Retired President Daniel Moi was of the opinion that former Vice President George Saitoti take over him before making a u-turn, it has emerged.
Ready to organise his KANU team before polls, Moi tasked former Interior Cabinet Secretary Julius Sunkuli to prepare Saitoti for succession.
As part of preparations, Saitoti was supposed to prepare his Kajiado backyard for the big announcement.
“We held our first meeting at ABC Place in Westlands. I told Saitoti that Moi had sent me to him with the idea that he should be the Kanu flag-bearer. After the discussion, we decided to assemble all leaders from his Kajiado backyard for a meeting with the President at State House,” he says.
However, Saitoti faced stiff resistance from his backyard, causing tension in State House, Nairobi.
“Whereas some leaders like former Kajiado Central MP David Sankori supported Saitoti, others said that the VP was not well-grounded to have a stab at the presidency,” he says.
However, his fate was settled in early 2002 when a group of Maasai elders, who had initially planned to back Saitoti, turned against him at State House, forcing Moi to change plans.
In the acrimonious meeting that was punctuated by shouts and threats, some of the speakers portrayed Prof Saitoti as a “weak leader with no control of his boma”.
“It seems that this man cannot be anything on his own, leave alone being president. From today, we have to support Uhuru Kenyatta,” Sunkuli recalls Moi telling him after the meeting.
Saitoti went on to leave KANU for Liberal Democratic Party. Moi picked Uhuru Kenyatta.
Saitoti, who died in a plane crash, served as a high-flying minister.