Life as Raila's spokesman: How I didn't become State mouthpiece

I was in the United States on March 9, 2013, when at about 3am Nairobi time, the Kenyan media reported that the election commission had declared Uhuru Kenyatta winner of the Presidential election.

Not too long after, I was startled to see a phone call coming in from Michael Gichangi, the head of the National Intelligence Service. He had been my tormentor after the December 2007 election, but after the Kofi Annan Accord, we interacted without difficulty a few times in the Kibaki-Raila Grand Coalition government.

Why was he calling now? I could not recall the last time we had spoken. It had to be in connection with the election announcement. Neither Uhuru nor Raila nor any of their aides in Nairobi had said anything to the media yet, so it was possible he was hoping to influence Raila’s or my response.    

But I had already spoken. The New York Times had called me about what Raila’s response would be to his loss, and I was only too happy to lay out his specific next steps. The media knew when I spoke to them, they could trust that I was accurately conveying Raila’s views.

I doubt Gichangi had seen The New York Times , and from our conversation, which I am reporting here loosely, it did not look like he had. In any event, he wanted to know what Raila intended to do next. I said he will not concede the election, since there were many irregularities in the tallying of votes, but he will urge his followers to stay calm. Mass protests were not needed, since he was going to challenge the outcome in the Supreme Court, an avenue that had not been available in the previous election.

I thought that Gichangi would be pleased to hear this, but I was stunned with his next remark: He did not think it would be wise for Raila to go to court, since even that could create unrest and instability. He urged me to ask Raila to consider that. I said I would pass on his concern, and I did.

I was mystified by Gichangi’s position. Recourse to an independent court was one of the pivotal elements of our new Constitution, as it offered hope of redressing any rigging, averting a resort to violence. Maybe Gichangi was worried that a Willy Mutunga-led court was likely to uphold Raila’s election petition.

My having spoken to The New York Times on the very subject that Gichangi had called about reflected its extreme sensitivity. Both these were examples of the complete trust Raila had in me, which gave me the ease and freedom I needed to articulate his thoughts in a way I thought would be effective. 

That trust built around Raila’s deeply-held conviction about media freedom. I asked him more than once that in a media landscape so heavily tilted against him, frequently demonizing him even, and where many leaders such as then former President Daniel Moi, Kenneth Matiba, Uhuru and William Ruto had their own media, would it not help to get some well-off supporters to invest in a media house? But such a media would not be free, would it, he would say.

The call with Gichangi lasted maybe five minutes or a bit more. I have written a few hundred words explaining its significance but I could have written a couple of thousand, given its importance and implications. There are so many aspects and dimensions that adhere to even small incidents and events, recording them is vital to the history of that period.

Life with Raila was always full of such episodes and exchanges which revealed a lot about him but also about the world around us, given the force of his personality and being.      

And so we come to another media issue, and its boycott by Raila’s supporters in the aftermath of the rigged 2007 election. That violence had crushed the vast hope which was unleashed by the first free and fair election of 2002. President Daniel arap Moi had honourably let the outcome stand, with a broad-based opposition coalition led by Kibaki and Raila toppling KANU after its four decades of centralized dictatorship that began with Mzee Kenyatta from Day One of our independence.That helped build a huge elite living comfortably and wanting more and resisting change of any serious kind. Heads buried in the sand.     

As the post-election violence in 2008 raged in the heartland from Nairobi westwards, all sorts of boycotts were part of the battle then. One of these hit the Daily Nation, which as the voice of elite interests at that time, was adamantly supporting the Kibaki regime’s holding on to power. I was basically handling a frantic communication regime essentially by myself, assisted by my invaluable colleague John Onyando, with an office consisting only of a Blackberry.  I had not realized how widespread and effective the boycott was until I got a telephone call from a very senior Nation official I knew. He sounded extremely distraught and said the Nation was being literally killed, as virtually no one was buying the paper west of Naivasha. Could I please recommend to Raila to have the boycott called off?

The Nation had always been the paper I related to, its having been started to support freedom and a free press, with The Standard till the late 1950s still being the voice of the various political shades of settlers. In addition I had won a generous scholarship in the first official government to government US airlift in 1961 thanks to an advertisement that appeared only in the Nation! And when I first returned from the US in 1966, it was the Nation and in particular Philip Ochieng who fired me up about the power of a free media to inspire people to fight for greater freedoms through sharing ideas and information.

