DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS I

THE GOLDEN YEARS

SOUVENIR ISSUE DAILY NATION II | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

PUBLISHER : NATION MEDIA GROUP

E DITORIAL DIRECTOR: JOSEPH ODINDO

EDITORIAL ADVISOR: WANGETHI MWANG I

PROJECT EDITOR: NICK WACHIRA

C ONTRIBUTING EDITORS: GERRY LOUGHRAN, LUCY O RIANG, KIBE KAMUNYU, RUTH LUBEMBE Afte≥ 5 decades, the futu≥e C REATIVE DIRECTOR: KAMAU WANYOIKE

P AGE DESIGNERS: depends on ability to adapt DENNIS MAKORI, PETER tually provide world class primary C HESERET, CONRAD KARUME The Nation has become a journalistic mzee of East and secondary education to talented students in 14 countries across three PHOTO EDITOR: Africa, writes HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN continents. I am pleased that East Af- J OAN PERERUAN rica will also host the continent’s first S THE NATION MEDIA Group from the Network’s significant experi- faculty of Arts and Sciences of the Aga PHOTO RESEARCHERS: (NMG) marks its 50th anniver- ence in East Africa. Khan University (AKU) as well as the sary, it would be too limiting The Aga Khan Fund for Economic university’s new Graduate School of NOORBEGUM KANANI, A to perceive this occasion as a mere Development is neither a charitable Media and Communication. It is my A NNIEL NJOKA, EVANS milestone in a history of a media or- foundation nor a vehicle for wealth gen- sincere hope that the school, which S A S A K A , ganization, no matter how successful. eration. It is a for-profit, international will be initially located in Nairobi and CHARLES BETT, MARIA The Nation’s path has been closely en- development agency that, because of later extended to the new Arusha cam- WAMBUA KANINI twined with the history of Kenya, East its institutional background and social pus, will help Africa in particular and Africa, and the entire continent during conscience, invests in projects, which the developing world in general to de- L EAD WRITERS: a period filled with momentous devel- will make a positive contribution to the velop an ever-stronger corps of owners, GERRY LOUGHRAN, JOHN opments. quality of life for those who are impact- media managers, public-spirited pro- K AMAU NMG itself has undergone a remark- ed by their activities. fessional journalists who will be able to able transformation. From two strug- The broader philosophy of the Aga adapt and excel in a rapidly changing gling Kenyan newspapers, one Kiswa- Khan Development Network is found- media environment. C ONTRIBUTORS: hili and one English, half a century ed on the premise that developing soci- I believe that the media in general NICK CHITTY, GERARD ago, the group has grown into the larg- eties deserve the best and that settling and the Nation Group in particular can W ILKINSON, PETER play a central role in the shaping of the CHADWICK, PHILIP OCHIENG, region and the continent in the years JOHN MCHAFFIE, PAUL NMG ITSELF HAS UNDERGONE A REMARKABLE ahead, as part of the growing influence REDFERN, JEFF OTIENO, of civil society institutions in an in- MARGARETTA WA GACHERU, TRANSFORMATION. FROM GROWN INTO THE creasingly pluralistic environment. MACHARIA GAITHO, DICK LARGEST MULTI-MEDIA ENTERPRISE IN EAST AND Indeed Kofi Annan, arbitrator of the DAWSON, YUSUF K. DAWOOD, CENTRAL AFRICA. post-election reconciliation agreement JOHN FOX, DOROTHY in Kenya, acknowledged the Nation’s KWEYU, JAINDI KISERO, work in mobilising the forces of civil MUTUMA MATHIU, ERIC est multi-media enterprise in East and for less, though often tempting, is an in- society in the cause of stability. OBINO. WANGUI MAINA, Central Africa. At the same time, the creasingly dangerous option. Our world Anniversaries tend to lend them- GAKIHA WERU, WANJIRU organization has evolved from a small is competitive: like other AKFED com- selves to reminiscing about the past— WAITHAKA, KEN OPALA, private company into a publicly-traded panies, the Nation Media Group must and, most appropriately, to saluting CALEB ATEMI, GAVIN corporation, one of the largest on the strive to meet world-class standards if those who have been a part of that past, BENNETT, KUI KINYANJUI, Kenya stock exchange, with a majority it is to thrive and grow in the globalized as I am pleased to join in doing. But of its shares owned by individual East world of the 21st century commemorative occasions also present AMOS NGAIRA,FRANK African shareholders. Our Network, I should also empha- an excellent opportunity to look toward WHALLEY, KIBE KAMUNYU, My own role in the Nation Media size, is active in a broad range of de- the future. NMG has had an impressive PHILIP MWANIKI, SHRAVAN Group has also evolved considerably. velopment fields, from environmental, record of past achievement , dealing VIDYARTHI, HEZEKIAH Seven years ago I gave my personal humanitarian and civil society projects successfully over five decades with a WEPUKHULU, DOROTHY shares in NMG to the Aga Khan Fund to microfinance and infrastructure in- wide variety of challenges and opportu- CHEBET, FRED OLUOCH, for Economic Development (AKFED) vestments, to cultural, health-related nities, and emerging as what some have MUNA WAHOME, RACHEL – the economic development arm of and educational support. East Africa called a journalistic “Mzee” of East Afri- JONES, DAVID ADUDA, SAMMY the Aga Khan Development Network has been an important setting for our ca. But now, NMG’s future will depend WAMBUA, LIZ MUTHONI, FRED (AKDN). The move not only gave NMG work in all of these arenas, including, on its continued ability to learn and to OMONDI, NJERI KIHANG’A, a new source of corporate strength most recently, major new initiatives in adapt, to attract leaders and employees COSMAS BUTUNYI, FRED but it also anchored the company in education. of the highest quality, and, driven by an OLOUCH, JENIFFER MUIRURI, a broader development philosophy For example, Kenya is the home of ethic of responsible service, maintain WILLIAM OERI . designed to bring excellence and best the first functioning Aga Khan Acad- the confidence of its reading, viewing, practices to societies in the developing emy, located in Mombasa, and one of advertising and shareholding constitu- world. It also allowed NMG to benefit a network of 18 schools that will even- ents DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS III

We can’t go too fa≥ w≥ong when a nation talks to itself

By PHILIP OCHIENG ple and their new state) help the last question must be a big the other Nation (the newspa- “Yes”. The two nations have been When I first joined the Nation as per group) to make its mission almost identical-minded on a a cub reporter in 1966, I never manifest by gathering, editing, large number of objective na- ceased to be intrigued by a mes- commenting on and dissemi- tional interests. sage in large print pinned on the nating information countrywide However, one nation appears inside walls of the old Nation and internationally – freely and to have progressively lapsed in House in Nairobi’s Tom Mboya without any fear of retaliation? delivering its promises to the Street. Attributed to the propri- One of the more interesting people – in terms of quantity, etor of a well known chain of features of the first edition of quality and speed – and the other London newspapers, it said: “A the Nation (in English) was a nation has tried to discharge its free newspaper, I suppose, is a cartoon depicting the Nation as duty in the division of labour NATION talking to itself”. a baby boy sleeping in its cot, – by reminding its older twin of Whoever chose it as the Na- watched by the redoubtable Tom this lapse. tion’s motto – probably Michael Mboya and Ronald Ngala among This has necessarily created Curtis (the founding managing other nationalists. Underneath tension between the two na- director) or John Bierman (the the cartoon, one commented: tions, a tension which has in- founding editor) or the Aga Khan “He’s a cute little boy, but will he creased with age. himself (the investor) -- it was a behave?” Policemen have invaded news- most appropriate dictum for The question could, of course, paper offices and confiscated or the circumstances in which the also have gone the other way. incapacitated their equipment. newspaper was being born. I was there at the place near They have clobbered journal- For it was a brilliant play on the Carnivore, Nairobi, and, ists and destroyed their cameras the word “nation”. It sought to at midnight on December 12, on public occasions. Merely for identify their coming publica- 1963, watched as the Union flag doing my duty with a critical tion with the problems and as- was lowered for good for Jomo hand, I have had to spend har- pirations of another nation in Kenyatta to hoist in its place rowing days in squalid police the last years of gestation -- the our new red-green-and-black cells. Kenyan nation. standard. Having edited an official news- By naming itself NATION Have the newspaper and the paper, I know, however, that and giving prominence to the state maintained their initial many statesmen recognise that with the biggest, raciest and throws more light dictum on the walls, the instiga- “good looks”? Have they be- the state desperately needs an most lucrative headlines. than heat into the social arena tors of the Nation were clear that haved with admiration? Have independent press. Between our two nations, it of contention. Let neither of the The first their aim was for the Nation to be they proved of adequate mutual The editors, for their part, might be called rika rivalry or two nations forget the words of Nation pub- born together with the other na- assistance? The probable answer know that, despite this unre- sibling jealousy or – as with the that London newspaper proprie- lished on tion, so that, thereafter, the two is: Not as much as the two might liability of the political class gods of mythology – “fraternal tor: A newspaper can be free only March 20, nations could grow up together have hoped for as they celebrated – nay, probably because of it – it contending”. if it is a Nation talking to itself 1960. It sold in symbiosis. their first anniversaries. is the political class that prom- The task is to guide the con- freely, boldly, knowledgeably and for 30 cents. Would one nation (the peo- Yet, of course, the answer to ises to provide the newspapers tention in such a manner that it with a clear national purpose.

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P.O. Box 43401 - 00100 Nairobi, Tel: +254 20 4449461/2, Fax: +254 20 4449463. e-mail: [email protected], www.maniagosafaris.com DAILY NATION IV | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

CHRONOLOGY FROM CONCEPTION TO MATURITY 1960-1985: The long journey for Nation from conception to maturity The Nation was born at a time of turbulent world affairs on March 20, 1960, and it described itself as East Africa’s newest, liveliest Sunday newspaper

y any measure, 1960 change” statement to South Af- was an epoch-defining rica’s white lawmakers in Cape year. At a time when Town was met with stony silence, Bthe Cold War between The Nation’s declared support for the Kremlin and the West held a African majority rule provoked a fearful world in its grip, Ameri- similarly hostile reaction from can spy pilot Gary Powers was many in Kenya’s white, settler shot down over Soviet territory. community. Although Mau Mau France tested its first atomic activities had long ended, a state April 1960 bomb, Fidel Castro nationalised of emergency was still in force, industry in Cuba and Nikita the economy was fragile, land Khrushchev angrily pounded values were plummeting and the his shoe on a desk at the United talk among farmers was of sell- Nations. ing-up and fleeing south. Africa was in ferment. The On the day after The Nation’s Sharpeville massacre in South Af- birth, a Johannesburg township rica brought demands for nation- became an international byword al independence to boiling point for atrocity and the newspaper’s all over the continent and in second issue carried the heading, French West Africa, colony after “Black Monday at Sharpeville.” colony demanded and secured its A spread of smuggled photos sovereignty. British Prime Minis- showed the scattered bodies of ter Harold Macmillan signalled some 69 South African blacks that the same course must follow gunned down by Sten-gun-armed in Anglophone Africa when he police during a demonstration declared, first in Accra, then in against that country’s draconian Cape Town: “The wind of change pass laws. Ten of the dead were is blowing through this continent children and eight were women; and, whether we like it or not, the 180 others were injured. growth of national consciousness “There was no warning,” re- is a political fact…our national ported The Nation’s special cor- After Banda, Jomo policies must take account of it.” respondent, “no shots over the Africa’s restlessness was mir- heads of the crowd, not even fir- “After Banda, Jomo” ran a front page story rored in the United States, where ing at the feet. It was a concen- on April 3, 1960. The release of Dr Hast- Afro-American students began a trated, cold-blooded burst after ings Kamuzu Banda in Malawi had set off a series of sit-ins at lunch counters, burst into the packed crowd.” demand for Kenyatta’s release from restric- demanding an end to segregation The massacre prompted wide- tion. Back in London, Colonial Secretary Iain and recognition of blacks’ civil spread outrage and internation- Macleod was weighing all the options al- rights. But two young Americans al condemnation and became a though the Governor in Nairobi, Sir Patrick hinted at a new era ahead. turning point in South African Renison, was still hesistant to release At the Rome Olympics, Mu- history, driving the regime deep Kenyatta, a man he would later describe as hammad Ali, then known as into isolation until the fall of a “leader unto darkness and death”. Cassius Clay, won a boxing gold apartheid many decades later. Macleod was of the view that the future medal, and presidential candi- But first, another South Af- of the colonial economy would be solid if date John F. Kennedy first sug- rican sensation grabbed head- “strong men” rose. gested a peace corps be formed lines in Kenya. Just two weeks “Jomo: We Plead no More – Gichuru” was to help the less-favoured nations, after Sharpeville, a pro-empire, one of the catchy headlines of the mo- an idea that came to fruition after anti-apartheid white farmer ment enough to cause panic within the his election the following year. shot Prime Minister Hendrik settler community. By this time it was felt It was into this turbulent world Verwoerd twice in the face. The in London that if Kenyatta had solid sup- that, on March 20, 1960, The Na- tough old Afrikaner survived port it would be better to set him free to tion was born. Describing itself and soon returned to power, assume leadership in Kenya rather than let as “East Africa’s newest, liveli- but in 1966, he was stabbed to internal power struggles wreck the country. est Sunday,” a leading article de- death in the Cape Town parlia- In a sense, Macleod was happy to have the clared: “Very briefly, we intend to ment building by a messenger African nationalists go. On Banda, he had live up to our name and do eve- who was later declared insane. told the Times of London: “He is not an evil rything in our power to help the Few new newspapers could have man” and honestly desires and works for his various communities of East Af- feasted on such a significant diet people. But Banda was to later emerge, with rica to build nations where peo- of events of immediately relevant the help of the British as an example of an ple of all races can live freely and import. astute African dictator. Had we called him peacefully under the rule of law. The Nation was a Sunday a “dynamic forward-looking leader” in our Beyond this, The Nation accepts paper, changing its title to Sun- editorial? Yes, we had. the desirability of the transfer of day Nation shortly before the power to African majorities in the Daily Nation was launched seven three territories of East Africa months later. It was not the sort within the next few years.” of newspaper Kenyans were ac- Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. Just as Macmillan’s “wind of customed to read. For a start, it DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS V

1960-1985: The long journey for Nation from conception to maturity

ABOVE: Kenyans at the lancaster March 1960 conference in Lon- don before inde- pendence. Kanu is born EXTREME LEFT: Jomo Kenyatta The formation of Kanu, a coalition holds up signed of political parties, was a milestone documents of in Kenyan politics. Uniting different state. politicians who were leading small parties was no mean task. It was no LEFT: Presidents wonder that Kanu faced managerial Nyerere, Milton problems. The stewardship at Obote and Gen- headquarters was left to Mr Mwai eral Idi Amin in Kibaki, a young economist who had Nairobi to attend been brought from Makerere to help the Uhuru celebra- craft the party manifesto. tions. Kanu received popular support among the Luo, Kikuyu and Kamba and became the majority party. The Nation’s support for majority rule as declared in its launch lishment’s accepted scenario for But some of the early problems issue, while proclaiming where the group’s sympathies lay, boldly the path to independence. This, within the party persisted and the even among many sympathisers, Nation expressed concern that the challenged the establishment’s accepted scenario for the path to foresaw that if Africans were ever internal wrangles might blow up in independence to rule Kenya, it would be many, government once Kanu took power. many years in the future. “The Daily Nation asks it publicly was produced using the then spondents around the world. ests and written in the languages Commercially, however, The because we believe it is in Kanu’s revolutionary web-offset meth- The choice of newspapers in of those communities. Nation’s stance made it a hostage interests that these internal doubts od of printing, a new technology colonial Kenya was limited. For There was no doubt where to fortune, since illiteracy among and quarrels should be faced which provided quality far ahead English speakers, in addition to Kenya’s established English-lan- its target African audience was squarely, openly and as quickly of that available to other publish- the Standard, there was the Sun- guage publications stood politi- high, while most of those with as possible. There can no longer ing houses. day Post and a small number of cally – four-square behind the consumer power found its po- be any doubt that something is Also, unlike the broadsheet weekly magazines, prominent Governor and the colonial gov- litical stance too radical by far. seriously wrong with the party. Its East African Standard, which among them the Kenya Weekly ernment which in turn acknowl- It was evident that if the new senior office holders do not act as dominated the market, it was News published in Nakuru. Eth- edged the authority of the British paper were to succeed, it would a team and there still appears to be what is now known as a com- nic newspapers were available, government in London. Indeed be a long and punishing journey. no proper machinery for ensuring pact. The shape alone reminded mainly Asian, but including the East African Standard carried It proved to be so. The commit- that policy statements are agreed expatriates of the popular British Baraza and Jicho in Kiswahili. To Britain’s coat of arms on its front ment to African majority rule before they are issued to the public tabloid, Daily Mirror, which they these had recently been added page until the day before Kenya was no accident. and the Press,” wrote the Nation considered sensational and unre- Taifa Leo, the first Kiswahili daily achieved independence, Decem- Back in 1957, the Aga Khan, in December 1961. “Kanu has a liable. In fact, while it may have and the Nation Group’s first pub- ber 12, 1963. Thus The Nation’s leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili duty to itself and to Kenya to deal been guilty of sensationalism and lishing effort, which it developed support for majority rule “within Muslims worldwide, had been with the trouble-makers swiftly self-aggrandisement, the Mirror in 1959 from a weekly bought the next few years” as declared in talking with young African na- and ruthlessly. In Mr Kenyatta, reported aggressively and consci- from private interests. There its launch issue, while proclaim- tionalists such as Tom Mboya Mr Gichuru and Mr Mboya, Kanu entiously on issues of importance were also publications devoted to ing where the group’s sympathies and Julius Kiano about what lay possesses formidable leaders of and had its own network of corre- specific African community inter- lay, boldly challenged the estab- calibre and character. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 DAILY NATION VI | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 REFLECTIONS A long and punishing journey for the paper

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 coming African politicians. Believing outside investment proved impossible they were entitled to a full say in the to secure and so funding of the venture, in Kenya’s future. independence debate, he determined to with all its concomitant risks, came ex- The Aga Khan assumed leadership start a newspaper that would be open clusively from the Aga Khan. John Bier- of his community at the age of 20 on to all voices. man was hired from Fleet Street to be the death of his grandfather. Having The Aga Khan’s media aide at the editor and editorial and production lived in Kenya as a boy, in a house in time was Michael Curtis, a former edi- staff were recruited, mainly from Brit- a Nairobi suburb, his association with tor of the News Chronicle in London, ain because of the paucity of trained the country was no accident. He was and it was Curtis who became the archi- African journalists and managers. well aware that most newspapers in tect of a group which grew eventually to The aim, however, stated and much East Africa tended to be mouthpieces dominate the East and Central African repeated, was to create a newspaper of the colonial governments, denying publishing market. In the straitened that would be “written and managed any platform for the aspirations of up- circumstances of the time, however, by Africans for Africans.” Curtis rented a former bakery on what was then Vic- Commercially, however, The Nation’s stance made toria Street in central Nairobi, it was it a hostage to fortune, since illiteracy among its adapted for newspaper production and the foundations of the group were laid. target African audience was high, while most of If Kenya’s conservative readers looked those with consumer power found its political How Nation echoed stance too radical by far CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 the national story

WILFRED KIBORO: With the 2002 election, the Former Group Chief people who had been agitat- Executive officer of Nation ing for change came to power Media and currently the and we had to redefine our re- Group’s chairman. lationship with them to fulfill our mandate of keeping the came to a small com- government on its toes pany with turnover One of the key goals that kept of around one billion us focused generally was the Ishillings and profit a dream of joining the billion quarter of a billion shillings shilling club in terms of prof- but our its. vision was very clear - we We achieved this in 2002 or wanted to be the leading 2003 and the Group is now media house in Kenya, Ugan- on track to hit the two billion da and Tanzania and later, the shilling mark. Media of Africa for Africa. When I joined in 1993 adver- However we were too depend- tising revenue was something ent on one product – the Daily like Sh20 million a month. By Nation – which contributed 95 the time I left it was around per cent of our revenues. We Sh20 million a day. decided to diversify into radio, The two defining moments television and digital. of my tenure were installing We also introduced daily a new Sh750 million print- magazine inserts to generate ing press and our entry into Above: From new revenue streams. broadcasting. right, President But those were rough times Another key time was the Jomo Kenyatta, and in many ways the Nation 2007 election when we de- Julius Nyerere Media Group story became liberately tried to maintain of Tanzania and the national story - the story balance in our reporting. We Tom Mboya (dark of how Kenyans struggled worked hard to try to bring suit) at the air- against single party dictator- the country together. port. Far left is ship and for the expansion of Now Nation must move with Daniel arap Moi. the democratic space. the times and we have to reen- Left: Editor After a long struggle for li- gineer ourselves into the dig- George Githii cences and then frequencies, ital world to stay relevant. and manage- we got into broadcasting with Radio, television and the In- ment executives a bang. People loved what we ternet will merge and in ten accompany the were putting out and advertis- years time although our core Aga Khan during ers flocked to us. With time we business will still be informing an early visit to expanded our broadcasting people and linking consum- the Nation House reach from Nairobi to other ers and others, our structure newsroom. towns such as Mombasa, and the way we work will have NMG ARCHIVES Nakuru and Kisumu. changed radically. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS VII DAILY NATION VIII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

REFLECTIONS Telling the sto≥y of The Nation f≥om bi≥th to matu≥ity

I have known the company the group’s first editorial director. I found him in British Columbia, from birth to jubilee and can Canada, where he had edited his own local paper for many years say our performance has along with his wife, Margaret, a one-time Nation stringer in been gold standard Nakuru and a Kenya memoirist in her own right. Hayes had owned Taifa jointly By GERRY LOUGHRAN with Althea Tebbutt, who became the Nation’s first advertising cannot be sure when the manager. She lived in New Zea- idea of writing a history land, but I caught up with her on of the Nation group first a visit back to Britain. Iemerged, but I have a I renewed contacts with Errol memo in my files dated Octo- Trzebinski, one of Mrs Tebbutt’s ber 1995 stating that there were original sales team. Still resident strong reasons for publishing in Kenya, she was by then an in- such an account. ternational figure known for her It said: “The proprietor’s vision writings on colonial-era person- and strength of will (and invest- alities like Denys Finch Hatton, ment commitment) have never Karen Blixen, Beryl Markham been properly acknowledged, and Lord Erroll. Her book, Si- nor has the courage of our editors lence Will Speak, was the prime and reporters. Finally, the whole source for the Oscar-winning thing is a darned good story and That I was ter from London to the Sunday arduous but exciting, too, as re- film, Out of Africa. She lives in a if we don’t tell it now, it will be commissioned as Nation, and indeed still do. tirees were located one by one gracious 18th century house on too late.” author was probably inevi- Thus tasked with telling a and happily committed to tape the island of Lamu. We did not tell it immediately, table, since not only was I avail- story dating back 50 years, what memories that were wholly The first managing director, indeed we took nearly 15 years to Author Gerry able, I had experience with the is the first thing an historian truthful and authentic as they Frank Pattrick, had died in South do so, but that had more to do Loughran Nation across the years -- from would do? He would race to gath- remembered them, if occasion- Africa when my search began, with bureaucratic and political and inset his the earliest days (1960-64 as a er the memories of the pioneers ally roseate and sometimes un- but his successor, Stan Denman, vicissitudes than with editorial book, Birth of sub-editor and assistant editor), – young men and women in the comfortable, too. lived in Dorset and invited me sloth. And when the story was a Nation again in 1983 (executive editor) 1960s but now long retired, scat- Charles Hayes was the ex-colo- over. The hunt for journalists finally set out in a book, Birth of and in the era of expansion and tered far from Africa, perhaps nial government officer who sold and managers, both with the Na- a Nation, it proved, though I say maturity (1993-98 as a consult- physically not too well. Written the weekly Taifa to the Nation, tion and opposition media, took it myself, to be a very good story ant editor). Over many of these sources could be scanned later. thus starting the company down me to Geneva and Schonried in indeed. years, I contributed a weekly Let- The search proved long and the publishing road, and became Switzerland, Galway and Dub-

Hongera The management and staff of UKWALA SUPERMARKET LTD. HomelandFreight Ltd Congratulates International Freight Forwarders & Shipping Agents Tel : 254 6537735/6537785 Nation Media Group Ltd Email: [email protected] on their 50th Anniversary

