President Uhuru Kenyatta (right), the late Joseph Nkaissery (left), with Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi (c). [Photo/nation.co.ke]
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday revealed that the late Joseph Nkaissery would have been the head of the military had he succeeded in his 2002 bid for the presidency.
The Jubilee Party leader made the revelation during the requiem mass for the late on Thursday at the Nairobi Baptist Church.
Uhuru said he met Nkaissery when he was a young man, as he was a friend to his cousin Captain Kung’u Muigai.
Uhuru was branded ‘Moi project’ in 2002 elections, in which he lost to former President Mwai Kibaki.
Retired President Daniel Moi re- introduced Uhuru to Nkaissery before the elections.
“He (Moi) was very keen that I should get to know a few individuals who he thought it was important that I get to know well, because they are people that he said I should work with,” Uhuru revealed while eulogising him.
However, the late surprised Uhuru when he told him he was quitting the army for politics.
[Photo/the-star.co.ke]
“I want to join politics. I think I can play a greater role in politics,” Nkaissery told the President, days after they had agreed he would be his (Uhuru’s) Chief of Defence Forces.
The late was first elected Kajiado Member of Parliament on an ODM ticket in the 2007 general election before being re-elected on the same party ticket in 2013.
In December 2014, Uhuru appointed the general as Interior Cabinet Secretary, replacing Kajiado gubernatorial candidate Joseph Ole Lenku, following a series of al Shabaab attacks in the country.