Retired president Danel arap Moi throughout his strong-fisted 24-year rule surrounded himself with clever men and strategists who in return for a seat on the table would protect Moi's interests and the Kanu administration from any perceived enemies and detractors.
Below are some of the most powerful henchmen on President Moi's kitchen cabinet.
Mulu Mutisya
Former Machakos Senator David Musila in his book Seasons of Hope wrote, "Mutisya believed he was the undisputed King of the Akamba. No one challenged the old man. His claim to fame was his closeness to Kenya’s first President, Jomo Kenyatta. Now he was a bosom friend of President Moi."
When the Presidential Commission on Soil Conservation and Afforestation was established, Mulu Mutisya was appointed Chairman. Mutisya traveled widely implementing political deals for the President.
Those who fell out of favor with Mulu Mutisya, especially those from Ukambani, soon found themselves in serious trouble with State House.
Tagged as an illiterate man, Musila wrote that what Mutisya lacked academically, he made up for with his talents. "He was witty, distinguished and comical in a traditional African sense," Musila wrote
Hezekiah Oyugi
Oyugi begun his career as a civil servant serving as a district officer before President Moi appointed him as the man in charge of internal security in Kenya. Oyugi was a feared man who ran his own security system parallel to the state.
To the men and women who opposed the government of the day, Oyugi was the hammer that crashed Daniel Moi's real and imagined enemies as reported by senior Nation Media Group journalist Kamau Ngotho.
When Congolese musician and rhumba maestro Kanda Bongo Man turned down the invitation to perform during the birthday party of Oyugi's daughter, the powerful minister demonstrated that indeed, the pen is mightier than the sword. Bongo Man in a 2003 interview with The Standard recounted how he was deported to Congo within hours.
Zakayo Cheruiyot
Going by the name ZK, Cheruiyot served as the PS Internal Security between 1997 and 2002 when President Moi retired. ZK served in the government at a time when Moi's 24-year rule was limping to an end. Being a powerful political schemer, Zakayo placed himself at a strategic position.
It was during Zakayo's stint as PS in the ministry of interior that Kenya became a target of terror attacks. The 1998 bombing of the US Embassy and the Kikambala bombing of 2002 and the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999.
Ezekiel Barngetuny
Tinderet MP Jean Marie Seroney went against the government of the day by backing Butere MP Martin Shikuku's claims that KANU was dead by stating, "you can't substantiate the obvious," in response to a fellow MP. Seroney, later on, lost his parliamentary seat, with Ezekiel Barngetuny being the author of his downfall.
Barng’etuny organised resources and employed all tactics, in and out of the book to defeat the will of the people of Tinderet. It was Seroney who led the Nandi in the 1960s Nandi Hills Declaration that claimed the land of Nandi was for the Nandi. And by the hands of Barngetuny, said to be barely literate, Jean Marie Seroney lost his seat to Henry Kosgey.