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The first edi- torial cartoon in Telling the sto≥y of The Nation f≥om bi≥th to matu≥ity 1960.

lin in Ireland, Dubai, Italy, Aus- newspaper which would be open tralia, and in Britain to London, to all races, honest and objec- Cheltenham, Stowmarket, Dover, tive, and dogged in the pursuit of Newcastle upon Tyne, Nelson truth. It was Michael Curtis who, Colne, Brighton, Bideford and in 1959, began to turn this dream Devizes. into reality. Recollections arrived by mail As chief executive, he piloted and email from Australia, New the organisation through its test- Zealand, Zimbabwe and South ing first decade before he relo- Africa and many interviews cated to France to assist the Aga were concluded during return Khan in a variety of his other in- visits to Nairobi. There, Nation terests. Even then, as a long-time officers opened the company’s Nation board member, he main- books to me freely and without tained meticulous files, gold to restriction. any prospector. The greatest prize, however, Invited to stay at his lovely a treasure trove of information, country house near historic Sen- was made available by Michael lis, I spent endless hours perus- Curtis, effectively architect and ing minutes, memos, notes and builder of the whole venture. At directives about the problems 34, Michael had been one of Fleet and triumphs of the early years, whose memories were not entire- Mostly the sessions lasted a cou- subject wandered off topic, that Street’s youngest editors, piloting along with hundreds of letters, ly positive, though a handful did ple of hours, with the interview- was fine. How accurate were the the News Chronicle through dif- telegrams, faxes and old-style not respond. Many more politi- ee talking into my tape recorder. recollections? I like to think they ficult times. But he disagreed “dictabelts” (a distant ancestor cians did not grace my requests But for some key people, we held were very close to total truth. with the owners’ militantly pro- of the audio tape) which were with a reply. several meetings over a number When possible, I asked other government stance over Britain’s exchanged between Michael Doing the interviews was of days. interviewees identical questions invasion of Suez and resigned on and the Aga Khan. This infor- mostly a personal pleasure. Not I always transcribed the tapes and vague memories of dates and principle. mation was supported by files only did I meet up with many old in full, though perhaps as little as times could often be checked in Joining the Aga Khan as a Press at the Aga Khan’s secretariat at friends, but I made the acquaint- five per cent might be used. I felt the Nation’s own back copies. advisor (and much more) shortly nearby Aiglemont and generous ance of others of whom I had it necessary to get a feel for the Written information piled up after the young prince succeeded assistance from Gerry Wilkinson, heard a great deal but never met. conditions of the time and if the inexorably and I ended up with his grandfather, Curtis accompa- a former managing director who, nied him on a world tour of his with almost four decades under Ismaili community. Confronted his belt dating back to 1971, was This is an attempt to render in coherent and sympathetic form with the self-serving and tenden- the company’s longest serving the story of a young newspaper struggling to report honestly and tious nature of the colonial-era director. accurately on the convulsions, successes and failures of an equally media, the Aga Khan conceived Very few ex-Nation people de- young nation a vision of an independent Kenya clined to talk to me, even those

RECOLLECTIONS Keeping the author on the right lines

By GERRY LOUGHRAN London in 1959, spent several depends on his co-pilot, so I years back in Kenya with the needed Anil’s assistance in navi- major fear for authors family firm, Ishani and Ishani gating esoteric areas beyond writing on historical Advocates, returned to the UK my ken. A events is of going astray in 1972, qualifying as a solicitor It worked like this: Anil would on subjects outside of their ex- with a city firm of solicitors, and take away a draft of relevant pertise. Writing most areas of became a specialist in commer- chapters, peruse them in his the group’s history, “Birth of a cial property matters. meticulous and lawyerly way, Nation,” I felt confident and se- At the same time, he enjoyed the then return and set out his argu- cure because I knew journalism, confidence of the founder and ments for change, rephrasing, I knew East Africa and I knew begetter of the Nation group, His removal or retention. Some- the Nation group. And where I Highness the Aga Khan, and held times I had simply got my facts was unsure, there were sources a variety of leadership positions wrong – titles, dates, forms of aplenty to confirm or correct the in the Ismaili community. Mak- address; in other areas, he might ficulties and to give credit where pretation but often reminders of Nation facts. ing his home back in Kenya, from support the facts but question it was due. In most cases, I have supplementary evidence or addi- newsroom But in arcane matters of nuance, 1997 until retirement in 2007, my interpretation or use of lan- to confess, his judiciousness tional arguments on a question on Tom personal history and the effect he was Resident Representative guage. brought balance to the page, under discussion. Mboya of public affairs on private lives, of the Aga Khan Development For instance, though I knew substituting calm level-headed- Anil was by no means the only Street. I quickly decided I would need Network. Kenya, I had not worked there ness for unbridled rhetoric. outside source I resorted to in guidance and, happily, I was rec- Having served the Aga Khan for for some years, whereas he had. It was not without apprehension my research for “Birth of a Na- ommended to a retired Kenyan 48 years, his guidance was cer- Gently, he questioned whether at our several meetings that tion,” but it is fair to say that advocate, Mr Anil Ishani. I quick- tain and assured. my indignation over perceived I glanced at the many yellow without the depth and breadth ly realized I could have found no I have stated elsewhere that I injustices by officialdom was not stickers jutting from his draft of his knowledge and the accu- keener or subtler mind to assist wrote “Birth of a Nation” with- more of an outsider’s point of copy. racy of his perceptions, the book in my work. out direction or restriction and view, a failure to acknowledge But happily these were not would have been a distinctly Anil qualified as a barrister in this is true. But as a rally driver success in the face of huge dif- always queries of fact or inter- lesser achievement. DAILY NATION X | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 1978 - 1981 1978 1968 - 1972 1968 1964 - 1965 1964

Hilary Ng’weno George Githii Boaz Omori Joe Rodrigues The first Kenyan editor, appointed The Stormy Petrel of Nation newspa- A steady, quiet, knowledgeable and Acclaimed by many of his staff as the best when the Nation was little more than pers, he campaigned courageously stabilising editor who took the first hands-on editor the Nation ever had, he three years old, changed the newspa- - 1977 & 1972 - 1968 1965 against corruption and denounced steps to introducing a code of practice could report stories, correct copy, write per’s Eurocentric approach to inter- moves to bring in preventive deten- for journalists. His contacts were wide, editorials and lay out pages, all apparently national news coverage and ensured tion, but his erratic decisions on some his political antennae impeccable and at the same time. He led the news opera- it reflected the African political and political issues embarrassed the com- his early death was widely mourned tion at a difficult time, even spending economic concerns. pany, leading to his departure. inside and outside the industry. time in custody. The Nation editors I have known, from 1964 to 2009 1983 1981- By PHILIP OCHIENG George was fond of transferring My articles were then locked Knowledge of my “canned” ar- into his articles material from a up in a safe where they under- ticles may have had something lthough George Githii book he had just read to help him went the “criticism” of time for to do with George being arrested Peter Mwaura and I later clashed se- floor his interlocutors. Moreover, a whole 10 years. It was not until and held one day. Perceptive, socially conscious and aca- riously, I am always his newspaper had a predilection 1978 – when the President did But only Githii could have been demically gifted, he assumed the editor- Agrateful to him for for pursuing to their ends certain die (and long after Githii had left intrepid enough to sue Bernard ship at a difficult time. State authorities opening the gate of journalism burning social issues of the day. Nation House) – that my articles Hinga, the police commissioner, had the Nation group in its sights and to me. It was Githii, editor-in- I have never seen his equal were retrieved. They were what for “wrongful confinement.” The there were changes at executive manage- chief of the Nation, and Michael in the practice of taking a hot chief sub-editor John McHaf- court proceedings must have ment level. He resigned in 1983. Curtis, managing director, who topic and charging his investiga- fie splashed all over the place been embarrassing to the gov- offered me my first job as a re- tive reporters to dig down to the (minus my byline) on that fate- ernment. Although the case was porter. taproots. ful day. withdrawn, only Mzee Kenyatta George was also the most One day in 1967, after furnish- Unwittingly, my efforts may could have ordered Githii to remarkable editor I have ever ing me with all kinds of literature well have contributed to George’s pack it in. served under. Other editorial on Jomo Kenyatta, George locked departure from the Nation. Some However, the most probable pontiffs I have worked with in me in a room where I spent many Kenyatta sycophants – perhaps immediate cause of George’s de- Kenya include Hilary Ng’weno, long weeks studying, making allied to Dr Njoroge Mungai parture from Nation House was Boaz Omori, Joe Rodrigues, Peter phone calls and then writing nu- – had heard of them and told the that he had been writing and 1983 - 1991 1983 Mwaura, George Mbugguss and merous lengthy biographical sto- Old Man that George Githii had publishing some embarrassingly Wangethi Mwangi. ries on the Grand Old Man. been “scheming” his death. Mun- adventurous, one-sided, almost gai’s partisans had a good reason hysterical articles and editori- for hating Githii. als on such controversies as Is- George locked me in a room where I It stemmed from the extreme rael, the Soviet Union, Shah Reza spent many long weeks studying, mak- one-sidedness with which his Pahlavi’s Iran and the leader of George Mbugguss ing phone calls and then writing numer- newspaper reported a perenni- the Bohra community. One of the Nation’s pioneers, he rose ous lengthy biographical stories on the al rivalry between Mungai and Much cooler headed and hard- from Taifa reporter to Taifa editor and grand old man Charles Njonjo, the Attorney- nosed was Hilary Ng’weno, the steered the Kiswahili daily along a steady General, sometimes known as Nation’s first indigenous editor- path, fully earning his promotion to the “Sir Charles.” in-chief . It appears that Hilary new position of Group Managing Editor. George was clearly the most The editor never told me why The intriguing thing about it and the Aga Khan had been at He held the job successfully until his re- controversial. Paradoxically, the such obituary-focussed writing was that Githii, Njonjo, Mun- Harvard together. Hilary might tirement in 1991. man who looked like Kenya’s was necessary. For the President gai and Kenyatta came from the have impressed the future Is- most independent-minded edi- looked perfectly hale and hearty. same political parish in Kiambu maili chief through a series of cy- tor was also its most one-sided. But George was linked through District. Before joining the Na- clostyled newsletters to all Afri- Yet I admired George for three many tendrils to the Old Man’s tion, George had been Kenyat- can students in the United States. reasons. One was that he never closest aides and when he gave ta’s private secretary. Did Githii At any rate, the Aga Khan’s new allowed any of the (expatriate) me the assignment he knew that know something between Njonjo newspaper in Nairobi latched non-editorial managers “up- Mzee had collapsed in Mombasa and Mungai which the editor was onto a man still only in his twen- stairs” to bend his editorial line. and was then unconscious, per- not sharing with his readers? ties when he returned to Kenya Second, he took the trouble to haps indeed dead. But the point is that, while in 1964. But, by the time I joined - 2009 1991 reply personally and under his President Kenyatta did later Njonjo was invariably reported Nation House in 1966, Hilary had own by-line to criticisms of both regain consciousness but editor in the most brilliant light, what resigned to return to Harvard for the newspaper and the Kenyatta Githii had learned an important the public read about Mungai courses in filming and interna- government. One still remem- lesson. Such an eventuality must was certainly not. That was the tional affairs (where, he once told Wangethi Mwangi bers strongly worded polemics never again catch his newspa- problem. Although an editor has me, Henry Kissinger was one of Mwangi succeeded Mbugguss and against Jaramogi Odinga, Bil- pers unprepared, with empty the right to take sides on any his lecturers). steered the papers through political dad Kaggia and Darius Msaga files. Which is why I pursued this issue, he is professionally called Ten years later, however – after turbulence and an era of technological Mbela. assignment for weeks, entirely upon to back up his position with he came back from Cambridge, revolution. He was appointed Editorial Later -- as a graduate of in the dark about what had hap- correct facts, accurate figures and Director until his retirement and replace- England’s Oxford University -- pened. cogent argument. CONTINUED ON PAGE 37 ment by Joseph Odindo. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XI

Going places and making REFLECTIONS the right connections By JOHN FOX climb on Mount Kilimanjaro Nevertheless, when George when he was an Alliance High offered me the choice of being reda, the taxi driver, picked schoolboy. He also told me about the Motoring or Travel Corre- me up to take me to the air- the character assessment given spondent for the Sunday Nation Fport. by the expedition leader: I quickly deferred to Gavin Ben- ‘So where are you going this “Kenneth, you are a very strong nett’s much greater knowledge time, Mr John?’ she asked. boy. You were the first to the sum- – and wit – about cars. ‘Vietnam,’ I replied. mit. Well done! But there is one My first Going Places pieces ‘Oh, so you are going to the criticism I have to make – you for- were describing a hotel in terms war!’ she said. got about all those weaker breth- of its facilities, prices and how to And that was the starter for ren struggling up behind you.” get there. Until I got a different my piece on that trip. Especial- “That was so true,” Matiba said. kind of encouragement from Ber- ly when, while I was in Hanoi “And it is still so true. These days nard Nderitu, then the Editor of that time, an article appeared when I am discussing with my the Sunday Nation. in the local paper claiming that colleagues, I am thinking, plan- One evening, when I was sit- Pride of place on Vietnam had become the safest ning – and I realise that they are ting having a beer on the terrace tourist destination in the whole struggling up miles behind me…” of the Castle Hotel in down-town world. There was the connection At the time, he was a member of Mombasa, I saw this girl. She was the world stage I was looking for. President Moi’s Cabinet. wearing a black buibui. She was I’m a very lucky guy. Over the I was told that, in the months walking up and down the pave- he Nation was Group will remain core to last 24 years, my consultancy job leading up to the first multi-party ment outside the terrace. I was founded by His positively transforming the has taken me to Asia, to many elections, at an editors’ meeting, watching her and wondering Highness the Aga Africa society to take its pride countries in Africa – and to every George suggested that I should what she was doing – until a car TKhan as a voice for of place in the world stage on district in Kenya. When I am not be asked to write some ‘colour drew up, the window was wound the majority of Kenyans who social, economic and politi- travelling I can always find a new pieces’ about the campaigns. down, and the girl leaned inside clamoured for independence. cal areas. restaurant, an art exhibition, or ‘But George,’ someone said, ‘I to negotiate terms. After Uhuru, the Nation be- To achieve this, we shall an event in Nairobi like the Con- think John would prefer to keep That was the encounter around came an effective voice of the continue to rely on the dedi- cours d’Elegance or the Shaggy his work permit.’ which I made an impressionistic people. I must pay tribute to cation and commitment of Dog Show to write about. But George did inveigle me piece about how it was to be sit- the founder, and equally im- our staff that I take this op- But when I’m writing about into writing about the Safari ting on the terrace of the Castle portant to successive man- portunity to salute. The same somewhere outside Kenya, the Rally – despite my protestations Hotel and watching the after agements for steering the goes for past members of staff challenge is how to make it rel- that I knew nothing about rally- dark life of Mombasa’s Moi Av- company to become the un- who remain extended mem- evant to Kenyan readers. Some- ing. Less than a year later, I was enue. disputed media organization bers of the NMG family. how, there has to be a reference amused to see in the by-line of an ‘I like that,’ Bernard Nderitu in East Africa. As we match forth to real- back to home. Just as Freda said. Indian newspaper that had re- said. ‘That’s how Going Places Indeed, the story of the Na- ize our dream of being the It was back in the late 1980s printed one of my Safari stories should be.’ And that’s the advice tion has become synonymous media of Africa for Africa, we that George Mbugguss, then the that I was ‘East Africa’s motor I’ve tried to follow for all of twen- with the story of Kenya being shall remain focused on what Nation’s Group Managing Edi- sports expert’. ty something years. agemates as Kenya attained is important for Africa. It is tor, encouraged me to write for independence three years with this in mind that as part the paper. One of the most mem- My first Going Places pieces were describing a hotel after our first newspaper of our cerebrations, we de- orable, interviews was with Mr in terms of its facilities, prices and how to get there. rolled of the presses. cided to sponsor and host the Kenneth Matiba about his plans Today, though media free- Pan Africa Media Conference to climb Mount Everest. Until I got a different kind of encouragement from dom is perennially under so that we could get the mem- Matiba put his love of moun- Bernard Nderitu, then the Editor of the Sunday threat, the situation is much bers of the fourth estate in tains down to his Outward Bound Nation better than it was in the six- one room and reflect on our ties, and certainly better than past performance even as we most African countries. As we make promises for the future. When I am not celebrate 50 years, the biggest I would hope that this could travelling, I factor in the Nations success become a regular initiative write on sub- is that the founders were gen- around Africa. jects such as uine in their desire to have This future will however the Concours an independent media group. not be handed to any media d’Elegance. Over the years, the group has on a silver platter. The media established and maintained landscape is changing rap- JOAN PERERUAN very high ethical and govern- idly and it is only those who ance standards. As we march evolve faster than the change into the future, one promise I who will succeed. To this end, would like to make on behalf we shall continue to evalu- of all staff of the company is ate our traditional media that we shall stay true to our platforms and ensure they founding mission of public remain relevant to an even service journalism, and en- more demanding needs of our sure that those who will be readers and readers even as managing the cerebrations 50 we invest aggressively in new years from now, will have an media and new geographies. even better story. Finally I would like to To do this, we shall contin- thank everyone who has ue to live by our core values helped Nation Media Group of integrity, transparency and to be what it is today. balance in our reporting and ensure that the Nation Media Asanteni Sana! DAILY NATION XII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

REFLECTIONS THE MEN WHO MAKE IT HAPPEN Meet the editors of Nation papers MUTUMA MATHIU even for those of us who have Managing Editor done it many times, is a marve- Daily Nation lous spectacle. I only wish we could work with the same ef- I have edited many newspa- ficiency in covering the small pers; none is like the Daily Na- story. tion. We do it with a fine blend I edited my first newspaper, a of love and violence. Love be- now-dead periodical called the cause this newspaper is our life, Nairobi Law Monthly, when I our life’s work. Mario Garcia, was all of 25 years old. That, and the newspaper designer, told us many other newspapers that I once that modern editors are have seen since, lacked the Na- just undertakers, washing and tion’s clarity of values. When I preparing for burial the bodies am confronted with a big news of their dead newspapers. But decision, there is never an iota we are not. We are guardians, of conflict in my soul, what my custodians of great institutions. duty is, what the Daily Nation The Daily Nation will be there stands for, what I should do. for many years to come, we shall The Daily Nation stands for hand it over to the next genera- the truth. Our methods might tion, and the one after, in good not always be efficient and our shape. findings might not always be ac- Violence because we are such curate. But there is no conflict, a brutally efficient news opera- at all, about our purpose and tion. Our capacity to mobilize motivation. coverage of a breaking story, The Daily Nation stands with

JAINDI KISERO ERIC OBINO NICK WACHIRA* Nicholas Muema Julius Maina Managing Editor Investiga- Managing Editor Managing Editor, Managing Editor Managing Editor tions and Economic affairs. Sunday Nation The East African Taifa Leo Saturday Nation My job involves investigating Sunday Nation is Nation’s high- The East African targets a re- As the Managing Editor of Taifa, It’s just over a year since I took and developing mostly business, est circulation Newspaper and gional readership with a more my main task is to select suit- over as editor of the Saturday economic, enterprise issue-ori- has been for a while. Taking sophisticated taste in news that able content for publication Nation. It was not long before I ented stories. As a managing up this position, as the paper’s cuts across the boarders and and determine the best ways of realized that Saturday Nation’s editor, I get to oversee those sto- managing editor comes with a as a publication we are able to projecting it in the paper so as main challenge was – and to ries as well as writing opinion lot of expectation; my own ex- capture activity in the various to meet circulation targets. It is some extent remains – to pack pieces. The biggest challenge is pectation to keep the product sectors and their implications. also my duty to ensure that the a bigger punch than just the lack of space for the stories. It’s at its best and also that of the It’s the first paper presidents in paper is consistent in quality ground-breaking and highly harder to sell a business story, team. the region would go for to get all and tone, and is consistent with successful Saturday Magazine but it is certainly better now Sunday Nation has over the they need to know about what the company’s editorial policy. insert. The magazine is still a big than a few years back. years thrived on analyses on is happening or going to hap- I was appointed early last year pull but many will agree that the The fact that we even have a the week’s stories and one of pen. Business can pick it up and at a time when there was a Saturday Nation is also much full business publication on a the challenges is that an issue be advised on whether to set steady decline in circulation of more these days – readers have daily basis, is a great achieve- deserving to be the main story up shop in the region because Taifa, hence the main task has come to expect much more from ment for the group. could be preempted by the other we give you the information been to reverse the trend. The us after a series of major peo- In the investigative reporting publications on the market. you need to know. To capture figures have improved and sta- ple stories and indepth special that I do, you get to rub a lot of The task is to second-guess the vast readership in different bilized. reports. The most memorable people the wrong way. Stepping the other publications on their culture zones, The EastAfrican For the period I have worked in perhaps is the special pullout on a few toes is part of the job angle. has to find a common ground this position, it has been a daily on the 40th anniversary of Tom really. The best feeling for me is driv- that would interest its target in challenge to go to press without Mboya’s assassination last July. In this business, some of your ing on the way to church and Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and either affecting one’s temper. Thanks to great team work, we best sources end up being dis- see people with a copy, or to find even Rwanda. However, the challenges at- covered an “old story” with re- gruntled contractors who when people discussing the news and The challenge has however tached to this position give me freshing new facts. The results: denied a tender, manage to find telling each other,” Its in today’s been to find a team from all the job satisfaction and justify my A well-received newspaper and information that leads you to Sunday Nation.” It is quite a feel- represented countries but the pay at the end of the month. even higher expectations. something. ing. progress made so far is good. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XIII

DESIGN FROM CONCEPTION TO MATURITY 2000s Lou Silverstein

RED MEAT CAUSES CANCER New survey says it also leads to heart diseases, and SAYS premature STUDY deaths.

