Kibaki rejected naming of superhighway after him, says Kalonzo
A section of Thika Superhighway soon after its completion in 2012.
After the completion of Thika superhighway in 2012, the then vice-president Kalonzo Musyoka had a coffee meeting with his boss, Mwai Kibaki, at Harambee House with the main agenda being the appropriate name to be given to the road.
According to Mr Musyoka, the meeting went on well until he suggested that the road should be named after the President.
“Your excellency, this being one of your major achievements, it should be named after you,” Mr Musyoka reportedly told Mr Kibaki.
Mr Kibaki kept quiet for a while and asked him, “Mr vice-president, kwani where this road is leading has no name?”
Added Mr Musyoka: “And that was the end of that story.”
Mr Musyoka, now the Wiper party leader, said in an interview that they promptly moved into discussing other things.
“He was so humble that he did not want anything to be named after him. On that particular day, I thought I was bringing him good news that he would gladly accept but I was wrong,” Mr Musyoka said.
Mr Musyoka also remembered how he floated the name of Uhuru Kenyatta to be named as one of the deputy prime ministers but President Kibaki was hesitant.
He said Mr Kibaki asked him whether it was wise to appoint Mr Kenyatta who came from the same community as him.
Also Read: The battles that defined Kibaki presidency
“I told him it was due to public demand,” said Mr Kalonzo. “The reason I wanted Uhuru to be appointed as deputy prime minister was so that Kibaki could strengthen PNU. It was good because we ended up with him as the fourth president.”
Ahead of the burial of the former president in Nyeri County, Mr Musyoka described Mr Kibaki as a person who valued advice from him and his cabinet.
He said there was no day Kibaki slept thinking that his vice -president was plotting to take over.
Mr Musyoka said that even when the grand coalition government was facing a myriad of problems, the former President was never bothered by the sideshows of power struggle between him and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
“I know the President would look at us and laugh because we both competed against him in the elections and here we were fighting for his attention,” Mr Musyoka said.
