Njonjo Kihuria
27 September 2008
Nairobi — Former President Daniel arap Moi was so careful about his public speeches that he would read draft copies aloud in his house at night and demand a re-write if delivery and language were not satisfactory.
"He was mindful of what he read; he was studious to the point that he would read the speeches aloud in his house as narrated by the housekeepers and the president himself.
"On reading the drafts, Moi would note the sections he was unhappy with and point them out the next morning, saying, 'nilipokua nikisoma hii speech jana, hii haikuingia. Neno hili naona halileti maana ambayo nataka litoe' (as I read this speech last night, I noted that it did not flow well in certain sections.
"I notice some words do not bring out the meaning I would like them to)," recalls former State House Comptroller Franklin Bett.
And its President Moi who crafted Mr Bett's road to being Comptroller of State House. The path had its bends and bumps and when it was time to leave the house on the hill in 1998 after two years, Mr Bett - now Buret MP - did not carry a bouquet of roses out of the gates.
From 1979 to 1987, Mr Bett was in the office of the Head of the Civil Service working under cabinet secretary Simeon Nyachae but when the latter retired, Mr Bett was removed as he was believed to be too close a confidant of Nyachae.
"People claimed I was Nyachae's personal assistant and thought I would be a threat to the new regime in that office and so conspired to have me removed," the MP revealed in an interview with Sunday Nation.
But Moi was to have him reinstated as a public servant one year later when he fished him from the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) in 1988.
"Moi sent the late Kipkalya Kones who was a close friend of mine and I reluctantly agreed to rejoin the service. But when I came back, I was dumped at the Ministry of Public Works' moribund supplies branch in Industrial Area where I idled for 60 days."
At the end of that period the former State House boss was to get another scare when the then permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr Peter Wambura, called and told him, "you are no longer with us."
He wondered why "these people make me leave a good job at FKE just to tell me, 'you are no longer with us' two months down the line".
But Mr Wambura assured him that he was not being sacked for the second time in as many years, but being posted to State House as Deputy Comptroller. Apparently Mr Moi always wanted to have Mr Bett close to him but he had his own way of doing business.
Earlier in his college days, Mr Bett had been in touch with Mr Moi when he (Bett) worked on the former president's farm in Kabarak over the long holidays.
That is how he came to be the first person on the farm to receive the news of the death of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta in 1978 through a call from Eliud Mahihu.
Public rallies
"Moi, who was the vice-president then, would take two or three students from the Kalenjin or Maasai communities to work on his farm during the long university holidays and that is how I got to know him."
As Deputy Comptroller of State House, Mr Bett was assigned to report and speech writing.
"The challenge was to understand the man, get his words right, ensure his posture (when reading speech) would be right and to get him to agree to what you had written.
"When he did not agree, he would politely call you and tell you there was something in the speech that did not tie in well and then he would tell you what he wanted included so that you could make the necessary amendments."
Many people believe Moi used to memorise the figures he often recited at public rallies after delivering his speeches, such as the number of secondary, primary schools or students the country had at any particular time, but Bett says the former head of state was just blessed with a good memory.
"I am yet to come across a Kenyan with a memory as good as Moi's."
Although Mr Bett says the former president was "scared' of computers, which he saw as objects of espionage against his government, he concedes: "Moi was able to retain information and offload it easily and with accuracy. He also kept time and would always be where he promised to be at the given time."
Mr Bett remembers the former president as the boss who corrected people in a humane manner and with decorum when they made mistakes but became a totally different person when he sought to get rid of someone. And Bett should know; it happened to him.
"He (Moi) was given the malicious story that I was planning to harm him and his children, something I had not even imagined let alone thought about. Days before I was sent packing out of State House, Moi would not look at me directly and would actually frown when our paths crossed."
According to Mr bett, President would readily listen to complaints against some people and proceed to take action on the basis of the same without further ado. This has been confirmed by other people including former cabinet ministers in past interviews.
"He would listen to the accuser and take action on the strength of the allegations without cross-checking with the accused or anybody else," claimed Mr Bett.
Afternoon tea
And when it was time for him to part ways with old friends and colleagues, President Moi never divulged reasons . "All he said to us was, "hapana fungulia yeye. Mimi sitaki yeye tena." (Do not allow him in. I don't want him here anymore)."
Bett believes that part of the scheme to get him out of State House involved a raid at his home "to get information from a computer that I was allegedly using to steal information from State House."
Following the incident, Moi wanted a reshuffle of permanent secretaries and other top government officials, a task he gave to chief secretary Francis Kuindwa and Mr Bett.
When the list was presented to him, the president called in the Head of the Presidential Press Unit, Mr Lee Njiru, and told him: "Hii ni press statement; nimepinduapindua watu, lakini iko moja mimi nataka kuongeza. Lete PC Chepkwony hapa as comptroller and take Bett to the ministry of environment" (this is a press statement containing changes I have made in government, but there is one more change I want to make. Bring provincial commissioner Chepkwony here as comptroller and take Bett to the ministry of environment).
President's diary
In the two years that Mr Bett served as State House Comptroller, Mr Moi would come to his office, which was next door, daily unless he was out of town and the two would have the morning and afternoon tea in the former's office as they "informally chatted on matters of state and social issues."
The Buret MP says Moi was rigid in some ways and "even if you told him your feelings about certain things, he would insist on them being done his way. But he is a man who makes decisions quickly and would many a times quip, 'shoot and investigate later.' "
It was the work of Bett as the comptroller to "keep and mind" the president's diary and so he kept a two-in-one diary that reflected the activities of the president and his own. His memoirs in line with that diary are being worked on.
One of the major issues President Moi had to deal with during his tenure was the clamour for multi-party democracy and the tribal clashes of early 1990s, issues Mr Bett says required quick action and coordination of "the necessary personnel to ensure peace was maintained."
As the man has often confessed, Moi initially took multi-partyism very negatively, arguing, as he has all along, that it would create tribal-based political parties and divide people along ethnic lines. "He believed that those pushing for multi-partyism were people being used by outsiders for selfish ends."
Donated to Church
Mr Bett says Moi was passionate about going to church and that the former head of state only donated to church money earned from his farm.
"Whatever money he gave to the church was always from his farm. "Mimi napeana kwa kanisa kutoka kwa mavuno ya shamba yangu na jasho langu. Hii ingine ya kila mtu ni ile rafiki ananipatia kitu mahali, ndiyo mimi napatia watu. Nani anajua imetoka wapi?"(I only give to the church from the proceeds of my farm. The money I give to people is what I get from friends. Who knows where it comes from?)
Moi was known to be a generous person and most of those who went to see him at State House and elsewhere were after financial favours.
But stories abound of State House gatekeepers who would frisk visitors as they left and take away the money the president had given them.
This may be what Mr Bett had in mind when he tried and succeeded in boosting the morale of State House employees by negotiating for better wages "so that they would stay away from seeking handouts from our visitors."
In State House, Mr Moi, the early riser who loved reading the Bible every morning before breakfast, would on a regular basis meet "a few ministers every day, a number of permanent secretaries, private visitors and heads of the country's security forces.
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