BACK PAGE

1990s ∆

www.nation.co.ke

1970s-1980s Jeannette NAIROBI, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2009 No. 16116 ON OTHER KSh35/00 (TSh800/00 : USh1,500/00) Allen Armstrong Collins PAGES FAMINE AKINYI IS BACK: FIGHTING AND 2000s KICKING AWAY Land of the dying In Kajiado, a cow sells for a paltry Sh300. In Ijara, there are Palmer 1960s John Bierman She announces her water wars and in Baringo people live on wild berries return with dramatic confrontation with Watson

Chinedu.PAGE 3

THE HAGUE VOWS TO ACT SWIFTLY Special advisor to chief prosecutor warns that they are ready to move in immediately. PAGE 4

KENYA BEGINS CRICKET Changing face of a friend CONTEST Tikolo to A pictorial mission to lead team little explored pockets of in race drought-striken Kenya, for 2010 World Cup. place of hopelessness, PAGE 59 misery and death — a

To comment on these land that has ceased to and other stories in the By FRANK WHALLEY of youth: friendly, urgent and the Nation proud, swapping stein, Daily Nation go to: support life www.nation.co.ke Pages 14,15&16 Ms Adey Sugal, 70, waits for relief food at a distribution point in Atheyley in Dujis, brash. the loud Futura and Gill Sans w h o NEWS 2-9, 31-35, B Garissa District on Sunday. ACK | OPINION Photos/WILLIAM OERI 10-11 | LETTERS 12 | INTERNATIONAL 18-23 S THE FACE OF A Its name was reversed in Ital- headline typefaces for the more h a d | BUSINESS 24-30 Pay your Electricity Bill at any Equity Bank Branch, | SPORT 59-63 GOOD friend alters ic capitals on the top left of the upmarket serif face of Century r e - ATM, Point of Sale, or our Eazzy 24/7 over the years, so has front page with the space next to Schoolbook. Mobile Banking Service. Athe face of the Na- it, known as the earpiece, used for The masthead changed as well, tion changed. But like that same boxed reports, as the paper’s first to Clarendon, no longer reversed shaped the New York friend, it has remained recognis- editor, former Fleet Street staffer and with what became the trade- Times, took things in hand. lasted four years, until 2006 able, wearing a warm smile that and later award-winning BBC TV mark style of having the word The Silverstein look was when, faced by rapidly updated makes it a welcome guest in so reporter John Bierman, adapted Daily in upper and lower case launched on June 30, 2001. The opposition newspapers, another many households. what was known as freestyle de- (like this text) lined up with the main headline face harped back redesign was needed. The key has been to ensure sign with dazzling effect. top of the much larger word NA- to Armstrong’s design with a ver- This time the experts were the that the newspaper’s appearance Freestyle presents stories as TION in capital letters. sion of Century, this time ITC Scottish firm of Palmer Watson, signals the quality of its content. pieces of a jigsaw, offering a strict It was a brilliant mix, and the Century, squeezed to 70 per cent a new but respected team that Several factors govern that. hierarchy on each page with the British trade paper for journal- of its normal width to give, as Sil- went on to redesign Le Monde First is the paper’s position in text interlocking, and leading the ists, the UK Press Gazette, was verstein said, “more pep.” among many other famous ti- the market: a paper for the work- eye from one report to the next. quick to admire it, commenting: The titlepiece was, important- tles. ing man or woman, a paper for Bierman’s design, revolution- “It is an offset litho sheet which ly, still Clarendon although the Ally Palmer and Terry Watson top decision makers, or a paper ary in East Africa, was a winner. for clarity, colour and crispness word Daily became even larger took the paper further upmar- for the family? One innovation was a cartoon on surpasses many of our own offset and now sat on the bottom of ket, dramatically widening the Another factor is size -- tradi- the leader page (Page 4 in those publications.” It was the friendly the line next to NATION, still distance in quality between the tionally broadsheet for upmarket days) with the paper’s opinion, face of a friend who was begin- in caps. Nations and any opposition. and tabloid for racier stories and the leader or editorial, boxed ning to mature. There were further (and con- Today’s paper might not imme- faster consumption -- although beneath. The next main change came troversial) changes to the mast- diately look like the edtion that now boundaries have blurred, The Nation retained the Bier- from British designer, Jeannette head in the Saturday Nation and launched a legend back in March with upmarket tabloids and the man look when in October of Collins, whokept the main faces, the Sunday Nation, where the ti- 1960, but the family resemblance occasional middle or downmar- 1960 the Sunday paper was tightening the Clarendon mast- tles were double-decked with Sat- is still strong. ket broadsheet. joined by the Daily Nation, the head and increasing the size of urday and Sunday on top . Yet another factor is the choice masthead initially stacked in two the word Daily. A new slogan This was a friendly face with Frank Whalley is a former Na- of typefaces. That used to be easy: lines still within the seal. was introduced: The newspaper the self-confident smile of suc- tion training editor, resident in tabloid and downmarket meant Eventually the name of the that serves the nation. cessful middle age. Nairobi and specialising in re- chunky sans faces, broadsheet paper became one line, still as a The main change was to make Silverstein’s look for the Nation porting on the fine arts. and upmarket meant elegant reverse and it remained that way the pages modular, a style in serif. That, too, has changed. until the first major revamp of which all the headlines, pictures Now the best guide to market the design, which came in 1978. and text of one story are con- It was a brilliant mix, and the British trade position is story angle (people The brief to produce a new tained within rectangles which paper for journalists, the UK Press Gazette, or issues) and the degree of pro- look for the Daily Nation, more sit alongside or above and below was quick to admire it, commenting: “It is an jection. in keeping with the emergence each other. offset litho sheet which for clarity, colour and The very first Nation pub- of an African middle class , fell The Collins revamp stayed valid crispness surpasses many of our own offset lished on March 30, 1960, was in 1978 to Allen Armstrong, the until 2001, when the vastly expe- unashamedly tabloid, the face paper’s chief sub editor. He did rienced American, Lou Silver- publications DAILY NATION XIV | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

HUMOUR The man who made the nation laugh

By GAKIHA WERU Mutahi’s satire was Sometime at the beginning of unforgiving, the 1980s, a master’s degree and his fam- student at the University of ily was the Nairobi saw an advertisement in cast in his Nation Newspapers, announc- column. ing vacancies for sub-editors. NMG ARCHIVES He applied and was hired. “I was under the impression that a sub-editor was a pretty senior fellow. I was terribly mistaken,’’ the student recalled years later. The student was the late Wa- his satire, his wife Ricarda Njoki home Mutahi. Over the next recalled later, that at Murang’a two decades he was to tantalise district hospital where she readers with a rare and unique worked, few people knew her brand of humour. real name. They all called her Through his column, “Whis- Thatcher. pers,” Mutahi became an inte- Mutahi laughed at himself, at gral part of the Nation stable those around him and at society and the Sunday Nation was in general. In turn, Sunday Na- incomplete without an article tion readers laughed with him typewriter at old Nation House they pleaded guilty to charges gathe Mbogothi and Ngoma Cia from “the son of the soil.” and loved him too, “I can laugh in Tom Mboya Street when the of sedition. Aka. He also has several books So huge was his following at anything with the exception Special Branch officers walked It was common knowledge to his name. that when Mutahi left to join of God and disability,” he once in and demanded to see him. that people who admitted such When Mutahi died in July 2003, the competition, he was hired said. After a brief chat at reception, charges had pleas of guilty the country was stunned. It was right back, the company hav- His satire and did not the spare he went back to his desk and beaten out them at Nyayo only then that it became clear ing found that when he moved the political class either. Using collected his jacket. Out in the House. Mutahi’s book, Three that through his column, he had house, thousands of readers analogies, former President Moi street he was surrounded by Days On The Cross, tells of his touched a generation in a very moved with him. became the “main headmaster.” other officers and led away and experience at the hands of his special way. His satire was unforgiving Mutahi’s pen was at its sharp- nobody knew his whereabouts torturers. His death, too, was tragic. He and his family members were est at a time when the Moi for days on end. Mutahi was a top feature writer had gone on March 7 to Thika permanent caricatures in his regime could not countenance Like many other people who who inspired scores of journal- District hospital for what column. There was his mother, any form of criticism. It was were jailed for sedition at that ist and personally mentored was to be a minor operation. Appep, his wife, Thatcher, Whiz therefore not entirely surprising time, Mutahi was to appear in many of them including this Something went terribly wrong Junior aka the domestic thug when Mutahi was arrested and court one day late in the after- writer. and Mutahi went into a coma and daughters Pajero and the jailed on trumped up charges noon. With him was his young He was also a great thespian from which he never woke up. Investiment. in 1986. brother, Njuguna Mutahi. As and playwright. He penned He died three months later at So much was his family part of He was banging away on his everybody did in those days, many plays, among them Mu- Kenyatta National Hospital. The Sunday paper seduced readers with its verve, but the daily limped

caption said, “he lounges with his have a look.” It was not difficult Sir Patrick Renison. Poole was books and newspapers, listens to for the ill-intentioned to descry hanged on August 8, 1960, the the ever-present radio – and a racial angle in the most mun- only white man executed in colo- waits for the day of his return.” dane of happenings and report- nial Kenya for killing an African. The coverage electrified Africans, ers were warned to be vigilant in The Nation denounced sugges- angered the colonial government their choice of words and use of tions that Poole’s execution was and infuriated many settlers who phraseology. But one event, all “appeasement towards African blamed Kenyatta for the activi- but forgotten now though with nationalist opinion.” It declared ties of the Mau Mau. international dimensions at the in an editorial: “British law holds Exacerbating national resent- time, was unavoidably race-cen- rightly that the value of a white ments at the time was a wide- tred. This was the case of British- man’s life is no more than that spread drought. The Nation re- born Peter Poole, a 28-year-old of a black man. In this respect, The Aga 30,000-plus in August. ported in July of 1960 that scores engineer, sentenced to death for the forces of law and order have Khan, on a CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 This dizzying success owed of cattle had died and the maize shooting dead his African house acted with impartiality.” 1961 visit to much to coups such as a world crop had failed. Farmers sold servant, Kamawe Musunge. If conditions within the East Nation House, askance at The Nation’s politics, exclusive in June, headlined, their stock at giveaway prices or His defence argued that Poole’s African nations were superficial- discusses they were quickly seduced by its “The old man who waits at Lod- paid 50 per cent more for feeding wife and two children had been ly peaceful, underlying tensions news issues energy, liveliness and humour war.” This was a spread of pho- barley. Said one ruined Rift Val- stoned by a group of Africans and were constantly fuelled by tur- with the Edi- and the fresh and aggressive tographs of Jomo Kenyatta, the ley farmer, “If you listen to some he shot Musunge after the Afri- moil beyond their frontiers. Inde- torial team. approach it demonstrated to- man the colonial government of the African politicians, every can threw stones at Poole’s dogs. pendence in the former Belgian wards reporting public affairs. vainly hoped had been forgotten, European farmer is sitting on An appeal was rejected by Congo was followed immediately The March 20 launch issue sold then in detention in the North- the verandah drinking whisky. the Privy Concil in London and by rioting, looting, mutiny, rape 17,500 copies and quickly the fig- ern Frontier town of that name. If we are not brutal, we are rich. a plea for clemency was turned ure soared to 24,000, reaching “He digs his arid little garden,” a Tell them to come out here and down by Kenya’s Governor, CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XV DAILY NATION XVI | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

REFLECTIONS MOTORING IN AN ERA GONE BY Driving into a past of empty streets . . . and no matatus By GAVIN BENNETT rather than just being hoped for). chrome plated, with over-riders But beyond the most obvious (and badges), the number plates, ew things in life evoke past long-distance observations… fore and aft, were black with sil- eras quite so precisely and There would be no SUV’s, no ver-grey lettering (mostly start- Fpowerfully as the car. The hatchbacks, and almost no pick- ing in the KC-KF range). Many imagery is so strong and clear ups or matatus. The only 4WD would have roofracks, sun visors that movie makers can locate would be a Series II Land-Rover, and mascots. The latest fad was a their audience in time and place with its headlights still mounted little perspex gizmo mounted on with a single shot of cars on a in the radiator grille (not out on the front of the bonnet, billed as Why our newspapers are street. the wings). The biggest trucks a “fly deflector.” So what would strike us most would be what we now call 7-ton- To get in, each door would have — carwise — if we watched a film ners. And in these and any other to be unlocked individually, and taking on a different role clip of Nairobi on the day the classes, there would not be a sin- once inside even the plushest 1960s vehi- first copies of the Nation came gle vehicle from Japan (where models would seem Spartan. No Mr Joseph Odindo, cast stations in Uganda and cles cruised rattling off the presses in 1960? today 80 per cent of our road-fill seatbelts at all. Radios were op- Editorial Director Nation Tanzania and might soon on almost It would be a cine film of course. comes from). tional extras. All windows were Media Group venture into Rwanda. empty streets Video bado. Zoom in a little closer and there wound by hand. In half a century of writing between low Obviously, all the vehicles would be more to surprise today’s There were no buttons and ials or 50 years Nation headlines, we have had our rise buildings would be models from the 1950s, memory. All would be running were few – speedo (in mph), tem- newspapers have share of disgrace and our mo- and 10 cars cruising around on almost empty on crossply tyres (though radials perature gauge (in Fahrenheit), striven to uphold the ments of glory. We stood up was consid- streets between low-rise build- were about to arrive as the Miche- fuel gauge (in guesswork; the VW Fpromise of that very for Kenya’s independence, ered a jam. ings (a queue of 10 cars was con- lin X, which everybody thought Beetle didn’t even have one) and, first issue - to become the championed the return of NMG ARCHIVES sidered a traffic jam; the terms needed to be pumped up more). as an optional extra, a clock (in most reliable source of accu- multiparty democracy and ex- “parking space” and “open road” None would have door mirrors, loud ticks). Full stop. Gear shift rate news and essential infor- posed Goldenberg and Anglo were things that actually existed, all the bumper bars would be levers on the steering wheel were mation in the region. Leasing, along with countless common (so were bench seats)… And now the challenge has other injustices against our and often alone. There were no grown to ensure our print, nation. combination lights-and-wipers broadcast, internet and mo- Of course, people buy news- levers (those were push-pull but- bile phone media become the papers for many reasons. tons scattered randomly around choice of the continent - the Sometimes it is to read the the unpadded dashboard; a two- media of Africa for Africa. pioneering obituary pages, or speed wiper was something to The Press is often thought of notices of college admissions mention in adverts, intermittent as the watchdog that keeps and new products. options were unheard of, and the an eye on Government and Welcome, too, are advertise- washer spray was a completely through its vigilance helps to ments for jobs or cars and separate item activated by a one- moderate public affairs. even pets. squirt-per-push manual pump). Since before Uhuru the Na- All is grist to the mill; part The steering column did often tion has been present at every and parcel of a great daily have a small second lever to make major event in the country’s read. Perhaps the greatest the “trafficators” blink left or proud history, recording, in- challenge yet faced by jour- right, and there were still plenty forming, explaining the news. nalists across all our media of vehicles that did not have those Whether the death of a Presi- was the post election violence – instead, a little illuminated pad- dent, a major disaster, the that rocked Kenya following dle swung out of the door pillar, passing of vital legislation or the 2007 poll. It tested our at the behest of a toggle switch a national debate - Nation courage and impartiality, our near the ashtray. journalists have been there. ability to stand back from the Now as the focus of breaking turmoil and report without news shifts to the electronic bias. We triumphed in the media - radio, TV, the inter- end, but learnt painful les- Gado: Every which way but loose net and our 6667 phone alerts sons along the way. - newspapers are assuming a Any newsroom is a micro- t is Pulitzer winner Dough Marlette who once a cartoonist after freelancing with Daily News, Busi- different role. cosm of the society it covers. remarked: “Good cartoons are like visual rock ness Times and the Express, all of Tanzania. The accent now is on what we Just as our countrymen and Iand roll. They hit you primitively and emotion- He has won several local awards. In 1996 he was call Day Two, or Back Stories women were riven by con- ally, turning you every which way but loose.” honored by the International Olympic Media Award -- expert reports that explain flicting loyalties, so divisions Award winning Nation Cartoonist God- in Print Media and in 1999 was named Kenya Car- what lies behind the news. crept into our newsrooms. frey Mwampembwa a.k.a Gado has been toonist of the Year. He has exhibited his works in These put the day’s events Yet it is immensely to the rocking our world with good cartoons, Tanzania, Kenya, France, Norway, Finland and Italy. into context and help to pro- credit of Nation group jour- albeit controversial at times. But in be- A painter in oils and watercolours, Gado is a mem- vide a greater understand- nalists that they were, finally, tween he has emerged as perhaps ber of Kenya Union of Journalists , the Association ing of the bewildering pace able to put aside any differ- one of the most outstanding Afri- of East African cartoonists , Cartoonists and Writers of change. Of course, it is not ences and determine that can cartoonists in recent years. His Syndicate (C&W) and a Board Member of Cartoonist only exemplary news cover- together their primary task editorial cartoons have often rubbed Rights Network . age that has seen the Nation - in addition to reporting the authorities the wrong way and enter- At the moment Gado is the most syndicated grow from one Sunday news- news - was somehow to help tained readers with the same zeal. political/editorial cartoonist in East and Central paper into the largest media heal the country; to bring Gado picked the mantle from the likes Africa. His works have also been published in Le house in East and Central harmony where there was of Frank Odoi and Paul Kelemba who had Monde (France), the Washington Times (US), Des Africa. From a wafer thin discord. graced the editorial pages in the 80s and Standard (Belgium) and Japan Times. He has pub- Kiswahili title beloved of na- I am proud to have been part has stuck like a permanent outcrop in lished two books: Abunuswasi (1996) a short story tionalist Kenyans, the group of that Nation team, and I am the op-ed pages of the Nation. comic book and DEMOCRAZY! , a collection of his runs newspapers and broad- even prouder now to lead it. Born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, editorial cartoons. Gado joined Nation Editorial in 1992 as DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XVII

RECOLLECTIONS We knew we were involved in something special

By JOHN McHAFFIE visited us and passers-by could, tion swirled – known as “Joe”, and did, wander onto the edito- because his original European isitors to today’s Nation rial floor after the most cursory colleagues could not get their Centre cannot fail to be of checks. tongues around Jawaharlal. Vimpressed by its gran- The newsroom itself exuded µ Irrepressible Joe Kadhi of the deur, looking as it does every a noisy vibrancy, missing now booming laugh who now passes inch the flagship headquarters in the almost monastic silence on his vast experience to a new of a large and dynamic media of today’s push-button, cyber generation of journalists as a group. journalism. It was an “old professor at USIU in Nairobi. But, whenever I walk through school” newsroom, with news µ George Mbugguss and Bob its St Peter’s-like doors and into agency machines chattering Muthusi, who in the early days its marble halls, I allow myself by the windows, reporters steered Taifa Leo, to its pre-emi- a rueful smile as my mind goes pounding manual typewriters, nent position in Swahili publish- back over three decades to a chained to their desks, and all ing. time when Nation newspapers around the shuffling of short µ Polymath and resident lexi- were put together in far hum- typewritten pages known as cographer Phillip Ochieng, who bler surroundings. “takes” as sub-editors on the succeeded me as chief sub, and The old Nation House, opposite news, sports and features desks is still strutting his stuff in the the fire station in Tom Mboya prepared stories for the next Sunday Nation. Street, was a very different day’s paper. And then there were the young proposition. But, if our editorial surround- The newsroom first) considerable preparation eventually paving the way for a lions of the time, who became The long, two-storey building ings were workaday, we still at old Nation time was required. A full-colour triumphant double-page “Final the grizzled veterans of later had few of the features of its il- knew that we were pioneers, House on Tom picture tended to appear in the Farewell” edition for President times — Wangethi Mwangi, lustrious successor. There was involved in something special. Mboya Street features pages, which were Kenyatta’s funeral. Joseph Odindo, Tom Mshindi. no need for snazzy TV or radio Our photo-typesetting technol- Nairobi in the planned days ahead. Our first But newspapers, perhaps more After me, other chief subs were: studios, since liberalisation of ogy and web-offset printing early years. opportunity to put colour to than any other enterprise, are a Phillip Ochieng, Ali Hafidh, the airwaves was still years process were way ahead of the test was the crash of a Boe- people business, a team endeav- Wangethi Mwangi, Joseph away. No need either for fancy London’s mighty Fleet Street. ing 747 of Lufthansa Airlines in our, and when I look back, it is Odindo, Kibe Kamunyu, Julius reception areas or elaborate se- The ability to print full-colour Nairobi. Over time we got better the people who spring to mind: Maina, Pamela Makotsi, Timothy curity desks to screen visitors, pictures was one such inno- and faster, and colour became µ Joe Rodrigues, editor supreme, Wanyonyi and presently, Mbu- since terrorism had not yet vation, although (at least at a more regular occurrence, the rock around which the Na- gua Ng’ang’a. DAILY NATION XVIII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

CHRONOLOGY FROM CONCEPTION TO MATURITY

Briton sentenced to death for killing a Kenyan

can majority rule, the newspaper CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 referred not only to Kenya but to Above left: all of East Africa, a regional per- Delegates and death and the country be- spective which, at the Aga Khan’s from left, came a byword and a caution for behest, the company’s newspa- Jean Marie those who feared African nations pers were to maintain through- Seroney, were not yet equipped to handle out their history. For many years, Ronald independence. Kenya’s Elspeth this stance flew in the face of Ngala, Huxley, a writer and thinker on cool if not disdainful attitudes and, far Africa, said in a Nation interview towards regional co-operation right, Ron- that democracy would never by the governments themselves, ald Ngala. work on the continent. Predict- fired as they were by the euphoria Above: A ing a series of African dictators, of national sovereignty. procession she declared, “It is not possible The colonial power had been on the way to have a Western-style democ- an enthusiastic proponent of to the Uhuru racy in a country divided deeply common services, creating such celebrations. on racial, linguistic, cultural and institutions as East African Right: Presi- religious lines.” Railways and Harbours and the dent Jomo The Daily Nation hit the streets East African Currency Union. Kenyatta on Monday, October 3, 1960, re- In 1961, an attempt was made chairs his peating the company’s promise to harmonise the economies of first Cabinet to “do our utmost to help Kenya Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika/ meeting. On and the other East African ter- Tanzania when the East African his right is ritories make the perilous tran- High Commission became the Vice-Presi- sition to African majority rule East African Common Services dent Jara- and full independence as peace- Organisation, which in turn mogi Oginga Rwanda and Burundi. The five prove on the weekend of Octo- A letter from a reader said, “The fully and constructively as possi- became the East African Com- Odinga. members would effectively be- ber 3, 1960 and the paper’s own mountain has laboured and ble.” Cautiously, it mentioned no munity in 1967. Due to differing come a single state within the launch was promoted to second brought forth a mouse.” time frame but pledged to act as political philosophies, this entity African Union, hopefully by 2013. lead on Page One. The main story Stung, the newsroom fought a watchdog for the common man, effectively stopped functioning Despite a long history of federal told of the return home of the back. Through initiative and “guarding the liberty of the indi- in 1972 and collapsed in 1977. failures, the Nation’s faith in a Sultan of Zanzibar after hospital- hard work and driven by Bier- vidual against bureaucracy and It was revived in 2000 with the strong regional presence never isation in Europe, describing him man, reporters brought in a se- totalitarianism, however they intention of paving the way to wavered and year after year it as “fit as a fiddle.” He died within ries of exclusive front page sto- may manifest themselves.” In re- a full-scale federation compris- called for new efforts towards weeks. Writing 25 years later for ries on widely different topics peating its commitment to Afri- ing Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, integration. the paper’s silver jubilee souve- which kept people talking about Unlike its Sunday sibling, nir, editor Bierman recalled, “It the paper, even if not enough The Daily Nation hit the streets on the Daily Nation’s growth was was not, let us be frank, a very were buying it. “It was hard and Monday, October 3, 1960, repeating to prove slow and painful. The good issue…and it went down often heart-breaking work,” Bier- the company’s promise to “do our choice of a launch date, for ex- rather like a lead balloon.” The man recalled, but it did finally utmost to help Kenya and the other East ample, was questionable. A print order for the launch was pay off. Putting sales back at a Monday paper has to carry news 15,500 and it sold 13,000. Sales modest 200 per week, circulation African territories make the perilous from Sunday and there is often dropped even further when the rose slowly to a point of viability. transition to African majority rule and not much happening on the tra- curiosity factor abated and come But it took more than five years full independence ditional day of rest. So it was to November were down to 12,000. to cross the 20,000 barrier, which DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XIX Path to Uhuru full of problems

Above: Jomo Kenyatta signs the instruments of independence; Right, Miss Uhuru, Elizabeth Mumbi, in a recent photo, with a picture of herself from 1963. At left, how the Nation carried the story of Ken- ya’s independence celebrations in the Friday edition of December 13, 1963. The paper cost 30 cents.

the Sunday Nation achieved in the constitution -- three sessions four months. Inevitably, what At heart was a failure by politicians to understand the difference a day, three days a week. A 248- mostly filled the new newspa- between being independent and being hostile to government. page constitution was finally per’s columns was politics. agreed and tabled as an Order in What disappointed the Nation’s Almost to a man they hewed to the Biblical adjuration, “He who is Council. It met the needs of the liberal-minded young journal- not with us is against us.” day but was to be amended many ists was the critical attitude of times in the coming years. the emerging class of African In the election, Kanu won two- politicians when hardline po- from knee-jerk commentators of ing together on the same airplane strictions, led the African del- thirds of the vote and formed a litical in-fighting began to domi- being an anti-government news- were a group of African nation- egation. Kanu’s men pressed for strong government with Kenyatta nate the national scene. While paper. At heart was a failure by alists including Mboya, Odinga centralism while an opposition as prime minister. The Nation, in not being so starry-eyed as to ex- politicians to understand the and Daniel Arap Moi – but not African group, the Kenya African a landmark decision, printed the pect gratitude for their support difference between being inde- Kenyatta, who was still in deten- Democratic Union led by Ronald headline, “Kanu for Kenya,” the for independence, they were dis- pendent and being hostile to tion; moderate Europeans led by Ngala, argued for regionalism or first and so far the only time it mayed that such a positive stance government. Almost to a man Michael Blundell; and a party of majimbo. A framework constitu- has endorsed a political party. seemed to count for nothing and they hewed to the Biblical adju- settlers headed by Group Captain tion was eventually mapped out It argued that Kanu had more motives of ill-will were imputed ration, “He who is not with us is “Puck” Briggs. A proposed multi- and taken back to Nairobi to be talent in its ranks than Kadu and to them when they reported con- against us.” The price for main- racial constitution was accepted refined. A new Governor, Mal- that a centralised form of govern- tentious but valid issues. Bier- taining its integrity was a deeply by Blundell and, reluctantly, by colm MacDonald, threw out the ment was preferable to regional man shot back: “It is right and uncomfortable life for the Nation the Africans, but rejected by the planned timetable for an elec- rule. Typically, it also claimed proper that Nation Newspapers and its staff for virtually all of its settlers. Clearly more talks were tion in the autumn of 1963 and March, 1960. Kanu would be should report and comment on 50 years to date. needed and the Kenyans flew independence by the end of 1964. better at achieving federation in these differences (within Kanu).” The path to independence was back to Nairobi, where a set- Kenyans were just too impatient, East Africa – an argument that It would, he warned, continue to cluttered with problems but in tler threw 30 silver sixpences at he said. Elections were set in- was to be decisively disproved do so. retrospect its achievement was Blundell and cried that he was stead for May 1963, internal self- by the party’s lukewarm attitude It was the Nation’s stubborn inevitable. In January 1960, some “a Judas.” rule on June 1 and independence to federation. Finally on Decem- adherence to investigating and 50 Kenya delegates attended the When a second round of talks in December. MacDonald organ- reporting all sides of an issue first constitutional conference at took place in London in 1962, ised a grinding series of meetings CONTINUED ON PAGE 21 that was to gain it a reputation Lancaster House in London. Fly- Kenyatta, now freed from all re- by African ministers to finalise DAILY NATION XX | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

