Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery [Photo/tuko.co.ke]
Kenya is mourning the demise of Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery. The former legislature breathed his last at Karen Hospital a few hours after admission, State House says.
Born in 1949, Nkaissey joined the armed force in 1973 where he rose to the ranks of a Major General before retiring in 2002.
The Ex-General joined politics and was elected Kajiado Central MP in 2007. In 2008, the coalition government appointed him Assistant Minister Internal Security. Nkaissery was re-elected on an ODM ticket in 2013 then appointed Internal Security Cabinet Secretary. How does his demise affect the August polls?
As we mourn, politicians have a different view which they will not express publicly for fear of judgment. Nkaissery’s death is an unfortunate occurrence but Jubilee is on the receiving end compared to NASA. The CS has been one of the people opposition has been pointing out as a government intimidation tool. His threats towards opposition leaders made him an enemy until they went to campaign against him and Jubilee in his doorstep. They accused him of campaigning for Uhuru yet he was a CS.
“People are saying that CSs are engaging in politics. I am politicking because am appointed by the president and if he loses I lose my job. So when am standing here to ask my people to vote for the president I am defending my position,” Nkaissery once said when asked why he was campaigning for President Uhuru which is against the law by virtue of him being a CS.Verbal exchanges were evident as opposition and Jubilee tried to showcase their might. Kalonzo Musyoka dared Nkaissery to arrest Odinga.
"Raila is a presidential candidate just like [Uhuru Kenyatta]. If you want Kenya to collapse, try and touch Raila. There are those who have been sent here to record what we are saying and take this to Nkaissery. We say 'record properly'," Kalonzo once said when the CS warned Raila Odinga.
His demise means that Jubilee has lost in Kajiado. President Uhuru Kenyatta has lost a campaigner who was ready to do anything to guard his job. NASA will have an upper hand though they will not admit it.