1980s. This project supplied water to Mwingi, turning it from a struggling marginalised trading centre into the thriving town it is today.

But it is in education bursaries that Kalonzo has excelled. Through his personal, private efforts, more than 2,000 poor students have been able to go through school to the highest levels. Many of the people he has helped remain fiercely loyal to him.

Some of these beneficiaries are now influential people in society and remain close and indebted to Kalonzo.  They include Mr Gideon Mulyungi, an architect and former chair of the AAK who is also president of the global architects association.

Mr Mulyungi is the public works secretary.

Then there is the 3,000-acre Wikithuki irrigation project now under construction which will address the famine situation in the area permanently.

On roads, Kalonzo was behind the Kibwezi-Kitui-Mwingi-Tseikuru road.

The Maia High Grand Falls Dam in Kiambere is also on the cards, and he is lobbying around for Chinese funding for the project.

Many other projects have come to Ukambani through his initiative, the latest of which include the National Cement Company in Athi River.

Mr Kalonzo is a friendly and easy going person who is very loyal to his friends. One of his most enduring friendships is with business magnate Manu Chandaria.

Mr Kalonzo worked for Chandaria’s Comcraft Group as a legal officer soon after leaving university. The ties he established with the tycoon have been strong throughout his career as a lawyer and politician.

Mr Atemi, his biographer, says he brings to Cord a balancing act — sobriety and serenity.

“Where Raila would be seen as abrasive, Kalonzo offers the balance that the team needs,” he says.

He boasts international connections, having been one of Kenya’s longest serving foreign ministers, with links in the West, East and Middle East.

It is a long way that the son of a peasant from Tseikuru has travelled.

In Against all Odds, Atemi quotes journalist Dennis Kodhe, who founded the Liberal Democratic Party and was later to hand it over to Kanu rebels when they fell out with Moi over his choice of Uhuru in 2002, on why LDP approached Kalonzo to be its leader.

Mr Kodhe says: “He (Kalonzo) was not a child of favour in as far as parentage was concerned. Unlike Raila, Musalia, Ngala and Uhuru, Kalonzo hailed from the little known Tseikuru. His upbringing in poverty and want endeared him towards us. We also thought of him as a thoughtful, calculating and patient leader not prone to fits of anger and restlessness.”

Born on December 24, 1953, Mr Musyoka is often seen by his opponents as a weak politician, but this is where his real strength lies as he has managed to camouflage his real intentions, leaving opponents to be complacent.

Many are the opponents who have underestimated him at their own peril. One of them is Josphat Muliungi.

In 1985, Mr Muliungi was a high flying humanitarian organisation official in Mwingi North. Because of his charity work, he was a well known and popular person in the constituency and many said had he contested the by-election following the death of Philip Manandu, he would have easily won.

But he opted to back Kalonzo with the knowledge that he (Kalonzo) is weak and will be easily defeated in the 1988 General Election.

He has been running against Kalonzo in every election since then without success.

“Like The Fool in William Shakespeare’s King Lear,” Atemi says, “many have misunderstood Kalonzo and classified him as a coward. But like the Biblical King David, he learnt to be obedient and patient rather than impatient and power hungry.

“He learnt to be humble. Those who brand him a coward would like to compare him to the abrasive nature of his political colleagues. His Christian faith defines him.” His story, Atemi says, gives a rendition of the various vicissitudes that informed his formative years.

“To survive Kanu, he had to apply the wisdom of Solomon. He had to treat the presidency like a constantly burning bush fire. He would stay close enough to be warm but not too close to avoid scalding. Kanu’s authoritarianism enhanced his patience, resilience and perseverance.”

However, his biggest weakness, according to Atemi, is his ability to trust so deeply friends who eventually betray him. “He should follow the advice of former US President Ronald Reagan each time he interacted with the Soviet Union leaders: one should always “trust and verify”.

For a politician who has been in Kenyan politics for as long as he has, Mr Musyoka has a relatively clean record as far as corruption scandals are concerned.

However, questions have been raised about his acquisition of the Yatta ranch on which he lives. Originally part of National Youth Service land, it was hived off to settle squatters in Ukambani.

But somehow, much of the land that was renamed Masongaleni settement scheme, ended up in the hands of influential people including the VP.

This was one of the grounds on which political activists brought a case to court in August last year seeking to block Mr Musyoka from running for the presidency because of intergrity issues.

Mr Musyoka Munyambu, a former Kitui civic leader, who was Kalonzo’s class master at Tseikuru Primary School, says he was a disciplined and intelligent boy and was good in English and History.

He was a class monitor and earned a few enemies because he used to report those who go against school rules.

Of course his academic performance was way beyond average, having scored a division two with 25 points at Kitui High to join Meru School for his A levels.