Retired President Daniel Moi has for long been known as a a fearless man, a characteristic that came to be known during the 1982 attempted coup on his government.
According to his personal bodyguard Leonard Yator, the fearless Moi would even refuse to leave his Kabarak house, insisting that if he was to die it must be in his own home.
This happened as some rebel air force armymen led by Hezron Ochuka seized power for six hours on August 1, 1982, before calm was restored by forces loyal to Moi.
Yator says that it took effort to convince Moi to be taken into hiding in a maize plantation and later into a bush along the Nakuru-Eldama Ravine road, incase the rebels decided ro bomb the Kabarak residence.
Speaking to Nation journalist Kamau Ngotho earlier in the year, Yator narrated how Moi first showed off his fearlessness when his aeroplane developed mechanical problems while on air.
Then the Vice President, Moi and his men were flying over Suguta Valley when the aircraft encountered problems, forcing the captain to make an emergency landing in the middle of nowhere.
But, he says, that Moi was never shaken and clutched onto the window rail until it broke during the hard landing, before which a rescue team came in to save them.
In 1978, Moi was in Kabarak, when he received reports that his boss Mzee Jomo Kenyatta had died in his sleep at the Coast.
However, despite being the acting president now, he left for Nairobi on road, only accompanied by three bodyguards, among them Yator who was armed with a short gun.
He says that despite the hard task that was now lying before him, Moi did not show any fear all through the tense journey.
“But you couldn’t see it on Moi’s face. He remained calm, not once betraying what was going on in his mind, more so aware of the responsibility that lay on his shoulders now that his boss was gone," he said.