William Kabogo gets carried away by his Tujibebe
William Kabogo Gitau. Flamboyant and boisterous, the former Kiambu governor has had a knack for talking his way into controversies and courts them everywhere he goes.
William Kabogo Gitau is not your ordinary politician. Since bursting into the political scene in 2002, his political career has been steeped in controversy.
Flamboyant and boisterous, the former Kiambu governor has had a knack for talking his way into controversies and courts them everywhere he goes.
Loved and hated in equal measure, Mr Kabogo is not easily cowed and to him, controversies are like the croaks of a frog that cannot prevent a cow from drinking water.
If you think Roots Party leader Prof George Wajackoyah will be the first politician to shift a gazetted capital, then think twice. Kabogo has been there and done that.
After capturing the Kiambu governor’s seat in 2013, he gazetted the relocation of county headquarters from Kiambu that was not “fit for him” to Thika.
Mr Kabogo has been making headlines lately after being embroiled in a tiff with Kenya Kwanza Alliance, an outfit in which his Tujibebe Wakenya Party is a member.
With Chama cha Kazi party leader Moses Kuria, the two have turned to be Kenya’s Aki and Popo – the two cunning Nigerian actors.
After being beaten at his own game last month during a Mt Kenya Express rally in Kiambu, the 58-year-old has been firing salvos at the “dictator” duo of Deputy President William Ruto and Rigathi Gachua, skipping Kenya Kwanza events.
Still smarting from a recent public spat with Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi, the former Sisi kwa Sisi party member has been restless as he risks being “swallowed”.
“I’ve noticed Ruto and his UDA party want to swallow all parties. I have refused to be swallowed,” said Mr Kabogo, maybe still too well aware of what the DP did to Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua.
Mr Kabogo was denied the microphone by Senator Wamatangi and told to stop his bullying tendencies. But Kabogo being Kabogo, he pulled a miracle.
Out of nowhere and like a magician, he pulled out a microphone from “nowhere”. Maybe he is living the famous phrase loved by his coalition leader: “Siasa ni kujipanga, my friend”.
“Kama wewe ni mwanaume kuja hapa. (If you are a real man, cross to this side),” he fired back at Mr Wamatangi.
He would then draft a joint letter with his newfound political friend Mr Kuria, asking UDA, “we need to talk” as they wanted to know if they are still valued.
“He (Dr Ruto) should tell us openly that they have decided that we are no longer useful in KKA and set us free to go and conduct ourselves independently,” Mr Kabogo would say later.
But even before UDA could answer their question “who are we in this relationship?”, the man from Komothai village in Githunguri said he had moved on.
“Life has to go on. I am now focusing on my campaign for Kiambu Governor. I have moved on as the party leader of Tujibebe. I have not spoken to Chama cha Kazi’s Moses Kuria in the last two days. I don’t know his moves. We imagined it would go smoothly,” Mr Kabogo revealed.
He has even declared himself the de facto leader of Mt Kenya and told President Uhuru Kenyatta to retire.
But if controversy had a brother, Mr Kabogo would be one. Known for his wide political networks, wealth and sometimes tough character, he loves creating storms and ruffling feathers.
From falling out with Martha Karua while in Narc-Kenya and also President Kenyatta, clashing with Mt Kenya Foundation leaders (whom he accused of auctioning the region and calling voters fools) Kabogo’s modus operandi has been, “my way or the highway”.
Mr Kabogo is an alumnus of Punjab University in India, the same as Mr Waititu, where he graduated with a degree in commerce.
