President Uhuru Kenyatta once described his predecessor, retired President Mwai Kibaki as a dishonest and selfish man who did not mind about the welfare of his Kikuyu community.
Uhuru made the remarks when he was the official Opposition leader and Member of Parliament for Gatundu South on October 19 and 20, 2006, during a secret meeting with US top government officials in Nairobi.
This was about one year after Kibaki lost the 2005 constitutional referendum to the opposition, which was led by Uhuru, Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Najib Balala among others.
In a meeting with then US Ambassador to Kenya Micheal Ranneberger, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer and a visiting State Department official Ted Craig, Uhuru said for the four years Kibaki had ruled, only his close allies had benefited, and not his tribesmen.
“The average Kikuyu has received no special benefit from this (Kibaki’s) government, only the cronies around Kibaki have benefited," he said.
The details of the secret meeting and conversations were exposed in a trove of leaked diplomatic cables by a whistleblower, Wikileaks, in August 2015.
Coincidentally, Uhuru has faced similar accusations from a section of Mount Kenya leaders led by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, who early this year accused Uhuru of abandoning his backyard despite receiving overwhelming support in past elections.
The cables also report Uhuru as having accused Kibaki of selfishness by failing to honour his Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Raila after the 2022 general election.
“He governed not as the head of a coalition but as the head of his Democratic Party, which represented only one part of Central Province," the Gatundu South MP said.
The leaked information further divulge that Uhuru accused Kibaki of killing the opposition and using strongman tactics he had for decades which he had accused his predecessor, retired Daniel Arap Moi of using.
"Once in power he decided there was no need to change the strong presidency, features of the constitution he campaigned against,” the cables quote Uhuru as having said.
Uhuru, who vied on a KANU ticket, lost to Kibaki in the 2002 polls but in 2007, he ditched the opposition and rallied behind Kibaki's disputed reelection.