Departed politician and minister Joseph Otiende made a name for himself as one of the greatest leaders in the nation after the fall of colonialism.
He was tipped to serve in founding father Jomo Kenyatta's first cabinet as the Minister of Education, while at the same serving his people as the lawmaker for Vihiga.
But it was while he was serving as the Chairman of the East Africa Council and Red Cross that his leadership reached and impressed Tanganyika President Julius Nyerere.
In a recent interview, Otiende recalls how his close interaction with Tanzanians made them confuse him for one of their own.
When Nyerere became fatigued and was contemplating quitting leadership to concentrate on his teaching career, the only man he thought of leaving the mantle to was Otiende who had by now become one of his good friends.
Their friendship saw Nyerere pay him several night visits and on two occasions pleaded with him to replace him as the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) President.
"On two separate occasions during these night visits, he tried to persuade me to replace him upon vacating his position as president of Tanganyika African National Union party in my favour," he is quoted.
Occupying the post would see him automatically crowned President after Nyerere's planned resignation.
However, the plan blew up as he was still considering how he would navigate around Nyerere's proposal, when word leaked that he was Kenyan.
This led to resistance from a section who feared that the nation would turn into a Kenyan colony with a foreigner on the throne, strangling the plan.
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