John Maina Kamangara, the father of slain businesswoman Mary Wambui Kamangara, was a firebrand politician who kept former President Daniel Arap Moi on his toes.
During the single-party days in the 1980s and early 1990s, Nakuru was a hotbed in Kenya’s politics.
Maina was among the clique of politicians who were constantly under the radar of the dreaded Police Special Branch.
Observers branded him an ‘enemy of the state’ due to his frequent detentions, prosecutions and brushes with law enforcers.
Furthermore, his name would always be whispered to Moi's ears since the president carried out most of his functions at State House Nakuru.
It is reported that the former head of state was once forced to inquire about Maina after he harvested part of Moi's wheat that had been planted close to his farm.
He was later arrested for taking an oath to topple the government as part of the outlawed Mwakenya movement in 1986.
In the early 1990s, he would get arrested in a state-sponsored crackdown against the pro-democracy movement which was led by FORD's Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
He is remembered as the politician who organized one of the biggest political rally ever witnessed in the country, on behalf of Jaramogi at Afraha stadium just two days before the 1992 General Elections.
Maina died in 2001 aged 51 and was buried at the Nakuru North Cemetery on September 11 that year.
He was survived by two wives and seven children among them the now slain Mary Wambui Kamangara.
Wambui, 39, was murdered on Saturday, January 26 in Kiambu under unclear circumstances and her body dumped in Juja.
