Maina Muiruri
11 January 2004
Nairobi — The statement disowning Mary Wambui purportedly issued by President Kibaki and dispatched to newsrooms by the Presidential Press Service was the result of much rancour by Mrs Lucy Kibaki, who is alleged to have drafted it while the First Family vacationed in Mombasa.
State House sources say the statement was the second version of an earlier draft that did not disown his second wife but only clarified that Lucy Kibaki was the only First Lady and that no one else could deputise for her or be referred to as such.
The statement, released by the PPS on Tuesday night, was not on the official State House letterhead, and although it bore the President's name, it was not signed. The director of the Presidential Press Service, Mr Isaiya Kabira, who sent out the statement, could not provide a signed copy when requested.
The statement or news about it was not posted on the official State House website (www.statehousekenya.go.ke), which carries updates of all Presidential statements and engagements.
Attempts have been made to explain that the President issued the statement in his personal, and not official, capacity.
When it was received late in the evening, newsrooms across the board doubted if it had emanated from the President.
The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation was first to receive it shortly after the 7 pm news.
Normally, KBC receives its communications from State House through the PPS office at Broadcasting House, but this particular statement was sent directly from State House by Kabira.
Initially, he is said to have dictated it on the telephone to a news editor who typed it.
However, because of doubts about its authenticity, KBC did not air the statement on that evening's bulletins, but waited until morning when the news appeared in the newspapers and was broadcast on FM stations. Dispatches from PPS are usually broadcast immediately on the next available bulletin on both TV and radio.
Doubts about the authenticity of the statement persisted even as Kabira confirmed that the President had authored it.
Our investigations reveal that the original statement was drafted in Mombasa soon after Lucy Kibaki was rattled by Vice President Moody Awori's "Second Lady" slip of the tongue remark.
The statement was reportedly drafted by Lucy's aides in Mombasa to reiterate that she was the First Lady and there was no other holder of that position.
The statement was not meant to list Kibaki's immediate family or disown Mary Wambui and daughter Winnie Wangui.
It was meant to mollify the First Lady, who was furious that Kibaki's second wife had accompanied him to some functions and taken the position of First Lady.
Lucy is said to have demanded to know why Wambui had accompanied Kibaki to a church service, which could have been interpreted to mean that the second wife could also stand in for the First Lady.
State House Comptroller Matere Keriri reportedly advised against issuing the statement, arguing that it would only add to the media circus. Kibaki somehow never committed himself and the statement was never issued. Lucy is said to have taken it out on Matere, whom he interpreted to be in favour of Mary Wambui, who is known to be close to his family.
Between Thursday, when the statement was drafted and Monday, the row between Matere and Lucy escalated, leading to the former leaving Mombasa ahead of the presidential entourage. Sources say that Kibaki was aware of the first statement in Mombasa and had approved it, but Matere ordered the PPS not to issue it.
The second statement, issued from State House, Nairobi, is said to have been drafted by the First Lady and her aides.
It was then handed over to Kabira, who was already aware that Kibaki had approved the earlier statement in Mombasa.
The second statement appeared to be a clarification, purportedly written by Kibaki, indicating the names of the First Lady and Kibaki's four children by her. It in effect disowned the second wife, Mary and her daughter, Winnie Wangui Mwai.
The statement is said to have been given to Kabira late in the day at a time when he could not reach the President because he had already retired to his domestic quarters.
Kabira dispatched it to the media even though it did not have the President's signature.
Sources say ministers close to the President, who had been aware of the first statement in Mombasa, were shocked that a second statement disowning his second family had been issued to the media.
Sources say that Lucy, apart from exerting pressure on Matere, had also been pushing the PPS hard to do something to stop negative publicity about her in the media.
Sources say that Kabira was most likely powerless in the face of her famed temper and could have done little to alter the statement, let alone stop it from going out.
The statement is said to have caused embarrassment and was the subject of a lengthy meeting of presidential aides on Wednesday, strategising on how to cope with a public backlash against President Kibaki, which was already coming through live FM talk shows.
Wambui was advised to ignore the statement and maintain her low profile. She has continued to enjoy all the trappings of State protection, including security provided by the General Service Unit at her new Lavington house, in spite of Kibaki's "clarification".
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