One evening, I was cooking ugali with skuma/mayai in my room in Kili when a young man walked in and introduced himself as Jared Juma. He had a message of goodwill from my village mate Prof Edward A. Oyugi ,who pledged to introduce me to the then minister of roads Jakom for some unspecified political support.Jared made an immediate impression on me as a fearless highly articulate activist, a man who could take the establishment by the horns. We immediately developed a rapport which remains intact to date.Later , I met prof, who was surprised to realize that I already knew Jakom. He referred me to Jakoms PA Dave Arunga, and Engineer Gumbo,who was based at the same ministry. Somehow, Hon.Ken Obura, who was then a student activist at Kabete campus got wind of this and tried to cash in. Obura called me and said we meet at Gumbos office at 12.00 noon on the material day. Unknown to him, Arunga had told me to be there at 10.00 am. I took along Ezekiel Kajwang. Jakom gave us a handsome amount( withheld) and wished us a fruitful campaign. He sought several assurances from us , key among them being that we would oppose the referendum.As we exited the lift , we met Obura on his way in. He realized that we had beaten him to his game of getting cash from Jakom and shortchanging intended beneficiaries .Later, we shared this cash with everyone in our camp. I remember we made posters for some candidates( including Orwa) without disclosing to them the source. I had earlier received several requests from several progressive students and my MP Owino Likowa asking me to run for KUSA elections. My aunty Josephine Baraza , who was then working at Kenya Pipeline company and my dad had also introduced me to Hon. Shem Ochuodho, who pledged to help finance my campaigns.I also met Suba Churchill and Martin Shikuku at Katiwa watch offices. Maina Kiai, Nyamwamu, Kepta Ombati, Otieno K;opiyo and other pro reform activists also gave me the much needed goodwill. However, material support only came from Jakom and Suba Churchill, who made me 5000 posters, and coined the slogan An embodiment of the aspirations of the students; fraternity as well as fellow students like Dennis Juma, Silas rabah, Oyoto, Reagan and others who fund raised for my cause. I had lost an election to Col Peter Makanda a year later and I was not taking any chances this time.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 09:45:11 +0000