RECOLLECTIONS LEFT: Vidyarthi’s famous shot of a fit Vidyarthi: Pioneer and lively Kenyatta jumping over photojournalist a stream in the Maasai Mara. Behind By SHRAVAN VIDYARTHI Vidyarthi became a staff him is his then photographer at Nation in secreatary, orn in Nairobi in 1944, 1963 and covered Kenya’s In- J.M. Kariuki. Anil Vidyarthi began dependence celebrations in COURTESY OF A. VID- Btaking pictures with December of that year. Many YARTHI a Box Brownie camera at the Kenyans will remember his age of 16. Anil’s father, G.L. photo of Jomo Kenyatta Vidyarthi, had established jumping over a stream in the Kenya’s first anti-colonial Maasai Mara game reserve newspaper in 1933 as well as on his way to greet Ameri- a host of vernacular news- can astronauts vacationing papers. in Kenya. It was at his father’s pr “Before the astronauts ar- inting press that Anil would rived, President Kenyatta watch his cousin, photo- and politician JM Kariuki journalist Priya Ramrakha, were taking a walk near a processing pictures of lead- small stream,” Vidyarthi ers like Jomo Kenyatta, Tom says. “Then Kenyatta jumped Mboya and Daniel arap Moi. over it. I had three cameras The Nations’ photo aces Anil bought his first Nikon around my neck and quickly, camera in 1962. He was without focusing, clicked the working then in a dark room shutter a few times. There The police followed them there and after the remembers the 1982 coup attempt as on River Road. On the rec- were 30 photographers wait- one of the most memorable and also ommendation of reporter ing, but I was the only one door to the house was broken down by firemen, traumatic times. He was with a neigh- Chhotu Karadia, Nation edi- who got the shot. The pic- bour of his near the Nyayo National tor John Bierman agreed to ture was on the front page a police inspector shot himself in the foot stadium when a shot rang out. His bring Vidyarthi on board. of Nation the next day and neighbour fell dead. He had been There were few photojour- Kenyatta ordered hundreds hotography has played a major shot by security forces. nalists in those days, and of prints to send to leaders role in Nation journalism. Sam says he had warned him that most photographers plied around the world when- PAmong key photographers was leaving the house would be danger- their trade in Nairobi’s stu- ever they inquired about his YAHYA MOHAMED, who worked for ous, but his neighbour did not lis- dios. Caleb Okwera, who health.” Nation between 1971 and 1992. ten. The 1998 Nairobi bomb blast worked alongside Vidyarthi, Vidyarthi left Nation in An amusing but also tragic assign- will touched him in a personal way.

was the only black African 1967 for a brief stint in the 1971 - 1992 ment for him was one of a robbery He says that five minutes before the photographer at the Nation printing industry and then from the Queensway branch of Bar- bomb went off, he had received a mys- before independence. joined Derby College of Art clays. After robbers took the money terious call in the office from a man Vidyarthi’s first assign- in England to pursue a two- and fled, he recalls, they took refuge with an Arab accent, who said that “a ment was to photograph a year degree in photography in a house at Uhuru estate in the city’s building in Nairobi will dance today.” derailed train near Nairobi. in 1969. He moved to New Eastlands. He recalls: “We jumped on York in 1971 and found casu- The police followed them there and YUSUF WACHIRA worked for Na- a plane to get an overhead al work at Life magazine. after the door to the house was bro- tion from 1988 to 2001 and remem- shot. I started shooting with He returned home in Janu- ken down by firemen, a police inspec- bers the day when Alexander Muge, a camera provided by the ary1972 and took up work tor shot himself in the foot. the Anglican Bishop of Eldoret’s Nation and the film ran out in the printing industry. In “The inspector was drawing a gun church service in Kirinyaga was dis- after two exposures. To save the early 1980s, he returned from his holster but it went off and a rupted by a chief who wanted to slap film, photographers would briefly to photography and bullet went through his foot. I got the the bishop. The congregation booed leave unexposed frames in covered President Moi’s state picture, and earned myself an imme- the chief out of the church leading to the camera. I had no idea visit to India for Viva maga- diate promotion,” Yahya recalled. The riots in Kirinyaga town. that was the case when I zine. Anil is now the manag- robbers were caught. Other notable photographers have started, but luckily I still got ing director of Colourprint included Joseph Odiyo, who has since the shot!” Limited printing press. SAM OUMA, worked for Nation died, and Joseph Thuo. between 1981-1988 and then for a sec- Yahya Mohamed ond stint between 1990 and 1998. He – Compiled by Kibe Kamunyu 1988 - 2001 1960 - 1965

Members of the Nairobi Press Corps cameramen, line up behind President Kenyatta at the 1966 Limuru Kanu Confer- 1981 -1988 & 1990 - 1998 ence. Directly behind the President is Nation cameraman Anil Vidyarthi. Second from right is Nation photographer Akhtar Hussein. It is not recorded who took this picture. Joseph Thuo Yusuf Wachira Sam Ouma DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XXI Challenge to the constitution

1971: Ugan- many other newly independent da’s General African nations at that time. Idi Amin Dada On the first anniversary of comes to power independence, Kenya became a through a mili- Republic and Kenyatta its first tary coup President. In a speech mark- ing the occasion, he declared 1978: A front that the independence consti- and back spread tution was “too rigid, expensive of Kenyatta’s and unworkable.” Kenyatta Day funeral. – October 20 -- had already been established to mark the arrest and detention of Kenyatta and his companions 12 years earlier. The direction in which the coun- try was heading was clearly elu- cidated on November 10, when Ronald Ngala’s Kadu joined the Kanu government and Kenya be- came a one-party state. The Min- Right: 1980/81: istry of Home Affairs was taken It was a tragic from VP Oginga Odinga and New year’s eve given to Daniel Arap Moi. when a power- As the decade moved on, devel- ful bomb ripped opments emerged which were to through part become recurring motifs in the of the Norfolk Kenya story such as corruption Hotel as guests scandals, quarrels about free ex- gathered for a pression and constant scrapping party. over political power. When a maize shortage hit Below Right: the nation, an inquiry was or- 1976: Israeli dered into suspected thievery hostage after at a high level. There followed their release fol- scandal at the West Kenya Mar- lowing a com- keting Board, with allegations of mando raid on a cheque being signed for a Mer- Entebbe. cedes car and outrageous pay- ments to MPs. The entire board Extreme Right: was sacked and staff suspended. 1978: Dan- Assurances of Press freedom by iel arap Moi Attorney-General Charles Njonjo is sworn in as were received with reserve by Kenya’s second the Nation and an editorial said, president. “While newspapers understand the problem which the Govern- ment faces, it is only fair that the Government and politicians should understand the troubled political waters through which newspapers must walk.” When in May 1966 Kenyatta named Joseph Murumbi as Vice-Presi- dent, Odinga resigned and soon afterwards announced formation basa on what was then only a missionaries, Ng’weno saw to officers and foreign reporters, of the Kenya People’s Union with CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 murram road infested with wild it that the slaughter of thou- the first journalist being Tony 28 other dissident legislators. animals and subject to sudden sands of Congolese Africans was Dunn, the Nation’s man in Dar Since MPs joining a new party ber 12, 1963, the Union Jack was floods.” The Nation had become brought to the attention of news- es Salaam. Dunn was originally were required to resign from lowered and Kenya’s new flag – a a truly national newspaper and hungry Kenyans. expelled by the government of Parliament, a “little general elec- shield and crossed spears on a it was clear the time was ripe to In government circles there Tanzania, and thus automatical- tion” was held for 30 seats. The red, black and green background appoint a Kenyan to lead the edi- were signs of the uncertainty ly under a bilateral agreement, result was a major victory for – was raised in its place. The Na- torial team. that affected many new nations by Kenya, too. His offence was Kanu, which won 21 of the avail- tion’s front page declared “Kenya The Board’s choice was a Har- when its inexperienced politi- to report too accurately on Afri- able seats. Said Kanu secretary- Free!” vard graduate and a journal- cians were suddenly handed can-on-Arab violence which had general Mboya: “The KPU is dead As the new government strug- ist who had already made his power. In the belief that news- flared on Zanzibar, and insurrec- and the voters buried it.” gled to find its feet, so the Nation mark as a feature writer, Hi- papers should act as an arm of tion in the army on mainland The Sixties ended in darkness. began to flex its muscles, Michael lary Ng’weno. The new editor development, the Information Tanzania. Military mutinies soon On July 5, 1969, Tom Mboya, aged Curtis recalled: “We became the brought an African perspective Ministry tightened its grip on the flared in Kenya and Uganda, too, 38, was shot dead coming out of first newspaper to distribute to reporting and writing, clearly flow of government news, taking but these were quelled with Brit- a chemist’s shop barely 100 yards nationwide from our presses in demonstrated by the upheaval in control of the Kenya Broadcast- ish military help. Embarrassing from Nation House. The Nation Nairobi. We did what everyone the Congo following the murder ing Corporation and changing its as these incidents were for the described it as “the most horrific in Nairobi told me was impossi- of Patrice Lumumba. As interna- name to the Voice of Kenya. new nations, they served to il- ble and ran our Land-Rovers the tional news agencies focussed It also deported a number lustrate the dangers of military whole of the 300 miles to Mom- their reports on the fate of white of former colonial government takeovers that were afflicting CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 DAILY NATION XXII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

Stories the editors would prefer to forget

1975 JM Kariuki’s murder: Reflections on the Nation’s most shameful episode he success story of any media house is inevitably interspersed with the sort I remember the initial shock and Tof failures and blunders which make MARCH those discreet, bottom-of-the-page “Correc- disbelief; the riots in the streets and tions and Clarifications” required reading GOOFS & GAFFES GOOFS by journalists and consumers alike. the open rebellion in Parliament Nation Media Group has been no excep- tion. Mostly, these blunders just made the By MACHARIA GAITHO friendship with Zambian Cabi- newspapers look silly. On the lighter side, net minister Vernon Mwaanga Daily Nation librarian ANNIEL NJOKA re- he screaming Daily Na- and even provided details of calls two such stories: tion headline that Ken- where he was staying in Lusaka Driving in reverse claim Tyans woke up to one — lacked any shred of truth. This saga started in 1985 when Eric Awori, morning in early March 1975 The Nation eventually re- a scion of East Africa’s well-known Awori read, “JM in Zambia.” covered the public’s confidence family and a Rugby player with Kenya Har- If the headline was meant to but the JM falsehood remained lequins, was reported to have driven a car in reassure Kenyans that all was a stain on the history of the reverse all 500kms from Mombasa to Nai- well after the popular maverick newspaper. robi. It eventually turned out it was all false. MP had been reported missing, As a high school student and He was arrainged in court on fraud charges it turned out to be a cruel joke. avid newspaper reader at the and fined. For that very day, J.M. Kariuki’s time, I followed the keenly the Populist politician JM Kariuki, killed in 1975. mutilated body was found at aftermath of the brutal murder He did not milk an elephant the Nairobi City Mortuary, of Kenya’s most popular politi- unmatched by any other probe people in those days were al- In November 1998 a small news item was tagged as an “unknown male cian. by MPs. lied to one or another political turned into a full-page feature. African”. I remember clearly the initial As a Nation staffer, I have faction even in the one-party Then the international news agencies As the country struggled to shock and disbelief; the riots in every JM Anniversary reflect- era where the battle was for the picked it up, and an unknown 22-year old come to grips with the assas- the streets and the open re- ed on the disastrous blunder Kenyatta succession. Kenyan became a global celebrity for the sination of the fiery MP for bellion in Parliament that under the supervision of the It remains difficult, however, amazing feat of milking an elephant, a wild Nyandarua North and the gov- shook the hitherto impregna- then editor-in-chief, George to decipher the reasons behind one, not a tame creature in a zoo. ernment of President Kenyatta ble Kenyatta government to Githii. the story. If the intention was to Mr Peter Baraza, however, was not im- reeled under the public anger, the core; the blatant police Politicians of that era pro- buy a beleaguered government pressed with all the fame that transformed the Nation Group hung its head cover-up; and the hearings and vide fascinating insights into some breathing space as part of him into an instant celebrity. On leaving in shame. findings of the Parliamentary the kind of manouevres which a coordinated cover-up, it was hospital, Mr Baraza filed a lawsuit against The headline — and the en- Select Committee chaired by were played out at the time and a massive flop that did incal- the Nation for carrying false reports and tire story that recounted JM’s Elijah Mwangale that remain how many senior newspaper culable harm to the Nation. Mr was awarded a handsome sum. 1969

JULY Tom Mboya is gunned down

By JOHN KAMAU ga as the suspect. He appeared before a Nairobi magistrate S.K. n a Monday morning, sachdeva charged with the mur- October 14, the Court of der of Mboya. OAppeal for Eastern Africa Witnesses who had been with delivered its final verdict on the Njenga that day say that he had man who shot dead Tom Mboya, vowed to finish Mboya. “He will Nahashon Isaac Njenga Njoroge. never vie again for the Kamuku- “We are satisfied that in all the nji seat,” Njoroge was alleged circumstances, the trial judge to have said: “Tom-will not live was correct in coming to the con- while I live”. clusion that the evidence showed During the investigation, a gun beyond reasonable doubt the was recovered from his house in guilt of the appellant,” said Sir Ofafa Jericho. Charles Newbold, after a hearing Mr Nahashon Njenga was of the appeal that lasted three- born on November 28 , 1936, in hours and twenty-five minutes. Kiambu. He graduated from the It was a dramatic end to High Military School V. Levsk in the case as defence counsel, S the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, M Waruhiu cut his listed six after taking courses in military grounds for the appeal to three. techniques, and firing prepara- Njenga was arrested on July tions. The trial of Njenga was cov- Mourners wail 21, some 17 days after the murder Njenga maintained during the ered verbatim by the Nation and weep fol- of Economic Planning and De- trail that a man he knew only but the final verdict did not end lowing the death velopment minister as he left a as Jimmy bought the revolver, speculation that there was an- of charismat- chemist on the then Government and six rounds of ammunition other “big man” who was in- ic politician, Road, now Moi Avenue. for him for £25 a day after Mr volved. Tom Mboya in A statement from Mr. Bernard Mboya was shot. Njenga had during alluded 1969. Inset, the Hinga, Comimissioner of Police, He had no licence for the to the collusion of a “big man” Nation’s special issued that night identified Njen- weapon. whom he did not name. edition of the killing. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XXIII JM Kariuki’s murder: Reflections on the Nation’s most shameful episode

Githii was a political animal, but Kenyatta. Mr Njonjo was hostile succeed Kenyatta. Looking back, it is puzzling that he might have to Dr Mungai, and there found it becomes almost obvious that tried to aid a Kanu faction, the an invaluable ally in the Nation were it not for the Nation’s bra- so-called Kiambu Mafia around editor. zen campaign for his opponent, Kenyatta, that he would probably And one must go back then Dr Mungai would not have lost have preferred to battle. to the battle for Dagoretti at the the Dagoretti seat. The Nation editor was seen as 1974 general election. I was in Dr Mungai still remembers. close to the Kanu faction grouped Form 2. I still recall the almost Many years after that climactic around the then Vice President daily reports on the front page Dagoretti campaign, I was part Daniel Arap Moi and Attorney- of Nation detailing in breathless of a Nation Media Group team General Charles Njonjo. The prose how Dr Johnson Muth- that was touching base with all group was involved in a power iora, a newcomer and political the key political groupings ahead struggle against the Kiambu non-entity straight out of studies of the 2002 General Election. Mafia represented by such stal- in the US, was giving Dr Mungai In the process we hosted the warts as former Foreign Min- a run for his money on the cam- key campaign strategists and ister Njoroge Mungai, Defence paign trail. advisors for Kanu presidential Minister James Gichuru, Lands Mungai was one of the most candidate Uhuru Kenyatta, son Minister Jackson Angaine, Hous- powerful figures in the Kenyatta of the late President. ing Minister Paul Ngei and Gema court. He had served as Foreign The team was led to Na- boss Njenga Karume. These Minister and Defence Minister tion Centre by nine other than be a repeat of Dagoretti 74 all over system, abetted by a culture of made up the core of a group that and doubled up as the elderly Njoroge Mungai. Even before he again. It took quite some effort to the time which seemed to dictate Mourners later came to mount the “Change President Kenyatta’s physician. took his seat in the boardroom, convince him that this time the that the editorial desk be under carry the cas- the Constitution” campaign to He was also the favourite can- Dr Mungai remarked that he had campaign he was now heading the stewardship of a personality ket ofpopulist prevent Moi from succeeding didate of the Kiambu group to never been hosted by the Nation would get fair treatment. who was tightly embedded in the politician JM since the paper had beaten him The Dagoretti campaign cover- political system Kariuki. He in the battle for Dagoretti in age and the JM in Zambia report The headstrong Githii was was buried in 1974! caused Nation some serious cred- finally dismissed after he went his home in It was not a good start to the It was not a good start to the ibility problems. overboard with personal cam- Nyandarua. conversation, especially because the conversation, especially because While it would be convenient to paigns and openly defied the Uhuru team was not comfortable with the Uhuru team was not comfort- lay all the blame on one maverick Board of Directors. the way the Nation was covering the able with the way the Nation was editor-in-chief, it might be more His mercurial reign forced a campaign covering the campaign. Dr Mun- accurate to look at the failings of major re-evaluation of Nation gai seemed to think that it might the management and oversight editorial policies. DAILY NATION XXIV | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 When soldiers attempted a coup

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

event.” that has taken place in the short his- tory of our young republic.” Changes at Nation House saw Hilary Ng’weno resign in 1965 to go into book publishing. He was followed by the trucu- lent and charismatic George Githii, from the President’s Press team. With characteristic gusto, Githii at- tacked growing official corruption and led a vigorous campaign against the gov- ernment’s Public Security Bill which he charged would restrict citizens’ freedoms and lead to detention without trial. When students at Nairobi’s University College protested against the measures, waving placards saying “Not Yet Uhuru” – the title of a recent book by Oginga Odinga – the government closed the college. Githii re- signed in 1968 to take up a place at Oxford University and was succeeded by the quiet and subtle Boaz Omori. The Sixties ended in darkness. On July 5, 1969, Tom Mboya, aged 38, was shot dead coming out of a chemist’s shop barely 100 yards from Nation House. The Nation described it as “the most horrific event that has taken place in the Above: Leader of the 1982 coup short history of our young republic.” On attempt Hezekiah Ochuka. September 10, Nahason Isaac Njenga Kenyans had a rough time going about Njoroge was sentenced to hang for the their business after the mutiny by ele- murder. He said, “All I know is that I did ments of the Kenya Air Force. not commit this offence.” DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XXV Reactions as controversial as the ruling

By KIBE KAMUNYU Irungu Ndirangu, wrote: “At High Court and the Court of Lawyer SM 12.15 sharp, Mr Joash Ochieng Appeal failed to address them- Otieno in M Otieno, a criminal law- Ougo, the younger brother of selves to these poignant ques- the corri- yer of no mean repute, the late criminal lawyer, Mr S. tions. Here was an opportu- dors of the Sdied on December 20, M. Otieno, stepped out of the nity for the judges to reject High Court 1986 -1987 1986. His death sparked a huge High Court buildings and thun- ridiculous practices in favour in Nairobi. controversy over customary dered: ‘Nyalgunga! Nyalgunga! of progress and good taste. But Inset, how and common law in Kenya. Nyalgunga!’ his hands punch- they refused to take it, and in the Nation Silvano Melea Otieno was ing the air.” so doing, have spelt disaster reported the born at Nyalgunga village in His booming voice drowned for many families. The injuries story of his Siaya, in Nyanza Province. the voices of about six women caused by the Court of Appeal burial. After his death, Nyalgunga be- intoning solemn Christian ruling will take a generation came a by-word for village in tunes in Dholuo and march- to heal.” the popular Kenyan patois. ing before him as in a funeral Another reader, Kunga wa Otieno had married a procession. Rutere, said: “The learned Kikuyu, Virginia Wambui The crowd responded by judge’s ruling that Mr Otieno Otieno. When he died, she de- whistling, dancing and clap- be buried in Nyalgunga should clared that he had wanted to be ping as hundreds of Umira make it clear to every woman buried at his farm in Ngong on Kager clans-people gathered who wishes to be married the outskirts of Nairobi. But the on City Hall Way and along across the tribal barriers lawyer’s Umira Kager clan said Wabera Street. that she should be ready to their Luo tradition required The cry of Nyalgunga! Nyal- embrace and identify fully that he be buried in his ances- gunga, was repeated countless with the ways of her, hope- tral home. They went to court, times and Mr Ochieng said, “ I fully loved husband. setting the stage for a massive am happy that the Kenyan Gov- This is not only where legal dispute. ernment has allowed justice to inter tribal marriages are The case went through the take its course.” concerned. Even where the High Court, then to the Court Reactions to the court rul- the very existence of Kenya as couples belong to the same of Appeal and on February 13, ing were as controversial as nation. What is the future of tribe, it should be obvious to 1987, the Umira Kager clan re- the case. mixed marriages in Kenya? the wife that she is expected ceived a ruling in their favour. In One Nation reader wrote, “To What protection does the law to cuddle most lovingly to the the following day’s Nation, the my mind it was not Mrs Otieno provide to a nucleus family in ways of the family of her hus- headline read, ‘Song and dance or the Umira Kager clan that the event of the male spouse band because that is where holds up city traffic.’ Reporter were on trial. At the dock was passing away? The judges, the she now belongs.” DAILY NATION XXVI | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

CHRONOLOGY FROM CONCEPTION TO MATURITY 1986 - 2010: Troubles and triumphs of two nations The 1982 coup attempt blemished Kenya’s hitherto benign image and human rights became a serious issue

he important events in our observer’s mind, for that a country’s history do was the year Kenyans queued not always follow neat- up behind large photographs of Tly year by year or come candidate MPs in what became handily packaged by the decade. known as “the selection within More often, trends and signals the election”. will show up coyly on the politi- By any standards, 1989 was cal scene, their significance un- one of the volcanic years: Inter- recognised; for months or even nationally, the collapse of Com- years, they disappear from view, munism, nationally the bloody only to explode at some future fight for multi-partyism, Matiba/ point in full historical fury. Rubia/Hempstone/ Saba Saba. This was often the pattern dur- Into the 1990s: Ethnic clashes ing the second half of the two na- and the deaths of Robert Ouko tions’ story (country and news- and Bishop Alexander Muge. paper) as events which impacted New opposition parties are volcanically on both the country formed, but do not unite and and the newspaper alternated President Moi and Kanu win the with fallow years of quiet and first multiparty election since progress. 1963. The Nation group moves A mature, educated Kenyan, into a new headquarters on looking back over the last quarter Kimathi Street, creates its first century, would probably identify new paper for years and builds a 1986 and 1987 as the years of the state-of-the-art press hall. A new notorious Mwakenya scare, when word enters the Kenyan lexicon: At least 44 dubious enemy of the nation, the broadcast outlets in Tanzania scandals involving government lots of innocent Kenyans were Goldenberg. Kenyans February Eighteen Revolutionary and Uganda. ministers. locked up on dubious grounds of International terrorism afflicts were jailed Army. It proves as hard to track The opposition to Kanu fi- Amidst anger and disenchant- sedition. In the midst of all this, the region in 1998 as bombs ex- despite down as its predecessor. nally unites and Mwai Kibaki ment, voters reject a proposed Parliament found time to confer plode at the American embassies lack of evi- NMG marks the arrival of the becomes head of state in 2002 new constitution in 2005 and more power on the head of state. in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. dence that second millennium with a flurry in succession to the long-serving after the 2007 election, Kenya Mention 1988 and the word Memories of Mwakenya are Mwakenya of expansion, going into tel- President Moi. Promises to end is seized by a paroxysm of ethnic mlolongo would probably enter aroused by reports of another really evision and acquiring print and corruption are belied by new violence which kills an estimat- existed.

