Sunday, June 17, 2012

I regret having bypassed Saitoti, says Moi


I regret having bypassed Saitoti, says Moi

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Former President Daniel Moi addressing mourners at the home of the late Internal Security minister, George Saitoti in Kitengela Kajiado County on June 16, 2012.
Photo | SALATON NJAU | NATION Former President Daniel Moi addressing mourners at the home of the late Internal Security minister, George Saitoti in Kitengela Kajiado County on June 16, 2012.  
By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, June 16  2012 at  21:21
Former President Daniel arap Moi on Saturday deeply regretted passing over Prof George Saitoti, then his long-serving Vice-President, for the presidency in 2002.
At the time, Mr Moi was winding down his 24-year-old tenancy at State House. “I say with a heavy heart that Prof Saitoti was the cornerstone which the builders ignored,” said Mr Moi as he eulogised the minister at the burial ceremony on Saturday.
“If he had lived longer, I am still convinced that he’d have made a difference especially at this time that our people are sinking deeper into tribal cocoons,” Mr Moi told thousands of mourners at the home of Prof Saitoti in Enkasiti village, Kitengela, Kajiado County.
Mr Moi revealed that he picked Prof Saitoti as chairman of Mumias Sugar Company and Kenya Commercial Bank after spotting his talent at managing public affairs.
The former Head of State said that after Prof Saitoti’s tenure at these plum institutions, which have since been privatised, he nominated him to Parliament.
“He proved that he was capable of higher leadership. The faith I had in his ability crystallised in trust and that is how I ended up picking him as the Vice-President,” Mr Moi said of Prof Saitoti, who died last Sunday in a plane crash in Kibiku, Ngong.
Assistant minister Orwa Ojode, two pilots and two bodyguards, were also killed in the crash.
Mr Moi was applauded by the mourners after prompting by former Ghanaian President Mr Jerry Rawlings for having spotted Prof Saitoti’s leadership talent and pulling him out of his teaching job at the University of Nairobi.
Kind terms
President Kibaki, reading the same speech he had read on Friday at the Holy Family Basilica, said all politicians at the venue who had eulogised Prof Saitoti in very kind terms should practise what the minister stood for.
“Since we’ve said all these great things about (the late) Saitoti … seriously, if it is true all these words come from our hearts, what is stopping us from following through with actions?
Why don’t we decide that we’ll follow what George stood for?” President Kibaki said in his off-the-cuff remarks. “The loss of Prof Saitoti has been a painful experience for me,” the President added.
President Kibaki’s sentiments echoed those of Speaker Kenneth Marende and Mr Rawlings, who said Kenya had a “great moment” to chart a path to prosperity.
The thread in their speeches was that because Saitoti could not be accused of any unsavoury tribal remarks, then perhaps he was the best candidate to unite the country after the next elections.
“We should not do our work and politics in an uneasy tense way just because elections are around the corner.
“We should be sober and remember that the General Election will come, it’ll be peaceful and we’ll finish the electoral process,” said Mr Marende, as he urged politicians to tone down their political rhetoric.
The Speaker said Kenyans would best honour Prof Saitoti if they did what he believed in — shun tribalism, be diligent in their duties and respect all.
Mr Rawlings challenged the politicians, who had all praised Prof Saitoti for his leadership credentials, to unite and quit the divisive politics that had almost ruined Kenya in the bloody post-election period in 2007 and 2008.

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