On March 2, 1972, the nation lost the then Nyandarua North MP Josiah Mwangi Kariuki alias JM Kariuki in an assassination.
It was not after a man identifying himself as 'Israeli businessman' called his third wife Terry Kariuki asking her whether she has gone to the morgue to check if her husband is lying there 10 days after J.M's disappearance.
Terry then alerted her co-wives, Nyambura Kariuki and Mwikali Kariuki and off they left for the morgue where they confirmed that the body, disfigured and partially decomposed, was JM's.
They went straight to parliament wailing, where they were received by then Butere MP Martin Shikuku, who immediately left with a host of MPs to confirm the allegations at the morgue.
Later in the afternoon, the then Vice-President Daniel Moi landed in trouble when he tried to calm the House down, as a discussion about the murder heated up.
Moi, also the Leader of Government Business in the house was shot down when he attempted to cool the situation by MPs who believed that J.M was killed by some state officials.
“Shut up liar! You’re a government of murderers!” the MPs shouted, as backbenchers, well aware that they were out of his sight, accused the government of eating her own his time.
“This is a government of killers, murderers. Now the hyenas have eaten one of their own!” Kamkunji MP Maina Wanjigi shouted in solidarity with his counterparts.
This followed Kariuki's earlier fears for his life, after getting wound about a meeting in State House where his fate had allegedly been sealed by top officials unhappy with him.
He narrated how the then Nakuru Mayor Mburu Gichua ambushed him at Nakuru's Stags Head Hotel and warned him of a pending murder, moments before he went missing.
"You want to bring trouble to Nakuru. Just be warned. Your days are numbered. We’re going to finish you!" he narrated as having been told, in a conversation with then Nakuru Town MP Mark Mwithaga.
Mwithaga would later relay the same to Nation reporter Kamau Ngotho.
Kariuki had also told Assistant Minister GG Kariuki at the Norfolk Hotel that the State House meeting concluded that he be eliminated.
Back in parliament, all the blame was heaped on Moi, who was part of the government which was allegedly out for Kariuki's death, which saw him forced to leave the House.
Sensing danger, Moi, who would years later become the president, alongside Cabinet Ministers present, were forced to remove official flags from their vehicles and left the National Assembly.