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Profession- als, univer- sity lecturers 1986 - 2010: Troubles and triumphs of two nations and students appeared in court in ever- ed 1,200 people and displaces at The 1982 coup attempt seri- rising numbers least a quarter of a million. Two ously blemished Kenya’s hith- to face sedi- months of negotiation and the erto benign international image tion charges. threat of international pariah and amidst the uncertainty and status lead to peace under a new tension that followed, human power-sharing arrangement. rights emerged as a serious issue Such is the nature of day-to-day for the first time. It was widely life, it is the negative that catches known that many students were the attention while incremental foremost in supporting the coup progress goes scarcely noticed rebels and by 1986, graduates, – in Kenya’s case, the easing of university lecturers and profes- civil oppression, release of politi- sional people began disappear- cal prisoners, the demystification ing from the streets in growing of the presidency, the willingness numbers. of Kenyans to stand up for them- When they reappeared it was selves, the disappearance of petty usually for brief court hearings party dictators, unprecedented where they were accused of pos- freedom of the media to criticise sessing seditious documents and complain. and/or belonging to a seditious The following articles attempt organisation and/or failing to variably pleaded guilty and usu- yans were convicted of sedition. Many MPs reported receiv- to address the high points of report the existence of such an ally drew jail terms. The notorious organisation in ing subversive literature anony- 1986-2010 in greater detail. organisation. The accused often Between March and Septem- question was Mwakenya (Union mously and a 1987 statement, bore injuries from their cells, in- ber of 1986 alone, some 44 Ken- of Patriots to Liberate Kenya) purportedly from Mwakenya, which to this day remains a thing denounced Kanu and “the cyni- of mystery. Kanu supporters de- cal philosophies of Harambee Mention 1988 and the word ‘mlolongo; would probably enter our ob- nounced Mwakenya as a revolu- and Nyayoism.” The statement, server’s mind, for that was the year Kenyans queued up behind large tionary underground movement couched in classic Marxist phra- photographs of candidate MPs in what became known as ‘the selec- operating from London with the seology, said: “The basic means tion within the election’. 1989 was one of the volcanic years aim of overthrowing the govern- ment by violence. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26

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Deputy Speak- er Kalonzo Musy- oka led MPs in denouncing The Nation, leading to the newspaper being banned from covering the House.

Right: 1985: President Moi welcomes Pope John Paul II when he visted Kenya. NMG ARCHIVES Reporters knew no Mwakenya Mwakenya-related charges. officials and received no calls, But there seemed little doubt manifestos or Press releases that the crackdown confronted from them. the universities with the stark There were no known office lo- reality of state power, undermin- cations or telephone or fax num- ing the academic capacity for in- bers. Everything that came to the dependent thought and explora- Parliament bans the Nation media and appeared as trial evi- tion in the political arena. dence was from the government. In ironic juxtaposition to the The seditious documents pro- unhappy national scene, the Na- Security officials claimed that duced in court were always pho- tion group itself was doing well CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 Mwakenya was led by Kenya’s tocopies, never originals. at this time, benefiting from a famed writer-dissident (and It was not only university peo- significant increase in capital ex- of production, distribution and one-time Nation columnist) Pro- ple who were victims of the secu- penditure which had been agreed exchange are owned by imperial- fessor Ngugi wa Thiong’o, while rity dragnet – civil servants and at the birth of its second quarter- ist foreigners and transnational academic studies of the era have journalists, too, were picked up, century. corporations… the ruling com- named various well-known Ken- including Wahome Mutahi, the The company invested in a prador class acts as an overseer, yan politicians as members. author of Whispers, a widely computerised input system for supervising the outflow of wealth But the organisation remained popular Sunday Nation column, editorial, classified advertising into Western capitals.” a chimera to the Kenya media. who received 15 months in jail on and some production functions.

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By JAINDI KISERO the stories are usually so pa- and the explosion of the prop- representatives of leading sembly. keeping tabs on major trends rochial and personality-based erty market. NGOs, the major lobbies and It dawned on me how most in the region. joined The EastAfrican that if you are, say, an inves- Today, Dar es Salaam is the business associations, inter - journalists in East Africa In the past, Tanzanians as editor when it was 10 tor sitting in European trying fastest growing metropolis in national financial institutions knew very little about what looked upon Kenyans as Iyears old. The founding to follow what is going in East the region. One of my first re- involved in the economic re- was happening in the three flashy people who liked os - fathers conceived of it as a Africa, you will largely be baf- sponsibilities was to travel to form programme such as the countries. I began to appreci- tentatious living. But I found business-oriented regional fled. Because such reporting is Dar to understand and gauge World Bank and the European ate how The EastAfrican had attitudes had changed as Tan- weekly with a hybrid con - personality-based, the reader the news environment there. Union, members of the parlia- played a major role in devel- zania society entered a state of tent: investigative reporting, needs special skills to discern I had meetings with CEOs mentary opposition and the oping a new cadre of journal- ferment. Look at the cars on analysis and interpretation of the significance in terms of of leading commercial banks, Speaker of the National As - ists, those with the remit of the city streets, for instance. major trends in the political political risk. economy of the region. The niche left for The Eas- The landscape of economic tAfrican was to popularise and business journalism had issue-based economic and changed dramatically be - business journalism while tween 1994 when the paper keeping the focus on regional was launched and early 2005 factors. In terms of business when I came in. journalism, Kenya led its In the first place, news - neighbours. Indeed, the Na - papers in the region gener - tion Group produced the first ally were beginning to devote daily newspaper in Kenya much more time and space to dedicated to economic news: economic and business con - Business Daily. tent. In Tanzania, new Eng - But the field remained wide lish-language newspapers open for presentation of such had emerged, all devoting journalism in Tanzania ,Ugan- space and an expanded news da, Rwanda and Burundi. hole to public policy issues. When The EastAfrican The same thing was hap - broke sto- ries, there was pening in Ugan- always a policy da. Like their issue -- priva - Kenyan counter- tisation scan - parts, the major dals, reform - papers there ing financial offered weekly systems, re - pull-outs devot - structuring of ed to business parastatals, and economic re- mergers and porting. acquisitions and In terms of de - dealing with widespread dis- sign, The EastAfrican was po- tress in the region’s banking sitioned a good notch higher sectors. The paper established than the daily newspapers. itself as a premium product, The design was more sophis- especially in Uganda and Tan- ticated, in keeping with its zania, concentrating on issues predicted core audience of that commanded the atten - educated readers looking for tion of influential people in quality information beyond industry and government. the reprocessing of Press re- Even the “softer” sections of leases, reports of politicians’ The EastAfrican offer content public meetings, the repro - likely to be of interest to inter- duction of unanalysed stock national audiences: the envi- tables and routine reports ronment, museums, books from central banks and state- and culture and in sports such owned statistical agencies. areas as horse racing, cricket By 2005, all the major daily and golf. newspapers in the region had As a weekly, there are oc - adopted modern, upmarket casions when it reports on designs with colour photo - news that is already out there. graphs, information-loaded In such circumstances, the graphics, front-page digests challenge has been to provide and teasers. The gap between background, offer analysis The EastAfrican and the rest and locate the story in a re - of the media world had nar - gional context. The EastAfri- rowed significantly since can has also been very strong 1994. on opinion pieces, showcas - Against this backdrop, we ing powerful opinion writers. at The EastAfrican had to re- It sees itself as the newspaper think our sense of place and for thinking East Africans. re-invent ourselves. The aim Tanzania is a challenging was to offer more than East environment for special - Africa’s dailies were offering ist writing. The country is and to place ourselves at the an economic writer’s gold head of the new dispensa - mine mainly because of the tion. rate at which capitalism and Daily newspapers tend to commerce are spreading, the concentrate on politics. And growth of a consumer culture DAILY NATION XXX | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 The infamous 1988 queue voting

n February 22, 1988, came the winners, for this farci- Kanu selected its candi- cal charade created a new group Clockwise Odates for the March 21 of oppositionists, not lawyers, from right: General Election by requiring columnists or churchmen, but Politician JJ party members to queue behind hardened politicians with street- Kamotho at a large photograph of their pre- fighting instincts who became the head of ferred leader. Voters quickly real- the most serious focus of discon- a queue in ised who they were meant to vote tent since the coup attempt. the infamous for, regardless of their personal Rigged-out heavyweights 1988 queue preference. Party officials used such as Charles Rubia and Ken- voting. trucks to bring in people, in- neth Matiba were wealthy es- cluding children, and provided tablishment figures who knew them with food and drink. The the whereabouts of the levers of Voters queued length of the queue soon made power. Coming together at a time behind the it plain who was the favoured of growing pressure for multi- picture of candidate. partyism and with sympathetic their prefered Since there was a rule which support from much of the West- candidate. allowed any candidate who re- ern world, they brought about a ceived more than 70 per cent of sea-change in the way Kenya was the party vote to enter Parlia- governed. Anglican ment unopposed, only about two- When former Nairobi mayor Eldoret Bishop thirds of the 188 parliamentary Charles Rubia and wealthy busi- Alexander seats were contested by secret nessman-politician Kenneth Muge, who ballot on March 21. It became Matiba moved to avenge their died suspi- known as “the selection within ejection from power in the 1988 ciously. the election” and “I was rigged selection process, they went for out” became the widely-heard the jugular – Article 2A of the complaint of the losers. constitution, a 1982 amendment But the losers, in a sense, be- which had turned Kenya into a DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XXXI

On February 22, 1988, Kanu selected its candidates for the March 21 General Election by requiring party members to queue behind a large photograph of their preferred leader

de jure one-party state. on the one-party state and Mati- In a joint statement, the two ba and Rubia announced a rally men called for repeal of 2A, for in Nairobi for July 7, 1990. Days presidential tenure to be limited later, both men were arrested and to two four-year terms and for a detained. public referendum on Kenya’s Thousands gathered at the political future. Kamukunji meeting ground for They were ploughing fertile an event that has gone down in soil. Communism was disinte- history as Saba Saba (for the sev- grating in the Soviet Union and enth day of the seventh month). Eastern Europe, the Cold War Violence quickly broke out and was no more and Western na- crowds demanding the release tions were reshaping their poli- of Rubia and Matiba surged into cies towards the Third World. the city centre where they were Aid, they made clear, was no met by riot police with tear gas longer necessary to counter Sovi- and batons. Shops were looted, et might and in future would go properties set on fire and disor- to those countries instituting plu- der spread to Central Province ralist systems and demonstrating towns and Kisumu. The rioting respect for human rights. lasted three days. In Nairobi, US Ambassador Matiba and Rubia were re- Smith Hempstone led the of- leased a year later, both in poor fensive. Uneasy at the growing health after their detention, to support for this new system, the find opposition to one-party rule government restored the secret gathering strength. The Forum ballot for election nominations for the Restoration of Democra- and agreed to restore security of cy (Ford) was founded, securing tenure to judges and high state support from many of the coun- officials. But there was no retreat try’s political heavyweights.

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For more information, please contact: The Managing Trustee P.O.BOX 3059900100, NAIROBI, KENYA, TEL:(254)202729911 Email: [email protected] www.nssfkenya.com DAILY NATION XXXII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

APRIL 22, 2004 WAR ON GRAFT Githongo lifts the lid on Anglo-Leasing Long history of crusades by he bill for looting government cof- fers during the Kanu years was Tcommonly set at around $3 bil- Nation against corruption lion, enough to pay for primary schooling for every Kenyan child for 10 years. Thus Kibaki’s inauguration day promise to put Nation writers exposed an end to this perpetual scourge was re- ceived with delight by indigenous Kenyans the sale of university and by supporting developed nations. To wide acclaim, Kibaki appointed John degrees and the irregular Githongo, a one-time columnist for The EastAfrican and a former head of Trans- or 10 years, the Na- parency International, as the first Perma- tion’s editorial car- nent Secretary for Governance and Ethics. Ftoonist, Godfrey Githongo quickly realised that the leop- Mwampembwa (popularly ard of officialdom had not changed its known as Gado), has cari- spots, however. As he industriously bored catured the corrupt and the into Narc-era deals such as the Anglo- mighty strutting through Leasing affair, a multi-million contract Kenyan society. for passport equipment, the British High He has five characters he Commissioner handed the government a considers members of his dossier which he said contained evidence personal “Animal Farm,” re- of 20 corrupt procurement deals which calling the great George Or- had cost the country $526 million. well satire of that name. Details of the Anglo-Leasing scandal They are human but have The ruin that is Mau today: Nation exposed the devastation of the water tower. were exposed by the Nation. the mouths of pigs, leopards, Githongo conscientiously hyenas, crocodiles or wild not tolerate fraud. on April 13, 1992. Its then who lifted the lid off Anglo- talked to government officials dogs, “animals associated Awareness of the prob- Business Editor, Peter Waru- Leasing, a multi-billion shil- and cabinet ministers, secretly with greed”. lem may have peaked with tere, wrote in a lead article lings swindle that involved taping some of them. He con- Like Orwell, Gado uses the infamous and devastat- on Page One that “a com- high leaders. “The media cluded that the Anglo-Leas- the characters to depict the ing Goldenberg scandal, pany given exclusive rights have been at the forefront,” ing deal involved 18 fraudu- wickedness, deceit and in- but NMG’s flagship publica- by Treasury to export gold he said. Over the past seven lent contracts and impli- difference of a sleaze soci- tions, Daily Nation and Sun- and jewellery is involved in years in particular, their per- cated several senior govern- ety where those with power day Nation, had worked in a multi-billion shillings deal formance has been sterling.” ment members. happily steal from and de- the public interest since the that observers describe as According to Transpar- Githongo said anti-cor- fraud their compatriots. early 1960s -- against sus- ‘a scandal of major propor- ency International, Nation ruption chief Aaron Ring- “The five are clearly as- pected maize board thefts, tions.’” Media Group has been im- era told him there would be sociated with excessive eat- extravagance in Nairobi A year later, writer Sarah pressive in its steadfastness. no Anglo- Leasing prosecu- ing,” he says. “They encom- City Council, heavy-hand- Elderkin told all in a Nation “Even during emotive times tions before the 2007 elec- pass the class that everybody edness in legislating against serialization that outlined and issues, the group’s faith- tion, if ever. He was also told by senior knows. I don’t have to name freedom of expression. the amazing effrontery of the fulness to ideals such as de- government people to drop his investi- names. Years after the multi- culprits. It was investigative mocracy, truth, balance and gation into Anglo-Leasing, that “what I Rather, I use the charac- million-dollar losses to the work of a quality which in a justice seems steadfast,” said was doing was dangerous to my physical ters.” Gado’s work is part of a economy caused by the country such as the United TI Kenya executive director security”. Fearing for his life, Githongo long NMG tradition to go to Goldenberg fraud, massive States would probably have Job Oginda. fled to London. Nation editors Wangethi battle against the swindlers frauds were still being per- won her a Pulitzer Prize. “We have watched with Mwangi and Joseph Odindo met him se- of the public entrustment. petrated in numerous offi- Over many years, Nation pride and gratitude as the cretly in London and later compiled the From its earliest days, the cal areas. writers exposed the sale of Nation took enormous polit- first detailed account of the headline Nation has crusaded for an The Daily Nation was the university degrees, the grab- ical, legal and financial risks “Anglo Leasing: The Truth” end to corruption and crea- first newspaper to high- bing of public utilities, the on behalf of the citizens of tion of a just society that will light the Goldenberg story, theft of land and the irregu- Kenya. We salute your whis- lar excision of forests. tle-blowing on issues of gov- Nation Media Group ernance and we appreciate “has done a lot of good,” your keeping in the fore- says Catherine Wambui of front seemingly mundane the Kenya Anti-Corruption but pertinent accountability Commission. issues.” “The Press has an enor- In Kenya, fighting cor- mous role to play in the ruption can be frustrating. fight against corruption. Those implicated blandly People believe in the papers. deny charges and often are Reporters can set out the appointed or reappointed agenda by highlighting cor- to plum jobs. Courts have rupt cases.” mostly proven irrelevant in Focused, Innovative, Integrated John Githongo is Ken- dealing with major scandals, ya’s former Permanent tending to target petty theft Property Business Solutions Email: [email protected] Secretary for Ethics instead.

Years after the multi-million-dol- lar losses to the economy caused by the Goldenberg fraud, massive frauds were still being perpetrated in numerous offical areas. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XXXIII

The coffee and oil boom: lessons unlearned By MUNA WAHOME Waiting for fuel in n the 1970s, Kenya’s econ- eldoret. omy was dealt two trade NMG ARCHIVES Ishocks in quick succession and stubbornly failed to make 1973 - 1979 policy sense out of either. The first came in October 1973 when Arab members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) withheld oil from the rest of the world to protest against US assistance to Israel during the Yom Kippur war. The embargo lasted up to March of 1974 and damaged export-reliant Third World nations like Kenya as other OPEC members took full advantage, sending cost-push inflation and unemployment, as well as trade imbalances, spiralling out of control. Naturally, Bretton Woods’ ously bemoaning low prices, dictator, Idi Amin, would only cash by for instance swiftly im- its currency, ushering in nearly pressure mounted on Kenya to jumped in delight as the world ice the cake by withholding porting machinery and inter- 10 years of hyperinflation, stag- devalue its currency and exer- prices tripled in the New Year. coffee exports in replication mediate goods. nation and high poverty rates. cise fiscal discipline to reflect This trade shock, locally re- of the Arab boycott, trigger- Secondly, the state cranked At the change of presiden- the real situation. That would ferred to as the “coffee boom”, ing massive smuggling of the up expenditure and made ma- cies in January 2003, the cof- wait for another two decades, would last from 1976 to 1979. Mount Elgon coffee beans into chinery too expensive for the fee boom was a distant mem- thanks to the second shock. In Naturally, the Kenyatta re- Kenya until the newly installed private sector. Thirdly, there ory. The number one foreign short, Kenyans would remain gime was only too happy to President Moi put a stop to the was no effort at sterilising (de- exchange earner was third to shielded from high prices by shelve the reforms that would lucrative trade. laying absorption into the con- tourism and tea with the cof- a grossly overvalued currency have liberalised the economy Kenya miserably failed to sumer economy) the inflows fee industry in the firm grip and its inefficient “infant” in- and wrought much pain on take advantage of the new- and avoiding the sudden de- of rogue directors straddling dustries from the world. the increasingly disenchanted found wealth for a number rea- mand-pushed inflation. all its institutions. The happy On July 17, 1975, a freezing masses. son. One, with the revenue it As fiscal discipline was de- generation of ‘coffee children’ wind blew from Antarctica and The trade imbalance was maintained price and currency stroyed in the 1980s, the world had long been superseded by the subsequent frost destroyed overnight rectified and coffee controls and cocked a snook at had entered an era of falling poverty-stricken Mungiki ad- at least two-thirds of coffee ber- growing areas were soon boom- anyone who suggested reform. commodity prices and Kenya herents in the prime growing ries in southern Brazil. Coun- ing with construction of new In turn, the private sector had would pay the ultimate price. of Central Kenya. tries including Kenya, previ- concrete houses. The Ugandan no capacity to absorb the new In 1993, Kenya agreed to float

The board of directors, staff and entire membership of Nation Staff Sacco wishes to congratulate Nation Media Group as they celebrate their 50th anniversary. We are proud to be associated with you. We thank you for the support you have accorded us for past years. Long live Nation! We offer the following services to our Sacco members: Loans products • Ufanisi Loan • Normal Loan • Refinancing Loan • School Fees Loan • Emergency Loan • Instant Loan Savings products • School Fees Savings Scheme • Special Savings Scheme FOSA products – opening very soon. On behalf of the board of directors, I once more say congratulations for the solid achievements!

Peter Wilson Ochola Chairman Nation Staff Sacco DAILY NATION XXXIV | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

RECOLLECTIONS

1965 How government spied on Nation in bid for control

The idea of buying shares was floated during an intelligence briefing but this was abandoned after some time

By JOHN KAMAU some of his successors. Editors were lectured and threatened. overnment efforts At a Kenya Intelligence Com- to dominate, intim- mittee briefing, buying shares idate and control in Nation Newspapers was GNation newspapers floated as a means of control- ABOVE: Peter government, the Nation Mboya and Oginga Odinga. tion, kept watch on the work in the founding years — to the ling a group that was demon- Gachathi, PS group resisted being treated A brief written by the of several journalists, investi- extent buy a controlling inter- strating persistent independ- in the Minis- as a semi-official arm of de- strongly left-wing Oneko gated their background and est in the group — are recorded ence. The idea was not pur- try of Infor- velopment and this worried described the Nation as “re- opened files on them. Some in declassified archival docu- sued, presumably because the mation, kept and angered government of- actionary” and a paper that of the files are now declas- ments from the 1960s. authorities realised the news- watch on the ficials unused to free Press had “no place in an African sifed and are available at the Nation journalists were spied papers’ content would then be work of sever- traditions. state”. Kenya National Archives, the on under the first Minister for seen as evident propaganda. al journalists Attacks on the Nation also Intelligence officers and national depository of gov- Information, Broadcasting While the East African and opened reflected fault lines between the Kiambaa-born Peter Ga- ernment documents. and Tourism in independent Standard was considered ac- files on them. the right and left in govern- chathi, Permanent Secretary In one confidential letter, Kenya, Achieng’ Oneko, and ceptable to the Jomo Kenyatta ment, represented by Tom in the Ministry of Informa- Gachathi asked the minis- DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XXXV Kanyotu kept his eye trained on journalists try’s Senior Press Officer, A.J. ror in Britain. It was when the It was not the first time that Hughes wrote: “I think you raised too. In March 1965, Gui- by using some article which is (Tony) Hughes, to check the Ghana Government bought Ng’weno would hear from should try and have our agreed nean diplomat Barry Bocar Biro completely contrary to the in- recent writings of John Du- the Daily Graphic that he was Hughes. On February 14, meeting as soon as possible to complained about a Nation arti- terests of Kenya.” moga, foreign editor of the offered the scholarship to the 1964, Hughes wrote to the Na- discuss these matters and per- cle and Hughes alerted Oneko: On April 13, senior editors Nation. The feisty Ghanaian USA.” tion’s first African editor, tell- haps to arrange for you to see “I agree with the substance of of Nation were summoned be- had crossed Kwame Nkru- Hughes, who was British, ing him that the paper’s tone (the PS) and the minister,” said the complaint. All too often, fore Minister Oneko, who read mah’s regime in Accra and was the Standard’s leading was “completely inappropri- the letter. There is no record of newspapers of the Nation se- them the riot act, though his become a hate figure in Kenya political writer in the run-up ate to the conditions of Kenya Ng’weno’s reply. ries spoil their other attempts comments were never publicly government circles. Gachathi to independence, gradually today”. Diplomatic complaints were to work with the government reported. wanted him deported. becoming more personally In his reply dated July 29, associated with Kanu and its 1965, Hughes wrote: “You bid for power. Last year, back have asked me to check the in Britain, he wrote a letter to recent writings by John Du- this writer saying he played moga. In the last month, I his part in uniting the various have only traced one article forces in a Kenyatta govern- appearing under his byline. ment torn apart by Cold War This was on Saturday, July 17, politics. headed “And the Nation For- The Cold War, in particular eign Editor says Prove It”. This American involvement in Vi- was a criticism by Dumoga of etnam, was a polarising issue the white minority govern- in Kenya’s power politics in ment in Rhodesia.” the early 1960s. This was three months be- In one of his letters to fore the November 11, 1965, Oneko, Hughes refers to an unilateral declaration of in- item headed “Tragedy of Vi- dependence by Ian Smith, etnam Refugees”. The Nation the Rhodesian Prime minis- had apparently used a picture ter. But Gachathi appeared of American soldiers helping to suspect that Dumoga had refugees. This did not go down penned an article criticising well with the left-wingers in the Organisation of African the Kenyatta government. Unity, predecessor of the Af- Hughes wrote: “As far as I rican Union. am aware, our government Hughes went on: “I under- has not stated its attitude stand you have reason to be- on the overall Vietnam situ- lieve that the story on Page 1 of ation nor has it mentioned the Nation of July 20 headed upon any particular aspects “OAU Facing Crash Crisis,” of the war. By the use of such bylined Nation Foreign Edi- feature articles the Daily Na- tor, was in fact written by him tion appears to be attempting (Dumoga). to influence public opinion in “I do not feel that either of Kenya in a particular direc- these articles warrant action. tion, that is to say, in favour of I do believe that past articles the American position. by Dumoga have been object- “While the Daily Nation able (sic). I propose that I keep has a right according to the watch on the Nation from now freedom of the Press to take on and look out for anything what view it wishes of the Vi- objectable by this writer.” etnam situation, it has a duty Intelligence, under James to bear in mind Kenya’s non- Kanyotu, was also keeping an aligned policy in regard to the eye on journalists. In one of cold war. his files, Kanyotu has a note “Moreover, if it wishes to on Dumoga, who was even- declare support for the Amer- tually deported. Filed under ican position it should come “Miscellaneous (Secret)”, the out in the open and do so in- note summarises Dumoga stead of using these under- (wrongly spelled Demuga) as hand means by planted stories follows: “Anti-government, of how nice the Americans are anti-CPP and anti-Nkrumah. to refugees. Why not balance Went to California for train- this report with something ing as a journalist. Before pro- from the Viet Cong about the ceeding to USA, was on the American news of napalm and staff of a reactionary paper poison gas? known as Ashanti Pioneer. “I therefore propose that Subsequently, he worked for the Editor of the Nation (Hi- the Daily Graphic,which at lary Ng’weno) be informed of the time belonged to Cecil our views on this particular King, who owns the Daily Mir- issue,” said the lengthy letter.

