Thread by @wgkantai

There is power. Charm. Ruthlessness. An exquisite sense of style. King-whisperer and kingmaker. Greed. Eloquence. Velvety smoothness while wielding a vicious rapier. Blue blood and blue chips. No one combined this in one person quite so successfully as Charles Njonjo. KaUZI.

Charles Mugane Njonjo is sui generis in Kenya’s history, and he turns 100 tomorrow. He reached the apex of his power almost 40 years ago, but remains a figure of fascination for many, and especially me (why do you think I helped re-introduce 3-piece suits to Kenyan public life?)

Let’s manage expectations in this kaUZI, though. No online post, and certainly no Twitter thread, can do justice to one of the most complex figures in our history. Simultaneously cosmopolitan and deeply tribalist. Worldly but immersed in the church. But let’s give you a taste...

Njonjo served as Attorney General from 1963 to 1980. He singlehandedly protected the Presidency in the last years of Mzee Kenyatta, before being defenestrated by Moi in 1983. He sought the top seat for himself, and his removal was the final act in Moi’s consolidation of power.

But, ecce homo. Behold the man. Lots of it has accreted into myth, legend and historical bs, but the facts remain. He was born into immense privilege, as the son of Paramount Chief Josiah Njonjo (one of only four ‘Paramount Chiefs’ appointed by the colonialists in Gikuyuland).

Privilege? He first tasted ugali at Alliance (the normal diet at home was chapos and chicken - in the 1930s!). Went back and forth to school on horseback. Classmate of the future Kabaka at King’s College Budo. Allegedly a collegemate of Robert Mugabe at Fort Hare.

Power? The dress, the mannerisms and the eccentricities (importing his eggs from England, again allegedly), the affinity for English aristocratic behaviour, were not just an affectation. CN wove a fine tapestry, becoming THE link between British corporate interests and Kenya.

From independence, he was a valued bureaucrat and advisor. He was an administrator par excellence, thus able to acquire and retain administrative and political power. He recommended people to jobs (supposedly including Moi to the Vice Presidency in 1967, after Murumbi’s exit)

Back to the Brit angle. He served on the boards of traditionally British institutions (the Safari Rally, Barnardo’s Homes, the Automobile Association, KSPCA, EA Wildlife Society, St. John’s Ambulance and, of course, the Anglican Church. More on THAT one later).

In the wielding of his power, he used a potent mix of traditional bureaucratic responsibilities (variously responsible for the judiciary, the CID, the Special Branch, the electoral bureaucracy etc). Because he was said to have ‘files’ on everyone, and occasionally snapped the...

...whip on them (jailing and pardoning, choosing when and when not to prosecute), his reputation often did the job for him, and he ended up wielding power simply by NOT wielding it overtly. His opportunities for patronage were immense, and he used them.

Economically, as we’ve seen, he represented external interests, and his role (plus his birthright) saw him accumulate immense wealth. He also built up resources of his own. As he rose within the system, he linked up with others to build up that wealth. For example?

African Liaison and Consulting Services. Investors? Njonjo, Gethi, Kanyotu, McKenzie, Gecau, Moi, Kibaki. Heri Ltd? Njonjo, Kiereini, Gecau, (Philip) Ndegwa, Kariithi. He invested in CMC (hence the Range Rovers), CFC and Barclays Banks and Heritage Insurance.

You’ll read elsewhere about the change-the-constitution movement and Njonjo’s role in the Kenyatta Succession. You’re free to explore rumours of coups and counter coups there as well. What is of interest to us is what happened when he was finally defenestrated.

The Njonjo Commission in 1983, as limited as it was, drew back the curtain on other, less savoury aspects of the dapper prince. First, the South African connection. Remember, this was post-1976, when P.W. Botha, die groot krokodil, was a snarling, incorrigible racist.

But CN retained strong links to the country, at the pinnacle of its isolation. He invited Dr. Christian Barnaard here (look him up). He issued a large number of visas to South Africans, and gave them a veneer of legitimacy when it was desperately needed.

Foreign policy. You know about the legendary clashes between Njonjo and Kibaki, but maybe not much about those between Njonjo and Robert Ouko. Ouko was Minister in the EAC and then Foreign Minister until 1983. Thus in the catbird seat when Njonjo engineered the death of the EAC.

It is difficult to summarise the EAC thing in one tweet, especially the conversations leading up to it, so take out your reading glasses, zoom in and read the attached exchange between Mr. Njonjo and Mr. Ouko.

This also shows a side to Njonjo that contemporaries said was one of his ugliest. He would go after people until he destroyed them, even for the most innocuous of ‘errors’. It may have seemed petty, but there have been a method to the madness. An example will suffice.

In January 1981, Njonjo boarded a flight from London to Nairobi. Uncharacteristically, he flew Kenya Airways, whose biggest capacity aircraft at the time was a Boeing 707. The 707, a legendary aircraft had a small hold. 30 kg was the luggage allowance for first class...

...passengers, which Njonjo obviously was. So how much luggage did he have? 30kg? 50? 100? Nope. The excess - the EXCESS, beyond the allowance - was TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY KILOGRAMMES. But that’s not even the biggest excess of this story.

So KQ sends someone to Njonjo’s office

Gent named Esau Kioni, in charge of security at KQ (yes, THAT Esau Kioni).
CN: Mr. Kioni, I am very disgusted with you. Why the witchhunting?
EK: People are using you, a caterpillar to crush a fly like me.
(This, in English, doesn’t quite capture the flavour of the conversation)

Kioni, don’t forget, was only there to deliver an invoice. In the room with Njonjo were Lord Cole, KQ CEO, and the Transport PS, Mr. Mbugua. At the end, with Kioni terribly nervous about the tone of the meeting and his job security, asks whether all is OK.

CN: Maneno yamekwisha.

Si Kioni goes away relieved that the moment has passed? Until Cole calls him a week later.

(Meantime, by the way, a credit note has been issued against Njonjo’s invoice. The 300kg of luggage? Ni sawa tu)

Anyway, Kioni is told by Cole - pole, kazi kwisha. Yaani sacked. Kwenda.

The point of this brutal ruthlessness was not just about punishing a diligent employee for doing his job correctly. It wasn’t also just about impunity on Njonjo’s part. No, it was about the exercise and projection of power. Yaani, crush someone pour encourager les autres.

Eventually, these and many other examples (especially the open disdain shown to his compatriots - lawyers are still bitter to this day about his supposed opinion on the capabilities of African lawyers) led to his downfall. When the time for the final push came, friends were few..

...and schadenfreude was to be found in excess. Yes, he had reached for the sun and come up short. But, uncharacteristically, Moi pushed him out, put him through the ritual humiliation and stripping that was the Njonjo Commission, then left him alone.

Njonjo is still around, turning 100 today in a country that has changed immeasurably in his lifetime. He was born before Kenya even existed (it was a Protectorate then, becoming a colony when he was 5 months old). He lived through the entire colonial period, and then independence

Can there ever be another Charles Njonjo? I do not think so. The political, social and economic environment have changed far too much to allow someone to wield power, and behave, in that manner, or to be very successful at it. What is certain, though, is that men will always...

...exist to seek power and wealth and influence, as will women. But will we see one who combines Machiavelli, Robespierre, Svengali and James Bond in one suave, cruel, eloquent, greedy, smooth, sophisticated and inimitable African figure? I have my doubts. Happy birthday sir.