So Raila and I discussed the Nation boycott, our views were identical, and he agreed we should help out. It was a very sensitive subject, of course, so we could not just call it off, it had made ordinary people feel the power they possessed of a peaceful protest option which did not result in their being shot at.

Government spokesman

So I suggested that at the Coast hotel where Raila was staying, he could be photographed reading the Nation as he lounged by the poolside. He had a hearty laugh! Shortly thereafter, the photograph was taken and carried on the Nation’s front page – and the boycott began tapering off. The Nation subsequently asked me to be a keynote speaker at a retreat it held in Machakos on devising a more nuanced policy in times of crisis, if my memory serves me right about the theme.       How did I end up being Raila’s spokesman? By a very circuitous route! In late 2003, as I was retiring from the United Nations as a Director of Communications, my friend Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi was in New York and he called to invite me to dinner with his colleague Msafiri Kombo.

They wanted to discuss politics and communications for the new government and I was happy to have an audience for my pet subjects! 

A few weeks later, I got a call from Information Minister Raphael Tuju, who told me I had been approved as Government Spokesman through a Cabinet resolution which President Kibaki had signed off on! The Nation carried a prominent story about my offer. I went to Nairobi for discussions. I was able to stress the need for the Spokesman to be at State House to be close to the President.  

Just as my wife and I were leaving New York for Nairobi with our house sold and belongings already shipped, I got an angry call from my friend Anyang’ Nyong’o, who, as Planning Minister had arranged my appointment through a UNDP support programme. He wanted to know why I had demanded a higher salary than the one I had agreed to.

I told him that was an utter lie by the Kibaki wing. I had never questioned my salary! But that is what the Cabinet had been told and it was also reported in the media. That false story was used to explain why Alfred Mutua had been appointed instead.

The change of heart about my being spokesman occurred because the differences in 2004 between Raila and Kibaki’s team were becoming more open. So, unceremoniously, and without even a call or email, my offer disappeared. With Raila now being seen as an opponent, it was thought that I would be more sympathetic to Raila’s side than the President’s as the government spokesman! 

One salary

It was quite difficult to live off one salary (my wife’s) in Nairobi, but in hindsight I was extremely happy that my Spokesman’s appointment was yanked as I would have left it pretty fast. Like John Githongo did, because of the growing crimes of the Kibaki regime.  

After the retracted job offer, a Standard director who was a good friend took me out for lunch and said they were looking for some fresh blood and Mzee Moi, who owned an interest in the media house, had proposed they put “the young man” from the UN on the board. I was definitely interested but it did not work out, no offer came. How different my life would have been if it had!    

Fast forward to 2008. After Kofi Annan’s Accord was agreed, there was a huge Homecoming rally for Raila at Moi Stadium in Kisumu. As he arrived with his Pentagon partners, there was a roaring welcome of a kind I had never heard before. But I was stunned during the speeches that in this core and enchanted Raila stronghold, the ovations for William Ruto and Charity Ngilu had been distinctly louder than Raila’s.

There was a reason: Ruto and Ngilu were demanding President Kibaki act on a number of pressing issues, especially the release of youth who had been arrested in the post-election tumult. Raila, with his new responsibilities, did not want to take a harder line at that time. I was truly astonished at the ability of his Nyanza/Western supporters to not automatically give their messianic hero the greatest acclamation. My respect for Raila’s home grown supporters’ maturity and objectivity soared.  

Dawa ya Mutua

As Raila and I departed from the stadium, I noticed some youths were following me. When Raila and his security peeled off, the youths following me grew in number and suddenly started roaring slogans in a growing crescendo:

Saalim Lone!!! Msemaji!!! Spokesmaan!!! And then came the clincher: Dawa ya Mutua!!!! Again and again. How very clever. Totally spontaneous. How creative our young are.  

I could not stop laughing at the Dawa allusion, but I was also profoundly touched by this affection.  But my driver/security was getting nervous and asked me to hurry; anything could happen he said. The crowd grew rapidly to at least a couple of hundred, but nothing untoward happened – except the driver drove at a speed I have never experienced off road.  Did he know something I did not?

He only said that I should always be super careful of big crowds of supporters because many who wanted to harm me would use a crowd of supporters as excellent camouflage.   