A brief written by the strongly left-wing Oneko described the Nation as “reaction- ary” and a paper that had “no place in an African state”. DAILY NATION XXXVI | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

1991 The terror that

FEBRUARY surrounded the murder of Ouko Caleb Atemi recalls the dangers of covering the story of the killing of the foreign affairs minister

elling the story of Dr and I wandered away from a Robert John Ouko’s group of General Service Unit disappearance and officials. Tsubsequent death Afew minutes later, I found placed me in the direct path of myself paralysed and staring at Police Phillip Kilonzo landed. icide. The other two concurred and the official version. A Kenya Air his unseen assassins. the smouldering body. Sudden- With them was the Chief Gov- with smiles. On the Sunday that my story, I Force Puma On February 15, 1990, news ly a police truncheon landed on ernment Pathologist Dr Stanley I had observed the weather started receiving death threats: helicopter is Editor Mutegi Njau was on my face. Bleeding profusely, my Ndaka Kaviti. and vegetation at Got Alila and “You think you are the one who loaded with the line: The minister for for- instincts glued me to the scene. The trio summoned report- it was dry and hot. I knew that knows how to describe scenes the charred eign affairs had vanished from I knew I was the only journalist ers to confirm what we had all if the body had been burned on in English? We shall deal with remains of his Koru home. At 8.30 the fol- who had seen the remains and I been waiting for, the identity of the spot, the fire would have you. Tutakufanya kama Ouko” Doctor Rob- lowing morning, sweating and had to tell the story through the the body found at the foot of spread through out the hillside. (We shall deal with you like ert Ouko. trembling, I was staring at the newspaper.. Got Alila hill. “Yes, this is Ouko’s I stated in my story to Na- Ouko).” Violence engulfed Kis- Inset, the minister’s smouldering body. At 6.30 pm, as darkness de- body. You can now go and write tion that the fire which con- umu for days. front page of I had left for his farm at Got scended on the eerie hillside, your story,” Oyugi told us. sumed an adult man only burnt the Nation Alila from the Nation’s Kisumu a helicopter carrying the Per- The pathologist took one a small portion of grass below Mr Atemi was a reporter at Na- reporting the bureau where I was a reporter. manent Secretary in charge look at the burnt body, shook his trunk. University students tion in 1988 to 1999 and is now story.

Squads of security men were of Internal Security, Hezekiah his head and concluded that quickly spotted the contradic- a communication consultant NMG ARCHIVES combing the dry grassland Oyugi, and Commissioner of the minister had committed su- tions between my reporting and biographer. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XXXVII Nation editors down the five decades CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 paper happen. And in the top had no experience in newspa- In 1988, Joe Kadhi (as his Wangethi invited me to the new editorial job, he was different be- per production. His problems deputy) and I (by then manag- Nation Centre in Kimathi Street Massachusetts, and had set up cause he never involved himself were compounded when Dugal ing editor of the daily) became to take charge of editorial qual- The Weekly Review and after I in petty partisan politics. Nisbet-Smith arrived from The his chief lieutenants. The three ity control. had returned from a three-year He was also the first editor-in- Times in London as managing of us would lock ourselves up in Wangethi -- whom I had tour of duty in Dar es Salaam chief who was ready to help out director of the holding company. George’s office for long hours dis- “poached” from The Standard – Hilary hired me as his assistant a hard-pressed chief sub-editor. In 1981, I was among those who cussing the news, rewriting page- and who proved an excellent sub- editor (The two Nairobi dailies Joe told me that he needed only resigned amidst the internal con- one stories, suggesting the Page editor, chief sub-editor and man- had rejected me because of my my skills in English and page vulsions thus occasioned. One lead headline and designing aging editor -- was now Group “Tanzanian communism.”) Hilary layout. I knew the Board was In 1983, Peter Mwaura was re- the page. It was perhaps the hap- Managing Editor, soon to be was as engaged by the Cold War against my hiring because of my placed by George Mbugguss, an- piest and most productive period prommoted to the newly created as were Githii and Henry Gathi- supposed left-wing views, so Joe other workhorse who rose from in the Nation’s history. position of Editorial Director. gira of The East African Standard compromised by undertaking not the ranks to become managing and I still have the hand-written to allow me to do any writing. editor of the Kiswahili Taifa Joe Rodrigues accomplished reporter, a skilled sub- note in which he banned me It was thus under Joe the work- newspapers. editor, a dab hand at design, he had been the Nation’s from using what he said were horse that I moved from editorial George it was who in 1984 “Communist stock phrases,” in- copy reviser to become the Daily convinced the board to hire me backbone as managing editor under all the above cluding “imperialism.” Nation’s first black chief sub- back, this time as associate editor editors-in-chief. It was Joe Rodrigues who editor, taking over from John to write editorials, take charge of enabled me to return to Nation McHaffie. Sadly, Joe died in the commentary pages, edit the Unfortunately, it did not last. Perhaps Wangethi was the House in 1978. He had taken over Nairobi early in the 1980s, soon letters and the Op-Ed section. Later the same year, President shrewdest of them all. As the a storm-tossed newspaper from after he had retired from Nation George Mbugua (aka “Mbug- Moi invited me to take over from group’s internal “stabiliser” and Githii after the latter had finally House. guss”) was a man of a special a Briton called Ted Graham as ed- external “shock-absorber,” he pre- stormed out in acrimony and He was replaced by Peter intelligence. itor-in-chief of The Kenya Times. sided over the company’s most recrimination. Joe, a long-ago Mwaura and thus began one With only eight years of for- The challenge was irresistible for revolutionary period in terms of immigrant from India, was the of the most tumultuous eras in mal education and having joined a man like me whose career was capital expansion, technological quintessential newspaperman. the company’s history. Peter was the newsroom as a messenger, mostly playing second fiddle in composition and relationship An accomplished reporter, a probably the most perceptive he picked up enough reporting newsrooms. with the political regime. skilled sub-editor, a dab hand at and socially conscious editorial technique and enough English to In 1991, I retired from day-to- Throughout most of his Nation design, he had been the Nation’s chief up to that time. His draw- pilot the Kiswahili papers quiet- day newspaper work. leadership, the larger nation itself backbone as managing editor back was that having spent his ly through turbulent times when That same year, Mbugguss and was in the throes of upheaval, the under all the above editors-in- time in communication theory the English-language products Kadhi retired and their places demand for multi-partyism prov- chief. at the School of Journalism of were coming frequently under were taken by Wangethi Mwan- ing, when it did eventually come, He was the man who made the the University of Nairobi, he fire. gi and Tom Mshindi. In 2000, to be almost unmanageable. DAILY NATION XXXVIII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 Terrorists strike at the heart of Nairobi and Dar in coordinated bomb attacks The attacks were attributed to local members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad

nternational terrorism reached East Africa on Au- gust 7, 1998 when truck Ibomb assassins linked to Osama Bin Laden simultaneous- ly blew up the American embas- sies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam – precursors to the 2001 Twin Towers outrage in New York and subsequent tube and bus explo- sions in London, and train blasts in Spain. The Tanzanian bomb killed 11 people and injured 85. In Nairo- bi, some 270 people were killed, at least 5,000 injured and scores Clockwise buried under masonry. Twelve from right: Americans were killed, including The bomb the Nairobi consul-general and brought down his son, but the vast majority of Ufundi Cop- victims were locals. The injured erative Build- included Kanu secretary-general ing; the scene Joseph Kamotho, who was visit- of the bomb; ing an embassy official when the President Moi explosion occurred. at the site The attacks, attributed to local of the blast members of the Egyptian Islam- in August ic Jihad, brought Bin Laden to 1988; vehi- American attention for the first cle destroyed time and the FBI placed him on and members its Ten Most Wanted list. of the Israe- Investigators reported that the li Defence bombs were massive, 2,000-lb de- Force, who vices made of 400-500 cylinders took part in of TNT about the size of soda cans. the rescue They were detonated by suicide effort. volunteers. In response to the bombings, President Bill Clinton ordered a series of cruise missile strikes against targets in Sudan and Afghanistan. One of the strikes destroyed a pharmaceutical fac- tory which made many of Sudan’s medications. Apparently unre- liable intelligence had claimed chemical weapons were devel- oped there. Twenty-one people were indict- ed for various alleged roles in the East African bombings. Four are serving life in prison without pa- role, four were reported killed in Afghanistan or Pakistan and one died of leukaemia while under arrest. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XXXIX Terrorists strike at the heart of Nairobi and Dar in coordinated bomb attacks

US secra- tary of state Madeline Albright with foreign affairs min- ister Bonaya Godana and US envoy Prudence Bushnell remember victims of the bomb blast.

The pain of loosing a loved one is reflected on the faces of Ken- yans at the August 7th Memo- rial in Nairobi. DAILY NATION XL | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 Nation’s battle for a TV broadcast licence One step at a time, women climb the ladder

he Years Between 1990 and paper presented as handsome T WAS THREE YEARS 2000 saw dynamic expan- and indisputably authoritative. AFTER THE birth of the Na- Tsion in the Nation group: a Little more than a year later, Ition that Betty Friedan rocked new headquarters in downtown the International Press Institute the world with her book, The Nairobi, a new upmarket weekly, described it as “one of the best, if Feminine Mystique, which gave The EastAfrican, a $12 million not the best, of regional newspa- birth to the second wave of the (Sh750 million) press hall on the pers in sub-Saharan Africa”. women’s liberation movement. city’s outskirts with the latest in It was 1991 when the group Though her little polemic spoke printing technology, entry to the took the first step on a long and to the politics of gender equality internet and, crucially, a move arduous journey into the elec- in the mainstream of American into the broadcast media. tronic media by applying for a society, its message resonated Capital expenditure soared to licence to broadcast. The govern- with women worldwide. $12 million (Sh665 million) from ment response was negative, pre- According to women journal- $1.6 million (Sh93 million). sumably because of the Nation’s ists working for the Nation -- and The group’s new home was the independent editorial line, so this can be extrapolated world- custom-built, multi-storey Na- chief executive Wilfred Kiboro wide -- the issues about career tion Centre on Kimathi Street organised the purchase of a con- advancement and equality that designed by Danish architect trolling interest in East Africa Friedan tackled in The Feminine Name: Rita Tinina Name: Wangui Maina Henning Larsen. The new build- Television Network Ltd., (EATN), Mystique remain as relevant in Position: Senior Reporter, NTV Position: Business Reporter, ing was owned by Industrial Pro- which already had television and our newsrooms today as they did Joined: October 2000 Business Daily motion Building Ltd., an affiliate radio licences. in the 1960s. Beat: General with interest in en- Joined: September 2006 of the Aga Khan Fund for Eco- The government promptly “It’s true what they say, a vironmental reporting Beat: Tourism and Transport nomic Development, in which cancelled EATN’s licences on woman has to work twice as hard Memorable Stories: “Troubled Memorable Stories: Covering the Nation had a 20 per cent grounds there was a dispute to be thought of as half as good as Waters”, a documentary feature the aviation sector, especially the interest. The newspapers took about the transfer of shares to the her male counterpart,” says Carole about the Nairobi River that took Kenya Airways crash in Doula, four floors and their neighbours Nation. There ensued a series of Mandi, who rose from sub-editor about three weeks to put together, Cameroon and its harrowing im- included prestige tenants such as court hearings, postponements, at NMG in 1995 to become Pub- and shed new light on this topic pact on families. The global finan- the Nairobi Stock Exchange and statements and objections which lisher with East African Maga- cial crisis was an eye-opener. Diamond Trust Bank. Kiboro characterised as “a merry- zines. “This pressure to perform, Staffers who had spent years go-round of delay”. to get that MBA, to work long in the stuffy, crammed, chaotic Seven years after its first appli- hours creates conflict in a wom- confines of Nation House were cation, the Nation was awarded an’s work-life balance.” delighted to move to their new TV and radio licences, but for Certainly, there have been quarters in a light-filled, spa- Nairobi only, not countrywide. vast, attitudinal changes towards cious, airy, noise-controlled, no- Negotiations ensued about fre- women in the African workplace smoking and air-conditioned quencies, microwave links, the over the last five decades. But ambience. siting of transmitters and the Friedan’s struggle to bring women A major boost to journalistic strength of signals. As the mil- “into the mainstream” remains in morale at the time was editor lennium moved to a close, the contention in our countries. Joseph Odindo’s creation, The group restructured, partly to re- Nation Media Group struggles EastAfrican, the group’s first sig- flect its entry into broadcasting, with the organisational chal- nificant new editorial product and changed its name to Nation lenge of promoting and retaining for many years. Devised to meet Media Group Ltd. A subsidiary Dogged pur- women in substantive positions. growing interest in the East Af- company, Africa Broadcasting suit of licences The debate is alive and passion- rican region at a time when re- Ltd., set up to handle TV and led to radio ate in other Kenyan newspapers, lations between Kenya, Uganda radio, was merged into a division- and televi- much as it is in wider society. The Name: Lucy Oriang’ Name: Njeri Rugene and Tanzania were warmer than al structure within NMG and Na- sion stations issue is not whether the Nation Joined: May 1983 Joined: 1992 they had been for years, the news- tion TV (later NTV) was born. in Nairobi treats men and women differ- Position: Columnist and former Position: Parliamentary Editor and Kam- ently. The company has an equal Managing Editor (Magazines). Memorable story: Exposing pala. Sheila employment policy and boasts of Memorable stories: corruption in Parliament where The government response was negative, Mwanyigah one of the most liberal and con- Ms Oriang has been a strong voice legislators were being paid to ask presents a structive corporate minds in Ken- in championing women’s rights in questions. One MP disputed the presumably because of the Nation’s programme yan society. the media and is known for writ- story and asked that we name the independent editorial line for EasyFM. The issue is whether there is ing that pulls no punches when people involved, but the Speaker a systematic bias that is sympto- it comes to bad behaviour in the is yet to deliver a ruling. matic of our society and our times. corridors of power. Why, historically, have women at Nation newspapers been under- represented in editorial positions of influence -- managing editor ing for another husband, only to woman on the Board of Directors. level and above? return for ‘burial’ because, some- Editorial Director Joseph Odindo Granted, many women are how, Number One was the best.” said: “The idea is to strike a bal- senior sub-editors, reporters, col- The fact that they are welcomed ance between attracting, retaining umnists and photographers. One back and allocated other duties and promoting the right women of them is Dorothy Kweyu, who proves they were good, after all. journalists and affirmative action. holds a senior position on the The following question arises, she If you look at the Media Lab, there copy desk as a revise editor. She says: “If the Nation has as many is a very healthy balance between has a 31-year association with the good women journalists as men, male and female journalists, Nation, almost half of those years why are its women not rewarded and that’s the way things ought on active service, and feels strong- with the biggest jobs in the news- to go.”Mr Odindo said the com- ly about the subject. room? Many of them end up in pany had moved to even things “Most great women of the Na- areas such as women issues and up through the MediaLab, one of tion have been forced to seek sol- entertainment”. Kenya’s most competitive training ace elsewhere,” she says,. “Some In all of top management, there programmes. It recruits the best beat a retreat like the proverbial is only one woman, the Human university students from graduat- Luhyia woman, who goes look- Resources director, and there is no ing classes in Kenya, Uganda, and DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XLI One step at a time, women climb the ladder

Name: Kui Kinyanjui Name: Joan Pereruan Name: Sara Bakata Name: Dorothy Kweyu Name: Mary Wasike Position: Business Reporter, Position: Photo Editor Position: Deputy Chief-Sub, Position: Staff writer-Revise Edi- Position: Revise Editor, Daily Business Daily Joined: 2004 The EastAfrican in charge of the tor, Daily Nation Nation Joined: September 2006 Beat: Photography for Daily Na- Magazine Joined: February 1979-Novem- Joined: October 2005 Beat: ICT tion, Taifa, Business Daily, Sunday Joined: April 2002 ber 1987; December 2003 to date Memorable Stories: When Memorable Stories: Covering Nation, Saturday Nation and The Most memorable moment: Memorable stories: A riveting First Lady Lucy Kibaki was in the rise of a new breed of ICT en- EastAfrican Every week brings new challeng- pullout on the malpractices of a the building. It was scary because trepreneurs. I am pleased the one- Memorable Stories: The exhu- es on the sub’s desk and there has major tobacco firm, and irrespon- of all the security people she had off project later drove the devel- mation of a 72-year-old woman never been a shortage of hilarious sible pharmaceutical firms that come with. While she was still opment of BD¹s weekly pullout, killed and buried by her last-born moments from copy as well as col- were selling to Kenyans drugs around, a story was being written, called Digital Business. son in a shallow grave. leagues! that had been banned elsewhere. which she knew nothing about.

Name: Millicent Mwololo Name: Njeri Kihang¹ah Name: Ruth Lubembe Name: Adhyambo Odera Name: Mejumaa Mbaruku Position: Features writer, Living Position: Features correspond- Current Position: Editor- Quality Position: Buzz Magazine Editor Joined: March 2003, Magazine ent, Daily Nation desk, Daily Nation Joined: 2005 Position: Editorial graphic de- Joined: July 2007 Joined: June 2008 Joined: August 2004 Memorable moment: When the signer Beat: Features Beat: Features (entertainment Beat: Features Nation Media Group launched its Most memorable story: Design- Memorable Stories: I still hear and careers) Memorable Stories: As editor culture change programme. The ing the page of ‘My brother’s keep- the cry of this widow and her Memorable Stories: How of Living magazine, I met child- initiative shows what NMG as a er’ by Millicent Mwololo. It ran in eight malnourished children at US rapper Jay-Z and others weave less couples trying desperately to company stands for. Ever since Living Magazine about a woman’s their home in Makuyu, Kam- Masonic symbolism into their have children. These stories made its launch the positive energy experience of having to take care biti location, Maragua district. I music and me realise that family really is at around the newsroom has been of her brother who suffers from a metthem in January 2008 at the merchandise. the heart of everything. amazing. rare condition. height of drought and famine.

Tanzania and gives them one year Kweyu became the first female these appointments stem from which she registers as one of her counterparts, developing net- of in-house training and on-the- news editor, Catherine Gicheru a decision aggressively to re- main achievements. works, looking for opportunities job experience on full pay. These served as an investigative re- cruit and mentor young women Many women join journalism for self-development.” journalists are then deployed to porter and later as news editor, journalists either through direct straight from university and start Human Resources Director various outlets throughout NMG. Njeri Rugene is parliamentary hires, internships, or NMG’s an- families early in their careers. Mwikali Muthiani says she would And certainly progress has been editor, Lucy Oriang’ rose from nual training and general man- “It’s doubly challenging to bal- be happy to see more women tak- made. When the question of copy editor to managing editor, agement career rotation pro- ance journalism with a family ing senior positions. But the rules women’s promotion was raised Ruth Lumembe was editor of gramme. since the job can take over your will not be bent to favour a female in the 1970s and 1980s, someone Living and Rhoda Orengo edits The papers give major play to life with its sometimes unholy candidate. would always raise the question: Saturday Magazine. stories such as the UN conference hours, travel and risk,” observes “ We are an equal opportunity “How do you expect a mother to In Tanzania, Sakina Datoo on women in 1985. Topics such as Kathleen Openda, once a current employer but based on merit. leave her house at midnight to go was managing editor and Usia poverty, sexual violence, health, affairs editor with the Nation. I, for one, would feel bad to be report on a fire in Mathare?” Mkoma news editor at The Citi- education and female circumci- “Many women grow up and picked for a position just because The 1990s and this side of the zen, while Betty Dindi was ap- sion continue to drive coverage. have this ‘I’ll find a rich guy to I am a woman, so I extend the century have brought changes pointed managing editor at NTV Lucy Oriang introduced the In- sort me out’ plan in their heads same courtesy to others.p that have been reflected in NMG Uganda. ternational Women’s Day special and therefore do not pursue their newsrooms. In Nairobi, Dorothy Management points out that project into the Nation in 2000, careers with the zeal of their male DAILY NATION XLII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

