Former attorney general the late Charles Njonjo was not just your average politician when it came to personal ambitions.
Despite being very close to president Moi, Kenyans were shocked when president Moi at some point in a public rally in Kisii town revealed that there was a senior leader who wanted to take over power from him with the help of the foreign countries.
Being a wise president, Moi did not reveal the identity of that senior leader (msaliti/ betrayer) in the government, opening room for speculations. Even Mps were not left behind as they kept wondering who the betrayer was.
Fast-forward, the MP for Kimilili then Mr. Elijah Mangale decided to let the cut out of the bag that it was Charles Njonjo whom President Moi referred to in his Kisii speech.
Before this startling revelation as reported by Nation, Njonjo had arrived at JKIA from an overseas trip and denied being the traitor everybody was talking about. Several Members of Parliament, including those we assumed were his friends, began pressing for his immediate resignation from both the Cabinet and Parliament
It was also claimed that he had engineered the passing of a constitutional amendment that made Kenya a de jure one-party state. This move was seen as a dangerous move to him since he was now partyless.
On their side, almost all the MPs not only denied him but also threw mud at him since keeping quiet during those days was an abomination as long as you were closer to Moi.
The accusations forced Moi to form a commission of enquiry and after 100 days of sitting, the commission found the fallen minister guilty of scheming to take over the presidency of the country through unlawful means. All the evidence was submitted to them and they looked at them one by one.
Having been found guilty, the normal process would have been for the findings to be presented to a court of law so that Charles Njonjo is charged with treason.
However, the late President Moi surprised everybody in the country when he declared forgiveness to Njonjo .In 1983, Moi reportedly cited distinguished service to Kenya and his advanced age.
As a result, the ‘msaliti’ chapter was closed and Njonjo was a free man with his head high.
Apparently, the news of Charles Njonjo dying was announced by president Uhuru Kenyatta in a statement that was released to the media in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Below was the president’s speech:
‘It is with a heavy heart that I have this morning, Sunday 2nd January 2022, received the sad and heartbreaking news of the passing away of Hon. Charles Mugane Njonjo
Hon. Njonjo, the only surviving member of Kenya’s independence Cabinet, passed away peacefully at 5am this morning at the age of 101 years.
The passing away of Hon. Njonjo is a big blow not only to his immediate family, friends and relatives but to all Kenyans and indeed, the entire African continent because of his leading role in the founding of the Kenyan nation at independence.
As a nation, we owe a debt of gratitude to Hon. Njonjo and his generation of independence-era leaders for their selfless contribution to the laying of the solid foundation upon which our country continues to thrive.
Kenya’s progressive constitutional and legal regime owes its robustness to Hon. Njonjo’s splendid work when he served as the country’s first post-independence Attorney General between 1963 and 1979, and as Constitutional Affairs Minister between 1980 and 1983.
On behalf of the Kenyan nation, my family and on my own behalf, I send deepest and heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and relatives of Hon. Njonjo, and indeed all Kenyans.
May God the Almighty grant each one of us grace and fortitude as we mourn and come to terms with the passing away of Hon. Charles Mugane Njonjo who was not only our national hero but an icon of Kenya’s progress through the years.
May God the Almighty rest the soul of Hon. Charles Mugane Njonjo in eternal peace.’
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