Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua on Wednesday claimed that the late President Mwai Kibaki was sworn into office immediately after being declared winner of the 2007 presidential election because he feared Raila Odinga would sue to stop the process.
Speaking live on Citizen TV, Governor Mutua, who was the government spokesperson at the time, narrated how he worked closely with former Attorney-General Amos Wako, now Busia senator, to ensure that Kibaki was sworn in.
“As the results were being read, we could clearly see the chaos that was taking place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) and we knew that if Kibaki would be announced the winner, Odinga’s team would get a judge to stop his swearing-in,” Governor Mutua said.
He said it wasn’t easy to have Kibaki declared winner live on TV by the then head of the electoral agency Samuel Kivuitu.
Mr Wako had advised Kibaki’s aides to ensure that the then Chief Justice Evan Gicheru was around KICC so that the President would be sworn in immediately after being declared winner.
He said they watched in dismay from their offices at KICC as the so-called Pentagon (top Orange Democratic Movement governing organ) leaders working with Mr Odinga gave Mr Kivuitu a hard time and even stopped him from reading the results.
“When I saw the chaos was worsening, I asked Philip Kisia to switch off the lights in the building but he did not do so,” said the governor, who is serving his last term.
“Moments later, I saw Kivuitu preparing to read the final results but he was stopped by the likes of Siaya Senator James Orengo.
“I then decided that we would ensure that he reads the results as quickly as possible and it is then I hatched a plan to ensure the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) airs Mr Kivuitu reading the final results.”
KBC editor-in-chief
The governor then called the KBC editor-in-chief at the time, Waithaka Waihenya, and asked him to send a cameraman to his office.
“I then called Nimrod Mbai, who was serving as my aide then, and asked him to take Mr Kivuitu to a room known as the vice-president’s room, where he could read the results,” he said.
They managed to have the final results read, but Mr Odinga’s aides realised what was happening and rushed to break the door to the room.
Mr Mutua then called the reporter and asked him to hide in his socks the tape of Mr Kivuitu reading the results and insert a different one in his camera.
Mr Mbai escorted the KBC cameraman to the KICC basement and he was escorted to the station with a fleet of over 15 GSU vehicles.
As this was happening, Mr Mutua rushed to where Kibaki was and found him praying with his granddaughter.
“Immediately Kibaki’s daughter Judy saw me walk into the office, she excused herself and left with the young girl. It is then that I informed the President what I had done,” he said.
He said Kibaki told him that he wanted to hear the results aired live on TV so that his heart could settle.
A few minutes later, KBC aired the footage in which Mr Kivuitu declared Kibaki President, and the process of swearing him in kicked off.
As soon as the matter became official, Kibaki rose to his feet and for the first time hugged Governor Mutua.
Immediately after the swearing-in, Kenya witnessed the worst post-election violence in its history as Mr Odinga’s supporters disputed the results.
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