RECOLLECTIONS How I got my job at Covering culture in Kenya: the Nation

By DOROTHY KWEYU

y early years at A privilege and a paradox Nation were re- Mmarkable in vari- ous ways. As a staff writer Cultural controversy for Sunday Nation, I inves- tigated and wrote stories provided the grounds assigned by managing edi- tor Alfred Araujo, and later for healthy, constructive Chege Mbitiru, who was foreign editor when I first debate in a democracy joined the media group. Many a time, however, the By MARGARETTA WA GACHERU assignments came directly from the editor-in-chief, overing culture in Kenya Mr Joe Rodrigues, who had for nearly a quarter centu- hired me in the most unlike- Cry – almost half the length ly manner after a 10-month of the Daily Nation’s life – was stint as a trainee feature both a privilege and a paradox. writer/reporter with an in- It was a privilege because I house magazine publisher. interviewed everyone from play- A fomer colleague, Seth wrights and poets to pop stars, Musisi, had been nagging politicians and prime ministers. me to quit for quite a while Of the playwrights, I recall the after he landed a job at the late Robert Serumaga and John newly-launched Nairobi Ruganda as well as Francis Im- ABOVE: Charles Fleming (Iam Times. buga, David Mulwa, and even Mbugua) is surprised by Jayne’s “Dee,” he would say, “why Gunter Grass. Poets included (Kiruu Mbugguss) forthright don’t you just call Mr Rod- Okot p’Bitek and Grace Ogot, and manner as his brother Robert rigues? I know that if I leave the pop stars were Mick Jagger, (Steve Muturi) enjoys every you here, you will continue lead singer of the Rolling Stones, moment of it in ‘Don’t Misun- wasting yourself.” and Lauren Hill of Fugees fame, derstand Me’ - Phoenix Players. Fed up with my dithering, among others. From differing Seth called the Nation and areas of achievement were Prime LEFT: Cultural activities are after a brief exchange with Minister Gro Brundtlund of Nor- fascinating for some, but many a person I later learned was way, paleontologists Richard others feel they are not a cru- Mrs Irene Karanja, he passed and Meave Leakey, Mwai Kibaki cial issue in their lives. the phone to me saying: “Mr

when he was a government min- NMG ARCHIVES Rodrigues’ secretary!” ister, and preacher and social ac- Caught flatfooted, I asked tivist the Rev Jesse Jackson. University, seeing the English to talk to the editor-in-chief, Indeed, just as celebrity sports Department transformed into and Wairimu, as I was to star Serena Williams came to a Literature Department with call her ever after, promptly Kenya recently, so back then we its core curriculum being indig- gave me her boss, who asked got used to seeing Hollywood enous Kenyan oral literature, I brusquely after I had intro- stars Meryl Streep and Robert was aware that the issue of “de- duced myself: “Do you want Redford on a regular basis. colonising the mind” would be a job?” Since culture is all about ideas, central in understanding the I hadn’t expected him to I learned early on (while still a role of theatre in society. be so direct and I mumbled: student at University of Nairobi For if the colonial experience “Not really, but something in studying literature with Ngugi was meant to teach Kenyans that line.” wa Thiong’o) that it is an arena of their subordinate place in society, “When do you want to clash and conflict. Cultural con- decolonising the mind is meant come?” troversy provided the grounds to restore a social equilibrium, “At your convenience, sir,” for healthy, constructive debate self-assurance and sense of self- I replied. in a democracy. respect and dignity. When I showed up at Na- I covered theatre and the lived Kenya magazines like Men then with the Kenyan contribu- For instance, until the Free tion House on Tom Mboya performing arts for the Daily & Only and Trend, and I even ed- tion to FESTAC in 1976. Travelling Theatre began staging Street on that February 21, Sunday Nation and The EastAfri- ited my own magazine for Wom- I played an unpleasant colonial African scripts and addressing 1979, I found a panel made can; I also wrote for The Nairobi en’s World Banking. memsahib in The Trial of Dedan local issues from the early 70s, up of Mr Rodrigues, Daily Times and the Kenya Weekly Re- I came to write about Kenyan Kimathi co-authored by Ngugi most Kenyans believed theatre Nation managing editor view, publications started by the theatre through my experience of and Micere Mugo. Through was for the elite, the expatri- Mr Joe Kadhi, and person- Nation’s first African Editor, Hi- acting with the University of Nai- those encounters with the stage, ates, the Europeans; it had lit- nel manager John Karungu lary Ng’weno. I wrote for short- robi’s Free Travelling Theatre and I came to appreciate the vital role tle or nothing to do with them. waiting for me. that theatre can play not only in But now local thespians like After a brief and lively in- entertaining people but in rous- Imbuga, Mulwa, Ruganda, and terview, Mr Rodrigues told Most Kenyans believed theatre was for ing their awareness of important even Ngugi and Micere, began me to put in my application the elite, the expatriates, the Europeans; social issues. examining issues of class, race, in writing. two days later it had little or nothing to do with them. Ever since the late 1960s when ethnicity and Kenyan history — February 24 — the Nation Ngugi helped to spearhead a which had never been addressed drafted my first contract. cultural revolution in Nairobi artistically before. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XLIII

How we made ‘The EastAfrican’ a reality

By NICK CHITTY the rest of East Africa merely Eventually, a mountain of of other minor problems to laam, Kampala and Nairobi. 1991 to 2001. He now lives by logging on! dummies was whittled down overcome in the run-up to the Luckily, Malcolm Jarrett had in London and runs a prop- he first challenge I en- To my mind, the The EastA- to the last dozen or so. These launch. One of the Atex com- been with us before and man- erty maintenance business. countered during my frican was the most adventur- were then laid out on the puter software programmers aged to get it all working. He is married to Kenya-born T10 years with the Na- ous, exciting and rewarding board-room table for a final was asked to come over and Medrine who also worked for tion was to train the systems project I had the pleasure to choice to be made. get up the telecommunica- Nick Chitty was Systems the Nation, and they have staff. They were only seen on be involved with. I had been There were a multitude tions link between Dar-es-Sa- Operations Manager from two boys. the editorial or advertising doing some work on new floors if there was a problem, publications in the UK at the but they became the backbone Independent and The Cor- of the publishing operation. respondent but I had never It is hard to imagine now had to plan from scratch how but in those early years we to launch a new publication were right on the cutting edge from a systems point of view. of high-technology newspaper So, when we learned that a production. Some of our proc- new regional-oriented paper esses and practices were not was being researched we had even being attempted in Lon- to think fast on how we could Kenya Investment Authority don’s Fleet Street or by British achieve this goal. VISION “To be a World Class Agency in Marketing Kenya as the First Choice Investment Destination.” provincial newspapers at that The most important aspect time, either because of restric- for any new publication is the MISSION “To Provide Exceptional Services to Attract, Facilitate, Retain and Expand Investments in Kenya.” tive union practices or lack of design. If people don’t like the Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) is a statutory body established through an Act of Parliament Investment Promotion Act investment. Nation had a far- look of your new paper they No. 6 of 2004 with a mandate of promoting investments in Kenya. It is responsible for facilitating the implementation of new sighted management policy won’t buy it. A great deal of investment projects, providing After Care services for new and existing investments, as well as organizing investment promotion that saw where the technol- thought was put into this and activities both locally and internationally. The core functions of KenInvest include: Policy Advocacy, Investment Promotion, ogy was going and decided design consultants were hired. Investment Facilitation which include: Investor Tracking and After Care Services. early on to be part of it. The onus was for the systems A huge investments was team to interpret the various Role and Functions of KenInvest KenInvest free services include: made in the new Nation Cen- design specimens. • Issue of Investment Certificate to enable investors to operate immediately; tre and at roughly the same Muumbo Muyanga was as- • Assistance in obtaining any necessary work and residence permits for foreign investors & expatriate staff and time, a new printing press. signed this task and did a he- licences; It is pleasing to see, even roic job, spending many long • Assistance in obtaining incentives or exemptions under the Income Tax Act and the Customs and Excise Act, the after my time, that there is hours with The editor, Joe Od- Value Added Tax or other legislation; • Provide information, on investment opportunities or sources of capital; still that far-sighted approach. indo’s editorial team and de- • Promote both locally and internationally, the investment opportunities in Kenya New editorial and advertising signers, putting the finishing • Review the investment environment and make recommendations to the Government and others, with respect to systems have been installed touches to various dummies. changes that would promote and facilitate investment, including changes of licensing requirements; and of course the transition Every section of the paper was • Facilitate and manage investment sites, estates or land together with associated facilities on the sites, has been made to publishing scrutinised, revised and then • Appoint agents within the country and in any other country to carry out certain functions on KenInvest behalf, as it online. I now sit in an arm- done again. Finally, it would may consider necessary; • Appraisal and approval of investments chair in London with my lap- go down as an acceptable top and read about Kenya and dummy paper. Investment Opportunities Other Sectors • Agriculture • Energy • Tourism • Mining • Manufacturing • Building and Construction • Wholesale and Retail Trade • Infrastructure PROFILE • ICT/BPO • Financial services I have enjoyed my work for 40 years oorbegum Kana- ni, supervisor of Nthe photo library at Nation Media Group, has seen it all, at least from the time the Nation was just 10 years old. The Chairman of KenInvest Board of Directors, Ms Kanani joined the classified advertising de- the Management and entire staff of KenInvest partment in 1970 and now wish to Congratulate ranks as the company’s longest serving staff mem- Nation Media Group ber. She will celebrate her on their 50th Anniversary Celebration 40th year with the Nation this souvenir issue. in October. How does it feel to be From the advertising with one company for half We are proud to be associated with you. department she was ap- a lifetime? “I have enjoyed Kenya Railways Headquarters, Block D, 4th Floor, pointed photo library working with the Nation Workshops Rd., Off Haile Salassie Avenue, supervisor. Among the for all those years,” she P.O. Box 55704-00200, Nairobi, Kenya pictures in her custody says. Born in Homa Bay, Tel: +254-20 222 1401-4, Mobile: 254 722 205 424, 722 209 902, 733 601 184, Fax: +254 20 224 3862 are many going back 50 she has two sons and two Website: www.investmentkenya.com| E-mail: [email protected] years and beyond, some of grandchildren. Her hus- Representative Offices: which have been used in band died in 1995. Eldoret | Kisumu | Mombasa | JKIA | Moi International Airport CONTINUED ON PAGE 43 DAILY NATION XLIV | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 The day Jesus preached to the newsroom

starting a new paper in Africa. letter because people kept mak- In the early days of the Na- be satisfactory to all parties and, Having people around like man- ing jokes and asking if the cat tion, many potential politicians, after a while, we got so used to aging director Michael Curtis, was a good leader. self-styled leaders and eccentrics him that we hardly noticed him. former editor of Britain’s News A major error I remember from flocked to our offices opposite Unluckily one day, in the mid- Chronicle, and John Bierman, an those pioneer days was a front- the fire station, in what was then dle of a tour of the newsroom by experienced Fleet Street opera- page lead, “Man Killed by Lions Victoria Street, now Tom Mboya a group of VIPs, Jesus arrived for tor who was our first editor, gave in Game Park,” only inches away Street. One of the latter arrived his monthly visit, mounted on us local recruits a great opportu- from an advertisement showing one day dressed in flowing white a desk and began delivering his nity to learn the sort of journal- a lion’s head and the invitation robes, told us he was Jesus Christ usual booming sermon. Bierman ism which was then unknown in “Come to East Africa’s glorious and he was going to give us a ser- was conscientiously explaining Kenya. game parks”. I seem to remem- mon. how the paper worked when he The strength of the paper was ber advertisement contracts were He then got up on a desk realised that his listeners were in part its recognition of the im- cancelled for some time. portance of pictures in a tabloid One time, the Mayor of Nakuru and our photographers were invited me to go with him to A major error I remember from those chosen with care. One of the Molo and interview Mau Mau pioneer days was a front-page lead, “Man best was the diminutive Caleb freedom fighters who had decid- Killed by Lions in Game Park,” only inches Akwera, who was blessed with a ed to surrender after years in the away from an advertisement showing a great sense of humour and often forest. As the only mzungu, I felt returned from assignments with slightly apprehensive and it was lion’s head and the invitation “Come to idiosyncratic and witty photo- quite a dramatic moment when East Africa’s glorious game parks” graphs that nobody else had about 30 of them came out from noticed. the bush. There was a minor rum- One of the men looked at me and preached in loud tones and somewhat distracted. “Er, who John Bier- By DICK DAWSON pus when Kanu held a march and put his hand in his pocket at some length. Finally, John is that chap?” asked one. “Is he man, the through Nairobi and Caleb no- and, frankly, I wondered if it Bierman said “Thank you, but staff?” Our editor’s skill with Nation’s first ew newspapers could ticed a cat walking in front of the would come out with a pistol. please do not come back”. How- words was seriously taxed to ex- editor. have got off to such a procession. The picture caused But it was a hand-written Press ever, Jesus said he could not obey plain this bizarre situation. good start as the Daily much mirth, but the leaders of release and he said he would be such a request. There followed a But that was the Nation and FNation, mainly because the march considered it insult- really pleased if I could put in the lengthy negotiation and it was Nairobi half a century ago. many of the journalists who ing to Kanu and wrote a letter paper for him. In fact, I found the eventually agreed he could come came out from Britain were ex- of complaint, which was duly ex-freedom fighters rather timid once a month and preach to a Dick Dawson worked as a report- tremely talented, young and en- published. I heard later that they and very pleased to be photo- strict time limit of five minutes. er for the Daily Nation from 1960 ergetic and very excited about wished they had never sent the graphed. This arrangement appeared to to 1964.

RECOLLECTIONS into a popular outlet for the ordinary Kenyan to vent his spleen at the inefficiency and I held my breath in corruption of petty officialdom. It still gives me a lift to see the terror as we lifted a column’s name on the website where I read the Nation. When I knew that I was coming £1m computer to Nairobi I suggested to a col- league from the Daily Mail, Stu- By PETER CHADWICK UK media, I found it refreshing art Martin, that he should apply to work for newspapers which for the post of Finance Director fter 40 years in the tried to tell the truth free of po- and in fact he actually moved to British newspaper litical, religious and tribal in- the Group slightly before me. business it was a fluences. We quickly decided that the Amajor culture shock The big event during my three Nation’s approach to finance to find myself in Nairobi on a years was the move to the was conservative for a publish- three-year contract. In 1990, newly-built Nation Centre on ing house which dominated the Nation Centre was just a hole Kimathi Street. I had worked marketplace so completely and in the ground and democracy on the building and develop- so, under the guidance of group was a murky concept to Ken- ment of two newspaper offices chief Albert Ekirapa, we insti- ya’s political classes, though in London but nothing on the The modern we produced a full Sunday edi- My feeling was that the papers tuted a much more aggressive the Nation – under the re- scale of this project. That eve- purpose built tion of the paper only 20 hours were often too serious and revenue policy. doubtable George Mbugguss - rything went like clockwork newsroom at after closing down in Tom needed a lighter touch here I hope it is not presumptuous was doing its level best to hold on the night of the move was Nation Centre Mboya Street. and there and so I suggested to suggest that our efforts were them to account. a tribute to the planning of on Kimathi My policy about editorial con- to Managing Editor Wangethi at least partly responsible for The one-time bakery that was Nguchie Gathogo and his de- Street is a tent was that it was the busi- Mwangi that we should have a funding the growth of NMG our head office on Tom Mboya partment and to the brilliant far cry from ness of the editors -- after all, chatty column. into the media giant which it is Street was not the most sa- computer expertise of the team the one- they were Kenyan, they under- The only place available for today. lubrious of workplaces, but I led by Nick Chitty. time bakery stood their country and if they it, due to advertising require- perceived an energy, a determi- I remember holding my breath that was the ran the risk of upsetting the ments, was the outside column Peter Chadwick was Managing nation to tell the truth – often in terror as a £1 million main- newspapers’ authorities without having the of Page 7 which led me to sug- Director of Nation Newspapers at great personal risk to the frame computer was carried offices on option of leaving the country, gest the name Outside Edge. from October 1990 to October writers – and an overall feeling in a tarpaulin down the stairs Tom Mboya it was not up to me to advise The team did not care for the 1993. He has been retired for of wanting to serve the people of the old building by some 20 Street. them. name but liked the idea and so almost 15 years and lives hap- which were irresistible. Hav- brawny men -- one slip and the But I will take credit for one The Cutting Edge was born. pily in the beautiful Cotswold ing chafed at the covert politi- whole paper’s future was in innovation, the phenomenon The column took off immedi- area of Britain with his wife, tel- cal bias adopted by most of the jeopardy. But all went well and that became The Cutting Edge. ately and quickly developed evision dramatist Adele Rose. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XLV

Mr Mwai Kibaki and Gearing up Raila Odinga before the for the titanic 2002 elections. battle of 2002

N MARCH 1999, Presi- finally formed a grand alli- dent Moi confirmed that, ance, having learned the les- Iin accordance with the sons of presenting multiple constitution which barred candidates in 1992 and 1997. him from a further term, he Combinations of smaller par- would step down at the De- ties produced the National cember 27, 2002 election. Rainbow Coalition (Narc) There ensued a whirlwind of with Mwai Kibaki at its head political horse-trading. as the sole presidential can- Kanu formed an alliance didate. with Raila Odinga’s Nation- Kenya’s newspapers front- al Development Party and paged an historic photograph Odinga became a cabinet of friends and former en- minister in a precedent-set- emies all sitting at the same ting coalition. Subsequently, table: Kibaki, Moody Awori, the NDP was absorbed into Charity Ngilu, George Sai- Kanu, of which Odinga be- toti, Kalonzo Musyoka, Raila came secretary-general, Odinga, Simeon Nyachae, forcing out the long-serving Kijana Wamalwa and Farah Joseph Kamotho. Maalim. Four months before the It was a formidable line- election, Moi named Uhuru up and Kanu zealots realised Kenyatta as the man who they could lose an election for should step into his shoes the first time. as Kanu’s presidential can- In the final weeks before didate. Uhuru, son of the late polling day, there was an up- President Jomo Kenyatta, surge of dubious dealings at was just 35 and had minimal official level, duly reported ministerial experience. The by the Nation’s investiga- move angered many Kanu tions desk, including loot- veterans and some 30 MPs ing of the NSSF, the National boycotted the party confer- Hospital Insurance Fund and ence which endorsed Uhu- the Kenyatta National Hos- ru’s candidacy. pital. Partly, the cash thus On that same day, October secured was used to make 14, across Nairobi in Uhuru Park, Kanu’s main opponents CONTINUED ON PAGE 49

PROFILE She witnessed Nation grow from infancy rare employee who saw the Nation Agrow from infancy in 1961 to its full-fledged adult status is the dimin- utive, bustling, cheerful and energetic Wilma De Souza. Wilma retired in 2000 aged 60, having worked for the group for 38 years. “If it were not for the age factor, I would have liked to continue,” she said in a Wilma is proud that she recent interview. organised records in pho- Ms De Souza joined the tographic form of some of Nation on July 1, 1961 as an the great events in Kenya’s administrative assistant. history. She later joined the photo She recalled the release library, rising to become its of Jomo Kenyatta from de- first head, responsible for tention in August 1961, the setting up the archival sys- independence celebrations tem from scratch. in December 1963. DAILY NATION XLVI | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

2007 polls and the violent aftermath

n the run-up to the 2007 Kalonzo Musyoka were principal Jonathan and Raymond Moi. election, the economy was candidates for the Presidency Then when the presidential Iforging ahead, the media while two political groupings result was finally announced – enjoyed unusual freedom, there dominated the parliamentary 4,584,721 votes for Kibaki against were no political prisoners, pri- scene – Kibaki’s Party of National Odinga’s 4,352,993, violence mary school children were get- Unity, backed by the traditional broke out but what was shock- ting free education, tourism was Gema alliance, and Odinga’s ing was the extent and depth of booming and Kenya enjoyed a Orange Democratic Movement, the fury. generally good name in interna- which brought together Luos, In the worst convulsion in its tional circles. Kalenjins and some Luhyas. independent history, 1,200 Ken- But official corruption contin- Early returns looked bad for yans were killed with many thou- ued to flourish, there was linger- the ruling regime as the ODM sands injured, in Western Kenya, ing anger over the failure of con- outpolled the PNU two-to-one the Rift Valley, Nairobi, Momba- stitutional reform and the spectre and a raft of heavyweights were sa and elsewhere. Tribal gangs Excited supporters of Raila Odinga at an Orange Democratic Party rally in Nairobi of tribalism was inescapably vis- rejected, including Vice-President attacked their perceived enemies during the 2007 presidential election campaign. ible in the line-ups for the poll. Moody Awori, Njenga Karume, with pangas, clubs and fiery Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga and Nicholas Biwott and Gideon, torches, prompting reprisal raids

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The Kiambaa fire tragedy: Anger and fear ruled as Kenyans turned on each other in a bloody response to the 2007 poll. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XLVII

Kenyans experi- enced virtually every painful 2007 polls and the violent aftermath emotion known to man as vio- of equal ferocity. The torching of As many as 600,000 people were lence threat- a church containing 30 people, rendered homeless and refugee camps ened to tear many of them women and chil- became permanent elements on the the country dren, near Eldoret, was emblem- national scene. Economic damage was asunder. atic of the unleashed hatred. counted in billions of dollars. The Daily As many as 600,000 people Nation declared: “This madness cannot were rendered homeless and ref- be allowed to go on” The Interna- ugee camps became permanent tional commu- elements on the national scene. ward. cause it was impossible to estab- nity pressed Mr Economic damage was counted To this end, two commissions lish reliable results. Kibaki and Mr in billions of dollars. The Daily were established as part of the This conclusion satisfied many Odinga into a Nation declared: “This madness peace pact: one to assess the con- peace-lovers. The Waki Commis- power-sharing cannot be allowed to go on.” duct of the election, the other to sion handed a list of alleged per- arrangement The international community, investigate responsibility for the petrators of the violence to Kofi that brought in the form of the African Union, post-election violence. Annan, who passed it to Luis peace to the the United States and Britain, The Kriegler Commission con- Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecu- nation. The stepped in and made it plain cluded that Kenyans would never tor of the International Criminal brokers includ- that the crisis must be resolved know who won the election be- Court. ed President without delay. Kibaki and Odinga John Kufuor of began fitful peace talks but it was Ghana (below), only with the arrival of the former Mr Kofi Annan secretary general of the United and former Nations, Kofi Annan, on January Tanzanian 22 that designated negotiating President Ben teams began meeting. Mkapa. Since it was now crystal clear that power-sharing was the only realistic solution to Kenya’s prob- lems of ethnic division, some form of coalition government became the fundamental objec- tive of the negotiators. But with the two sides finding it difficult to shift from their entrenched posi- tions, Annan moved the talks to a secret location and demanded a news blackout. Under the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, signed by Kibaki and Odinga on Febru- ary 28, 2008, the parties agreed to form a grand coalition gov- ernment. Kibaki, who had been sworn-in was president and Odinga became prime minister. The pact was widely wel- comed. Heading towards its own 50th anniversary in 2013, independent Kenya faced some fundamental, divisive issues which needed to be resolved once and for all if the country was to move safely for- DAILY NATION XLVIII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

There was heartfelt relief all over Kenya when the two giants at the heart of the crisis signed on the dotted line in a deal brokered by Kofi Annan (above)

Luis Moreno- Ocampo the ICC chief prosecutor pursuing the masterminds of the post elections vio- lence.

