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Maina Kamanda: Veteran politician known to shoot from the lip

 

Maina Kamanda is not your ordinary politician. He is considered as one of Nairobi political fathers, having launched his political journey in the capital as early as 1979 as a councillor.

But that is not all about the 71-year-old. Quick with words, brash and confrontational, the veteran politician takes no prisoners.

The vocal politician is known for not being shy at speaking his mind, a habit that has landed him in trouble on several occasions. And last week, he was at it again. The de facto Kieleweke General claimed that Azimio’s loss was due to the love for the bottle.

You might be mistaken for thinking that the former assistant minister is an avid listener to American singer and actor Jamie Foxx, who sang “blame it on alcohol”.

The ex-Starehe MP was captured in a video asking Azimio leaders to respect President William Ruto.

“Alcohol has not taken this country on the right path but has done Kenya a lot of harm... I heard Ruto telling people not to take alcohol. Yes, do not drink. Alcohol is not good,” he is heard saying in Kikuyu.

But that was not all. The once fierce critic of Dr Ruto-turned defender tore into former President Uhuru Kenyatta, blaming him for Azimio’s loss to Kenya Kwanza. “We were unable to achieve our goal because we had a leader who never listens. Uhuru is unreachable so he lacks counsel from elders and that is where things went wrong for Azimio,” he said.

“Take your retirement like former presidents Kibaki and Moi. Stop saying that Raila is your leader. There is only one leader in Kenya and we are all under him,” he added.

However, as the old adage goes, a day in politics is long. The sudden about-turn by Mr Kenyatta’s staunch supporter fits perfectly to the script.

No permanent enemies

This is a man who has been a vocal follower of the ex-president and was always an earshot away from him.

In early 2021, he made it clear that Mr Kenyatta was going nowhere and was the one to give the Agikuyu community direction on whom they would support for the presidency in 2022, even calling him the spokesperson of the community and for the foreseeable future even after his retirement.

Nonetheless, he was here calling the ex-head of state a “Mr Know It All” who “does not take any advice even from elders”. But as they say, in politics there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

Part of a depleted Jubilee team that sought to turn Mount Kenya in Mr Odinga’s favour in the August 9 General Election, he has broken ranks with his counterparts, saying no election was rigged.

That is Mr Kamanda for you. He says it as it is and never calls a spade a big spoon, whether he ruffles feathers or not. Though not much is not known about his academic life, the man does not suffer fools gladly.

“First of all, I want to say that no election was rigged. I hear the likes of Kioni claiming that the election was rigged. We are the ones in government; so were we the ones to rig or to be rigged out? So anyone in Jubilee or Azimio claiming the election was rigged, it is important to concede defeat.”

A political survivor who is never far from power and whatever position he takes; he is sure to draw attention to himself. Mr Kamanda has been in the political space for ages, ever since the Moi reign and managed to make history then. In 2001, he was arrested and charged with treason for imagining Moi’s death, becoming the first person to be charged with treason since Kenya became a multiparty democracy in 1992.

If found guilty, Mr Kamanda would have been sentenced to death. However, the charges were dropped and replaced with a count of incitement to violence. The then opposition lawmaker had been accused of telling a rally that President Moi should be "shot at night" if he tried to extend the life of Parliament.

Controversy

The veteran politician is always not far from controversy. In the lead-up to the August polls, he was caught in a video clip revealing how cunning the members of the Kikuyu community are when it comes to presidential elections.

In the video, he said Dr Ruto should await a real betrayal during the 2022 presidential election.

In 2020, he accused the UDA party leader of paying popular musicians from Central Kenya up to Sh5 million to release hit songs against Mr Kenyatta, putting him on the warpath with popular Kikuyu musician Muigai Njoroge.

In 2017, he blamed his defeat in the Jubilee Party primaries on his decision to support Peter Kenneth’s bid for Nairobi gubernatorial position.

He had earlier said his decision to seek another term as MP was informed by the people and that he had been listening to the ground and Nairobians were telling him to continue leading them.      BY DAILY NATION   

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