In the 1970s and 1980s, very few government operatives wielded as much power as Billionaire Jeremiah Kiereini, who served as Permanent Secretary for Defence during the Jomo Kenyatta Government.
The tycoon, who was a brother in law to Royal Media Services Chairman SK Mcharia, had a hand in the country's military activities as well as the ears of the founding President and those of his successor.
He was born in 1929 in Central Kenya and attended the revered Alliance High School before joining Makerere University, considered an academic giant at the time.
He, however, tasted power in 1963 shortly after the country got its Independence when he was appointed to serve as the first African District Commissioner in Embu.
He rose up the ranks and at some point, he worked as an officer in charge of rehabilitating the Mau Mau fighters and with power came controversies.
Kiereini was accused of torturing the fighters in what he later termed as a misunderstanding and that "detainees felt that anyone working with the enemy was also their enemy … in this respect, rehabilitation staff were indiscriminately lumped together with the prisons staff, who were regularly known to use violence.”
He later joined the National Government and assumed the Permanent Secretary role to be the Head of Civil Service under President Daniel Moi.
In the '70s, Kiereini is credited with strengthening the Kenyan military after the then Ugandan President, Idi Amin, attempted to extend his country's borders into the Kenyan territory.
During his rule, the tycoon also created a very strong friendship with former minister Charles Njonjo. In an instance in his autobiography, A Daunting Journey, the beleaguered billionaire revealed an incident in which he nearly shot dead another tycoon for soiling Njonjo's name.
It all began when Kiereini joined some of the most powerful people of his time for a drink at a hotel in Nairobi.
At the table that day, the conversation gravitated around Njonjo who had been castigated by Members of Parliament for holding a parcel of land in Surrey, England. The act was at the time considered unpatriotic. Some of the attendees wanted Njonjo kicked out of the country.
“I was so enraged at Muturi’s foul and vulgar insult that I decided I would shoot him. I went to my car in an overwhelming rage, to get my gun... I even considered shooting them all! But as I walked out into the fresh air... I came to my senses... went straight home and slept,” wrote Kiereini in his book.
When he left the government, he joined the business community and was renowned as a coffee farmer among other business trades in Real Estate and shares.
He and Njonjo partnered in various business ventures and at some point, worked as the chairman of East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) for 24 years. He is credited with transforming the brewery giant.
So prolific was his reign at the Ruaraka-based-brewer that the local beers were christened Kiereni Waters - courtesy of satirist Wahome Mutahi who came up with the name in a popular column on Nation - Whispers.
Kiereini was also a member of boards in various companies including CMC Holdings, Unga Limited and CFC Stanbic.
At CMC Holdings, the tycoon, alongside other board members, was accused of creating an offshore account in Jersey Island from where they would pay themselves hefty fees illegally.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) argued that the members had successfully wired Ksh640 million to their accounts by overpricing the cars they imported. Kiereini, however, refuted the claim and passed away before he could properly clear his name.
He died in May 2019 aged 90 years. He is survived by his wife Eunice Muringo Kiereini who served as the first African to become Chief Nursing Officer of Kenya and worked at Kenyatta National Hospital.
