Posted Saturday, February 25 2012 at 20:02
IN SUMMARY
Sunday Nation’s JOSEPH NGUNJIRI spoke to Mutu wa Gethoi who co-authored Njenga Karume’s autobiography – Beyond Expectations: From Charcoal to Gold.
I got properly acquainted with Njenga Karume in the late 1990s. I had just come back from the United Ates where I had been teaching African history and literature.
I had joined the DP council of elders and during one of its meetings, I suggested to Njenga that he write his memoirs.
He was quite receptive to the idea and, in fact, told me that he had given the idea much thought.
I had, in my mind, formed the image of a jocular politician-cum-businessman who loved telling humorous stories.
However, the moment we embarked on the book, I discovered a deeper and more serious side to him. Whenever he set his mind on doing something, he gave it his all.
Prior to his illness, Njenga always awoke at 4 am to attend to his various businesses. He would be in his office by 7 am without fail.
What was amazing about him was that he never wore a watch, but he somehow got his time right.
Before I got into the picture, Njenga had enlisted the services of a group of journalists who he had hoped would help him write the book. But they turned out to be a disappointment.
He narrated how he gave them a 7 am appointment, but they failed to turn up in good time so he moved the appointment to a week later, the same time.
They again failed to turn up on time, and Njenga called off the deal. Just as he did not have time for people who did not keep time, he had no patience with lazy people.
“God created you with both hands and legs and a brain; if you fail to make good use of them, what kind of a person are you?” was Njenga’s refrain to lazy people.
Luckily for me, I keep time and thus never missed any of his appointments.
So committed was he to the book project that to get out of his busy schedule we had to “escape” either to Mombasa or his farm in Limuru.
Each session lasted an average of three hours. It took us a total of 18 sessions to wrap up the interviews.
Given his age, I was impressed by his fine memory. He had all the information at his fingertips and would recall things to the minutest detail like time and colour.
I never saw him refer to a diary, and I doubt he kept one. I tend to think that his sharp memory compensated for his lack of education.
His limited education is well documented, but what people do not know was that Njenga was spoke fluent and also could read a speech written in English. His only challenge was in writing.
I remember one time, in 2009, when he was invited to officiate at the launch of a book written post-humously on the life of a former business colleague at his Jacaranda Hotel in Westlands.
The emcee, perhaps sensitive to the fact that Njenga was educationally challenged, switched to Kiswahili when welcoming him. However, he surprised everyone when he took the mic and spoke in flawless English throughout.
The book launched that evening was on a man known as Mbugua wa Githere. Njenga told those gathered that he learnt his business skills from his friend Mbugua.
He recounted that when they were starting off in business, he still wanted to go back to school as he had a burning desire to become a lawyer.
But Mbugua dissuaded him, telling him to focus on making as much money as possible so they could hire the best lawyers money could buy.
And every time he was reminded of his limited education, Njenga retorted that he knew of many well-educated people who became thieves and fraudsters.
Although he was known to fraternise with his golf-playing buddies, Njenga was not really keen on the sport. But he had a passion for playing darts.
Njenga also had a nose for the latest business deal, and that explains how he became fabulously wealthy.
Maybe his lowest moment as a businessman came when he lost hundreds of millions in compensation after a beverage distribution contract turned sour.
He was really upset about that. It took a lot of convincing to get him to agree to talk about it for the book.
While it is obvious that as a businessman and politician Njenga went through many ups and downs, he flatly refused to mention an individual, dead or alive, in negative light.
He held back so much. He even struck out information I thought was crucial to the book just because it contained a whiff of controversy.
Njenga was very proud of the book when it came out, but he could not get over the fact that so many people asked to be given free copies — even those who could afford to buy it!
He was also a firm believer in not allowing family matters to interfere with his business or political affairs.
This explains why he excused himself from a Cabinet meeting in State House to marry his last wife. No one, not even the President, had prior information about the wedding.
His Cabinet colleagues were caught by surprise when, in the evening news, they saw the man they had sat with in a meeting getting married in church.
Asked why he did not tell his Cabinet colleagues about his nuptials, Njenga maintained that a wedding was a personal affair and not something to bother a whole Cabinet with.
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