I had been aware of the extreme peril I was in from early January 2008. All of my friends were telling me that I was being stupid, risking my life by threatening the power of a fully established state in which thousands of people had an intense stake – and these people, including some friends, were letting me know how angry they were about my endeavors. If I stepped out of my car in town, I was invariably mobbed by my fans, but at other times I could see the anger in groups of people.

But I had one very beautiful moment, when we were getting petrol at a Naivasha gas station. 

A driver from another car came over and said “I am a Kibaki supporter but I respect you because I know you are doing it not for Raila but for Kenya.” That was a very powerful affirmation that I will always cherish.    

I initially did not believe that I was playing such a pivotal role but gradually came to realize that that is how it was perceived. When Raila nominated me as his liaison person to the Kofi Annan negotiations, Martha Karua who led the Kibaki team objected to my being given that role. I told Raila he should withdraw my name; it was not worth fighting over.  

Once Raila became Prime Minister, he finally told me that Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura had agreed to give government appointments to all the names he had submitted, including to the super-controversial, super-outspoken Miguna Miguna. But Salim Lone would never get one.   

Raila’s immense popularity and his wide regional alliances from across all the regions except Central had produced unmatched political appeal and were driving the campaign for redressing the stolen election, and winning international diplomatic backing. But I finally realized that my friends were right in saying that it was the impact of my media interviews, briefings and statements that were creating the high level threats and danger I was experiencing.

Security chief

Once, as I waited with Raila at County Hall for Kibaki to arrive, a very senior security chief, within hearing distance of Raila, said I was dividing Kenyans and that could not be tolerated.

Diplomats, who initially were mostly pro Kibaki and suspicious of Raila, had been stunned by the level and passion of his support from across the country and had begun to back Raila.   

Finally, in late January, my wife and I met Raila, Mudavadi, Ruto and Orengo to discuss my growing worries about my safety over dinner at Nairobi Club. Raila said they would not dare touch me, it would cause a huge international backlash. But Orengo quietly said it is not worth taking that risk.

To depart safely, the next evening, Dutch Ambassador Laetitia van den Assum, the immensely knowledgeable, committed and clear thinking diplomat to ever serve in Kenya, drove me to the airport.  On the way there, we stopped for dinner at a small restaurant with Maina Kiai and Cyril Ramaphosa.  I was keen to meet Ramaphosa as he was one of the leaders the African Union was considering as the Mediator and I thought I could brief Raila on anything that stood out in our meeting. Eventually Kofi Annan was chosen, who of course did a magnificent peace-making job – except for his bringing the International Criminal Court into the fray. That discussion is for later.   

So I flew to the US and with the great Joe Nyaga, one of the most loveable politicians, who happened to be there, we wasted little time meeting whatever political leaders in Congress and outside would see us. Democrats were putting together a resolution sympathetic to the challengers. We also liaised with Diaspora groups organizing support for that.   

We were also able to secure an appointment with Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who had been previously US Ambassador to the United Nations. That such a high official saw us was a breakthrough, Washington was clearly reassessing its ritual support for Kibaki and wariness of Raila.

Enjoy US support

As the note-taker at the meeting, Secretary Negroponte had with him Assistant Secretary for Africa Jendayi Fraser, who had flown right away to Kenya in early January 2008. I had been with Raila twice as she tried to persuade him to give up his claim to having won the election and take the lead as leading reformer who would enjoy full US support for reform and a new Constitution.

She was a sharp, forceful person but she was overruled on her strong pro Kibaki stance. Eventually Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Kenya to meet with Kibaki and Raila. She told Kibaki decisively he had to share power with Raila.   

Raila, and sometimes the Pentagon as well, talked to me regularly, and quickly began urging me to return. Soon I felt the diplomatic tilt to Raila and the Annan mediation were at a level that no longer made me a threat to anyone! I returned to Kenya late February.  

It would be a ridiculous understatement to say I never met any other leader with whom I had so much in common. Raila’s being, his compassion and identification with ordinary people, but most of all his human-centered values which galvanized people across the country in a way no other leader ever did - It was not so much that I was working for him, it was like I was working for all his people. 

I still feel unmoored without a Raila to turn to. I cannot imagine how a Kenya without the hope and promise Raila always held out for the struggling millions and the progressives for over two decades will hold together. I pray wise heads will get together to agree to a common cause.