Former Vice President Musalia Mudavadi, is a man who is all too familiar with the feeling of abandonment, having claimed to have been constantly betrayed
From claiming that Raila met President Uhuru Kenyatta in the build-up to the Handshake of March 8, 2018, in secrecy, to the apparent coalition betrayal by President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP William Ruto in the run-up to the 2013 general elections, it is fair to say the former VP has always ended up on the wrong side of the deal.
This was exactly what happened back in 2003, when the public inquiry by the Bosire Commission formed to look into the Goldenberg scandal, called him in for questioning.
The commission had identified Mudavadi as a person of interest in the scandal involving controversial billionaire Kamlesh Pattni because he had served as the Finance Minister back in 1993 - the peak years of the scandal.
Finally, the former National Super Alliance (Nasa) principal opened up on his torturous ordeal during this period in his book, Musalia Mudavadi: Soaring Above The Storms of Passion.
“It was a season of anxiety. You kept wondering whether there will be justice or vindictiveness on the weighing scales of the commission.
“At this time, too, the people to call friends were very few and rare. People who previously telephoned you six times a day could now not pick your call. The phone would ring on and on and go off. Sometimes it was nipped in the bud of the first ring,” an excerpt from the book reads.
Mudavadi then went on to reveal that the situation got so bad for him that even members of his immediate family abandoned him, as it triggered a lot of suspicions, with some doubting his innocence.
“The anguish was huge to me personally, to my immediate family and to friends," he narrated in his book.
The Bosire Commission eventually concluded that it was, in fact, Mudavadi, who helped bring the scam that crashed Kenya's economy to an end.
“We have evidence that Mudavadi almost single-handedly opposed the payment to GIL of Kenya KSh2.1 billion which had been recommended by PAC. In the circumstances, the role he might have played in the Goldenberg Affair was innocent,” read an excerpt from the commission's report.
However, by this time, the seasoned politician had been left almost penniless and friendless, with his reputation questioned at every turn.
“Even doing business was difficult. Institutions like banks found it difficult to trust you. You were perceived as a thief, a criminal with whom people should be cautious," he confessed.