2007 Election and the violent aftermath

TOP NEWS Investo≥s lose Sh40bn of State Hilary Clinton met with the violence to the ethnic clashes in NSE ove≥ poll c≥isis Af≥ican nations t≥y COMPANY & INDUSTRY Page 2» to imp≥ove ai≥ safety Family fi≥ms ≥ely on Page 26» an invisible CEO the president and the prime min- of the 1990s. The 529-page Waki Pages 10 - 11 » ister and declared: “We’ve been report said: “The fact that armed very clear in our disappointment militias, most of whom devel-

NO. 208 THURSDAY JANUARY 3, 200 8 that action has not been taken oped as a result of the 1990s eth-

KSH50 | TZSH1,000 Save ou≥ beloved count≥y| UGSH1,400 (over the violence.)” She urged nic clashes, were never demobi- No g≥ievance is wo≥th the blood of innocent Kenyan child≥en politicians’ causes , and the government the powers-that-be to “step up to lised led to the ease with which G≥andstanding taking nation nowhe≥e O≥ganised massac≥e, looting negate mo≥al basis of Kibaki, Raila should stand down if they can’t face ≥eality was urged to set up a tri- their responsibilities and remove political and business leaders re- bunal to deal with the the question of impunity”. activated them for the 2007 post- issue. For his part, Moreno-Ocampo election violence.” (The Kenya Human announced that crimes against Not everything was negative Rights Commission humanity had been committed about Kenya’s unresolved is- meanwhile named 219 and he would seek formal investi- sues, however. A Committee of people, including PNU gation of them. He met with Pres- Experts unveiled a draft consti-

Kenyans flee to safety as ethnic violence spread s to Kikuyu in Kiambu District. More than 75,000 Ken ur beloved country, the Repub and ODM cabinet minis- ident Kibaki and Prime Minister tution which seemed to meet the yans have been displaced and hundreds killed lic of Kenya, is a burnt out,- It is unbelievable foolishness for Osmouldering ruin. The econ Kenyans to destroy their economy, as politicians continue to square off over presidentia omy is at a virtual standstill and the ar - their homes and their entire way of life COMMENT PETERSONGITHAIGA l poll results. mies of destruction are on the march- in in the name of politics and on behalf A MEDIA PLEA FOR SANITY wanton, well-orchestrated blood-let the Rift Valley and other places. ting are undermining the moral basis ters, as organisers, facilita- Odinga and said they pledged to approval of most Kenyans. Well- - of people whose lives of comfort and are currently in great danger of losing the country back from the brink and In the midst of this, leaders — who luxury are going on normally. of the politicians’ cause. help restore the public’s confidence and are the direct cause of this catastro their credibility in the eyes of Kenyans The media in Kenya today propose Those in authority must not have sense of safety. phe — are issuing half-hearted calls and the international community be more regard for their — tenuous — grip - to be forthright and united in confront Tough talk, grandstanding and cause of the systematic killing of the- for peace, from the comfort of their ing this bloodshed and disunity in the on power than lives and property. empty point-scoring is not getting tors or perpetrators of the co-operate. wishers expressed the hope that - innocent sweeping Kenya, destruct hotels and walled homes in Nairobi, country. There is no cause and no right It must be a blind and deaf person the nation anywhere. The moment of the economy and the spread ofion disaf whence they are conveyed in bullet- more valuable than the right to life. Po who does not hear the cries of the has come to isolate the hardliners on fection throughout the land. - proof limousines. litical leaders on both sides must be 70,000 people, many of them our chil both sides and - No grievance and no cause is worth dren, who are now refugees in their- EDITORIAL, Page 14» told in no uncertain terms that they the innocent blood of Kenyan children. violence.) When the cabi- What emerged from the elec- the top leadership would endorse own country. The orgies of looting, burning, rape and A final opportunity now presents Unveiling campaign itself for the political leadership t NEWS IN DEPTH money bags barons Elections hangover o pull US presidential aspirants Barack slows business net decided against setting up tion post-mortems as deeply the draft and bring their support- Obama and Hillary Rodham Clin Business was sluggish as Nairobi It’s back to the drawing ton each surpassed the $100 - woke up to the first working day board for President Treasury to split million fundraising mark for their of 2008 that was preceded by With 20 ministers losing their position into two BRIEFING presidential campaigns by year’s violent clashes that followed the parliamentary seats, President The proposed position of a gov a special tribunal, US Secretary significant was the similarity of ers with them. end. controversial outcome of last Mwai Kibaki will miss the ernance-cum-financial advisor- Page 6» week’s general election. services of key drivers of his was split after a candidate ear Page 8» government when he forms the marked for the position failed- new Cabinet in the next few days. to meet conditions set out by World order is changing Page 9» donors. as old captains give in Page 20» to new kings Pages 16 - 17» DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS XLIX

TRAINING Scaling new heights in the training of young journalists

By DAVID ADUDA

ation Media Group has a long history of fostering Njournalistic talent and professionalism. From the outset, in 1960, its founder, His Highness the Aga Khan hired seasoned edi- tors and reporters from London and mandated them to design and undertake an aggressive training programme to foster a new cadre of African media pro- fessionals, providing them with the necessary journalistic and managerial skills and offer them ongoing opportunities to excel professionally. In-house training was institu- Professor Wangari Maathai receives the Nobel Peace Prize tionalised with the appointment in Oslo. She is the first African woman to receive the prize. of training editors, whose brief Prof Maathai is the founder of the Greenbelt Movement. was to offer apprenticeships to local journalists; taking them through all elements of journal- ism, ranging from news writing Battle for democracy to copy editing and newspaper production. An early benefici- ary was Philip Ochieng’, who was picks up momentum plucked from government serv- ice, where he had served as a CONTINUED FROM PAGE 45 auguration, condemning protocol officer in the Division of Kanu’s years of misrule and External Affairs, then under the political payments to swing declaring that “corruption Prime Minister’s office. Ochieng’ the election and partly to fat- will now cease to be a way of rose from a cub reporter to be- ten individual bank accounts life in Kenya.” come managing editor of the in a last-chance raid on the The new government Nation and, later, editor-in-chief Treasury’s coffers before an embarked on a whirlwind of the Kenya Times, which was expected change of regime. of change. Its most popular then owned by the then ruling Although Mwai Kibaki decision was to initiate free party, the Kenya African Nation- He played an instrumental role new media formats. A strategic Media Lab was injured in a car crash primary education for all al Union. in initiating training plans for response – namely, creating a trainees and sidelined for several children, but Kibaki also ap- Another early beneficiary was Nation journalists. pipeline to identify, nurture and spruce up weeks, the extraordinary pointed bodies to investigate Joe Kadhi, who started his career Besides in-house training, retain talent – was imperative. for gradua- spectacle of a united oppo- Goldenberg and the murder as a reporter for Taifa Leo, but various programmes helped to That response was the Na- tion. sition excited Kenyans as of Robert Ouko, opened de- was later absorbed in the Daily mentor and enhance journal- tion Media Lab, established in never before. The campaign tention cells in Nyayo House Nation stable after a training istic skills. Among others, the 2007 to incubate talent and de- was unusually free from vio- for public viewing, oversaw stint at the newly opened School Nation entered into a twinning velop media professionals with lence, as if the dirty-tricks the start of a constitutional of Journalism at the University partnership with the St. Peters- the broad range of skills that specialists had already given review conference and began of Nairobi. The School itself had burg Times newspaper in the US, matched the groups expanding up the ghost, and the anti- moves to rid the judiciary of been established with the collab- where Nation journalists would needs. Specifically, the purpose Kanu forces duly won an corrupt magistrates and oration of the Vienna-based In- be sent on fellowships to learn of the Lab was to identify fresh emphatic victory in both judges. ternational Press Institute, which best practices abroad. (A simi- university graduates from differ- presidential and parliamen- Kenyans had seen noth- had close links with the Nation. lar partnership was cemented in ent professions and take them tary contests, ending nearly ing like it and briefly the na- Kadhi rose through the ranks to later years with the Kansas City through an intensive hands-on four decades of uninterrupt- tion seemed united and at become Assistant Group Manag- Star of the US) More initiatives craftsmanship to turn them into ed Kanu rule. one. Democracy was at last ing Editor of the newspaper di- followed such as sponsoring jour- journalists. Kibaki took the presiden- achieved. Inevitably, how- vision and established himself nalists for internships and jour- It was styled a “laboratory” cy with 62.3 per cent of votes ever, the honeymoon did as a popular social and political nalism training abroad and at the deliberately – both to signal the against Uhuru Kenyatta’s not last. commentator with his weekly School of Journalism. Group’s purpose of creating a 31.3 per cent and Narc won The bill for looting govern- column in the Daily Nation titled As the Nation Media Group hub for journalistic talent and to 125 of 210 available parlia- ment coffers during the Kanu Joe Kadhi asks WHY? Today he expanded, so too did its training distinguish it from other journal- mentary seats. Kanu was years was commonly set at mentors and teaches young jour- and professional development ism training models. reduced to 64 and FORD- around $3 billion, enough nalists at the United States Inter- needs. In particular, the Group’s Three years after inception, People won 14. The election to pay for primary schooling national University in Nairobi. expansion into Uganda and Tan- the Media Lab has admitted turnout was a high 56.1 per for every Kenyan child for 10 The appointment of Hillary zania and diversification into and trained 60 recent graduates cent. years. Thus Kibaki’s inaugu- Ngweno, a Harvard trained broadcasting and digital media from universities across East Af- Though confined to a ration day promise to put an physicist, as editor-in-chief only in the 1990s and 2000s exposed rica. Rather than focus solely on wheelchair with one leg in end to this perpetual scourge two years after Nation’s incep- the dire shortage of trained jour- mass communication graduates, plaster, Kibaki presented a was received with delight by tion was the strongest signal of nalists in the wider region – as formidable figure at his in- indigenous Kenyans. the desire to empower Africans well as critical skill and expe- to chart the destiny of the Nation. rience gaps in traditional and CONTINUED ON PAGE 52 DAILY NATION L | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 At the heart of popular culture The Nation covered the origins of Benga music, from the Lake Victoria region

ust as the Nation in its early days set out to give a voice Jto African political leaders ignored by the colonial Press, so it opened its pages to the vibrant indigenous music in a burgeoning entertainment industry. You can look through the Na- tion and trace the careers of some of today’s most famous musi- cians. In the early 1960s, Kenya’s white-oriented newspapers con- centrated on dog shows, pony gymkhanas, visiting entertainers at the New Stanley Grill Room (comedian/violinists such as Vic Oliver) and plays and musicals at the Donovan Maule Theatre. The songs and stories that captured the rich depth of African cultural life found no space. Through Taifa, Taifa Jumapili and the Nation, readers learned ABOVE: Mem- Tom Mboya. He jotted down the throughout the years was a keen of top singers and composers bers of Equa- words and she sang them with advocate against piracy through like Fundi Konde, Daudi Kabaka, tor Sounds great aplomb. The Daily Nation various organisations. Paul Mwachupa, Fadhili William, Band, Nash- recorded the great event and its Veteran TV comedians Mzee Them Mushrooms, Maroon Com- il Pitchen, rapturous reception in words and Pembe, Mama Toffi, Kipanga mandos, comedians Mzee Pembe, Fadhili Wil- pictures. were amply profiled in both Mama Toffi, Othorong’ong’o Dan- liams, Charles Makeba collapsed and died in Daily Nation and Taifa Leo, as ger, Mutiso, Baba Zero, Makan- Sonko, Peter November 2008 during a tour of was veteran actor Joseph Olita yanga and Athuman Kaipanga, Sotsi with Italy, but she will always be re- who played the starring role of who dominated the black and an unidenti- membered here for Malaika as the dictator in the 1981 movie white screen of the Voice of fied fan. The much as Pole Mzee, which she Amin: The Rise and Fall. Most Kenya for years. Many Kenyans band went on dedicated to Mzee Jomo Kenyatta of this movie, directed by Sharad will remember comedy shows to record the after his release from detention. Patel, was shot in Kenya. Olita of the late 1960s, 1970s and the classic “Pole As for Daudi Kabaka, renowned also played the part of Amin in later 1980s like Kivunja Mbavu Musa” which for his Helule song (picked up the 1991 Hollywood movie Mis- and Vitimbi. burst charts in and recorded by a British band), sissippi Masala. A great musician, whose ca- the late 60s. Kenyans will probably remember The Nation covered the origins reer the Nation tracked for years NMG ARCHIVES him for his patriotic song, Hara- of Benga music, from the Lake was Fadhili William. He was best mbee Harambee, which was used Victoria region, in which Daniel known for that great song, Ma- RIGHT: Singer as a newscast signature tune for Owino Misiani, Ochieng Nelly, laika. But controversy grew about Miriam Make- Voice of Kenya/Kenya Broadcast- “Dr” Collela Mazee, George its genesis following reports in ba (far left) ing Corporation. Ramogi and others played major the early 1960s that Grand Charo with govern- Kabaka, who performed along- roles. Benga was later to provide was in fact the original composer. ment minister side Fadhili William, Peter Tsotsi an inspiration to world-famous Fadhili, it was said, simply popu- James Gichu- school, joining a choir. In the World War and had many hits, and Gabriel Omollo in the Equa- Lingala musicians. The inva- larised the song in new versions, ru and other 1980s, he moved to the United including Mama Sowera, Majen- tor Sounds Band, was regularly sion from Democratic Republic as did many other international guests at the States, but his career did not go Siendi Tena, Kipenzi Waniua reported on in Taifa Leo. He was of Congo through Uganda of artistes. 1963 Uhuru prosper. He returned home in Ua, Jambo Sigara and Tausi. He famous for Msichana Mrembo musiciansians seeking greener Other noted numbers by Fadhili celebrations. 1997 and died in February 2001. died in 2000. The original “Dreva but also took part in recording pastures. Others kept moving were Taxi Driver and Uwe Wangu. NMG ARCHIVES With Malaika, Fadhili put Kombo” was done by Paul Mwa- Pole Musa. between Tanzania and Kenya. His stints later with the Hodi Boys Kenya on the international music chupa. Veterans of the 1960s will re- Also in the Nation archives Band and veteran Juma Toto scene. The song was later redone Eagerly read Nation coverage call David Amunga particularly is the story of Tanzanian music. were also widely reported by Na- by Miriam Makeba, Boney M and in those days were pictures of a for Journey from America to Af- There were musicians and pop tion. Esther John, Fadhili’s sister, others. young and vibrant South African rica and Jane is Pretty. Amunga groups which fled the socialist re- will be remembered by readers Fundi Konde, one of Kenya’s songbird, Miriam Makeba, who for the Taita song, Kibilingisho greatest composers, was born in took part in Kenya’s 1963 inde- Ngome, which was later redone Kilifi District in distant 1924. He pendence day celebrations, along Veteran actor Joseph Olita played the by veteran Habel Kifoto and the had strong Kiswahili lyrics and with the famous American, Harry starring role of the dictator in the 1981 Maroon Commandos band. mostly wrote love ballads. Belafonte. What a gig that was! Fadhili was born in Taita-Tave- Fundi entertained troops in Her first attempt at singing movie Amin: The Rise and Fall ta and started music in primary South Asia during the Second Malaika was at the request of DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS LI

Celebrity culture takes root in media By PHILIP MWANIKI on the scene. But none were really as exclusive to celebri- enyans once looked ties as Buzz, a free magazine up to the heroes of that came with the Sunday Kyesteryear—the Mau paper. This was the home of Mau freedom fighters, the celebrities. Second Liberation warriors, The public loved it and musicians such as Daudi sales climbed. The maga- Kabaka and Fadhili Wil- zine set the standard and the liams, brilliant footballers topic. You cannot talk about like Joe Kadenge and actors the Kenyan entertainment like Mzee Ojwang and Mama industry and fail to mention Kayai. Buzz, which heralded a new But, with time, the Kaba- era in “celebville” and cov- ka generation was brushed ered every detail about the aside by new kids on the celebrities and their art. block —Nameless, Hard- As Buzz concentrated on stone, 5 Alive, Redykyulass, celebrities, there was still a Kalamashaka, Prezzo and neglected audience out there gime to make money in capitalist Nikki. and the Nation soon came Kenya, such as Mbaraka Mwin- Nation Media Group, em- up with ZuQka, a weekly shehe and Simba Wanyika. braced the new look showbiz lifestyle and entertainment In 1996 came the huge Nation/ and the celebrity culture was magazine. The mature yet House of Manji Benga music ex- in. From the 1990s, the Na- still celebrity-hungry group travaganza at the Nyayo National tion has dedicated more and who would rather listen to Stadium. To get in you needed ei- more pages to entertainers. Eric Wainaina than Jimwat ther a copy of Taifa Jumapili or a It started off as two pages, and Mejja found their place packet of House of Manji biscuits. but the fans of celebrities here. This generation ush- The show was a platform for ex- wanted more. They wanted a ered in the celebrity craze posure to leading Benga musi- relationship with their stars. in the 1990s and can hardly cians like the late Okach Biggy They wanted to delve into keep up today with the fast and Heka Heka Band, Princess their lives and lifestyle. They rising young stars. Jully , DO Misiani and Sukuma wanted to know what their Through the Nation, Bin Ongaro. TOP: Franco pet peeves were and who Kenya has a vibrant enter- Veteran broadcaster and music Luambo Luan- they were dating, marrying tainment industry and even promoter Fred Obachi Machoka zo Makiadi of or divorcing. the corporate world is taking praised the entertainment cov- Congo DRC at Media personalities had notice. Where it used to be erage of the Daily Nation. “We a concert in their own stage. Hamisi only “real” heroes who were have been able to keep up to date Nairobi. Themo, Nguata Francis, Eliz- awarded Presidential awards with most of the happenings on abeth Omollo, Ann Wafula and medals of honour, that the entertainment scene over the ABOVE: The and Ken Obachi Machoka list now boasts names such years,” he said. Popular music legendary were viewed strictly as pro- as Eric Wainaina. apart, the Daily Nation has also Fundi Konde fessionals. This new breed been involved, since the 1990s, in NMG ARCHIVES had star quality. [email protected] the sponsorship of schools drama The Nation grant- dia.com and music festivals. ed the new stars more space on its pages. Out were the two pages, in came The trio that thrilled us on telly Young Nation. The fans could now read eteran TV comedians from Tanzania to perform about their favourite Mzee Pembe (Omari plays when television was stars’ fears, ambitions VSuleiman), Mama launched in Kenya in 1962. and even hitherto well- Toffi (Fatuma Saleh) and One of their first appearanc- kept secrets. People could re- 1973 - 1979 Kipanga (Kipanga Athum- es was in the show “Top Life”. late to them better through ani) who tickled TV viewers Among other popular the pages of the Nation. The were also profiled in both programmes were Vioja stars used those same pages Daily Nation and Taifa Leo. Mahakamani, Vitimbi, Fed- to promote their gigs. They The trio were popular in the heha and Kazi Bure and oth- hyped their upcoming al- 1960s and the 1970s with ers. Some leading comedi- bums and they saw sales Mzee Tamaa programmes such as “Ki- ans in these shows include go up. r Peter Lukoye (above) was active vunja Mbavu”, Cheka na Ki- Mzee Ojwang Hatari (Ben- It was a two-way relation- for decades as a radio and television panga” and “Jamii ya Mzee son Wanjau), Mama Kayai ship and a generational shift Mcomedian. He will be remembered Pembe (Mary Khavere) and Mgongo from traditional celebrities as a writer with the Nation Media Group who The popularity of the pro- Mture. Radio listeners will whose claim to fame was 1973 - 1979 wrote a popular column in Taifa Leo “Viumbe grammes was mainly based also remember the hilarious that they could sing, look Vinavyoishi “. The gifted comedian once said: on the social themes touch- Job Isaac Mwamto who pre- good on television or sound “My greatest challenge as a journalist has been ing on family issues. sented the popular “Porojo” nice on radio. the move from the old typewriter to the com- Before independence, radio programme on the Soon, other entertain- puter.’’ Between 1966 and 1977, he acted in they were among the first then VOK radio. ment magazines arrived Korti ya Kiberenge, Kivunja Mbavu and Vioja Africans alongside Mzee Many of the older Kenyan Mahakamani. All these were covered in the Tamaa Bin Tamaa (Peter Lu- listeners will recall his witty Performing artist Prezzo Daily Nation and Taifa Leo. koye) and the Frank Sisters humour. DAILY NATION LII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

TRAINING MEDIA LAB Getting home a healthy message to the media ACK IN 2003, while or- ganising my first HIV/ BAids print reporting workshop in Accra, Ghana, I could not have predicted the extraordinary impact it would have on my career. I also could not have dreamed the experience would even- tually lead me to East Africa during a time of unparalleled achievement and promise for one of the most vibrant media companies on the Af- rican continent. evocative challenge: Do media At the time, I was a reporter companies have a responsibil- for National Public Radio in ity to increase coverage of Washington, DC, focusing health issues as a core public primarily on social policy af- service? Could one woman’s fecting poor Americans. Ironi- voice in the wilderness really cally, what I was doing in the make a difference? Scaling new heights US wound up fuelling my Af- If that woman’s voice nags rican journey. As a woman loud, long and hard enough, born in poverty in the richest I am pleased to report, it can. nation in the world, I became Through my initial presence a journalist because I wanted at daily news meetings, an on- in training journalists to explore and illuminate the line all-staff critique and long- reasons why so many Ameri- term mentoring and training cans were still struggling. I of reporters, I can honestly A class in doing it thoroughly well. New cember 2009 study by Dr. Peter CONTINUED FROM PAGE 49 also wanted to help improve claim that the Daily Nation progress at and emerging concepts are test- Mwesige, a former Nation train- access to the basics of the has improved and increased the Media Lab ed and implemented. Trainers ing editor, on university-level “American Dream” — educa- its coverage of health-related in Nation the Lab deliberately seeks to re- are a blend of practising jour- journalism, media and communi- tion, health care, employment issues significantly over the Centre. cruit graduates of law, security, nalists and journalism experts. cation education in East Africa. and so on. It was a lofty goal, past year and a half. From social sciences, business and eco- In-house staff injects experience The study identified critical but I was determined to help a time when health matters nomics, as well as those originally and practice. gaps in basic writing and com- “give voice to the voiceless”. were reported solely through trained in mass communication. The trainees routinely go out to munication skills; poor analyti- Fast forward seven years official press releases, journal- Underpinning this model is the field with seasoned reporters cal skills; and limited specialised to my tenure as a consultant/ ists now take the initiative to the fact that consumers of media to understudy them; learn how knowledge in key areas such as trainer for the International develop full-fledged health products are increasingly dis- to handle news conferences, ask business and economics, philoso- Centre for Journalists, based features. I have been pleased cerning, inquisitive, analytical right questions, conceptualise phy, science and technology, and at the Nation Media Group in with the strengthened writing and sophisticated. They seek in- and develop stories, and estab- the arts and culture. As well, few Nairobi. Through the centre’s and reporting skills of several formation in a form and depth lish contacts. aspiring and practicing journal- fellowship, I am tasked with staff reporters, and have also that not only suit their interests Past Media Lab graduates have ists and media managers have helping improve the cover- mentored some promising but satisfies their intellectual demonstrated dynamism, crea- the ability to work across multi- age of health issues in Kenya freelance writers. curiosity. tivity and leadership in their re- media formats. by mentoring and coaching There is also more analyti- News items that barely scratch spective fields of specialisation of And perhaps most troubling, reporters and working with cal coverage of policy, such as above the surface; that do not deployment. The investment has the study identified significant editors. When I started in how government utilises — or delve deeper into the sub-text, not been in vain. Already, one of gaps in intellectual curiosity, con- July 2008, that goal seemed squanders — health cash. provide the context or add in- the pioneer graduates is heading fidence, and ethics and integrity. daunting. Having organised Most importantly, top news- tellectual spice hardly jell with a bureau, at Gulu, one of Ugan- As the Nation Media Group and conducted reporting room editors are now vastly readers, viewers or listeners. The da’s toughest of terrains. commemorates its 50th anniver- workshops in four different more willing to prominently corollary is that news must be While the Media Lab has prov- sary, the Aga Khan Development countries since 2003, I had place health-related news. I well-grounded and contextual- en to be an effective means for Network (AKDN) is planning a more than ample training could give myriad examples, ised, hence the increasing need the Nation Media Group to fos- new initiative that will build on experience. But would it be but I am probably proudest for subject specialisation and in- ter and retain its own in-house the Nation’s experience, knowl- possible to earn the credibility of a story about an increase vestment in ongoing professional talent, its experience has under- edge and resources to provide a to influence the coverage of a in childhood obesity that was development. scored the wider challenges and broad institutional platform for powerful company like Nation on Page 1. Training at the Media Lab is capacity gaps that constrain the addressing the challenges facing Media Group? intense and practical. Trainees role and effectiveness of media in the media sector in Africa today Political reporting is para- Rachel Jones is a former radio are exposed to the art of doing East Africa. That experience has – with a mission of fostering a mount in Kenyan media, as and print journalist from the journalism, and for that matter also been corroborated by a De- vibrant, diverse, ethical and pro- in many African nations. The US. She reported on social pol- fessional media that contributes Daily Nation holds claim to icy for National Public Radio in more effectively to the develop- the most comprehensive, Washington DC, from 1998 to Past Media Lab graduates have ment, good governance and plu- analytical coverage of Ken- 2007, and for the St. Peters- demonstrated dynamism, creativity and ralism of the societies in which it ya’s political upheaval, and burg Times, the Detroit Free leadership. Already, one of the pioneer operates. will continue leading the way. Press, and the former Knight graduates is heading a bureau, at Gulu, But I was in Kenya to pose an Ridder News Service. one of Uganda’s toughest of terrains Compiled by Gerry Loughran, David Aduda and Carrie LaPorte DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS LIII Nation scholars making a mark

writer who hopes to publish her To her father, Caroline stories some day.

Biegon will always be David Scott Omutimba District: Bungoma ‘Miss Nation’ following Primary: Lugulugu her four-year scholarship Secondary: Alliance High He graduated from the Univer- By WANGUI MAINA sity of Nairobi with dental sur- gery in 1996 and was employed o mark 25 years of Na- by the Ministry of Health for 10 tion newspapers, the years before moving into full company offered four- time teaching. The father of one Tyear secondary school lecturers at the school of dentist- scholarships to the best primary Alice Waithera Mary Madumadu Mugambi Kiai ry at his old alma mater, Moi. school candidates from the 1985 Macharia -Njuguna District: Embu District: Nyeri KCPE exam. Two students, the District: Nyandarua Primary: Sacred Heart Primary: Nyeri Primary Godfrey Allan Otieno best boy and the best girl, would Primary: Tumaini Kyeni School District: Mombasa be selected from every district in Secondary: Limuru Secondary: Alliance Secondary: Alliance Primary: Ziwani the country. Secondary: Maseno High The following are a selection Every month Alice and her col- Dr Mary Madumadu is a doctor Mugambi supports democracy, of some of the beneficiaries and leagues contribute money to a at Gertrude’s Garden Children’s human rights and governance in Now a specialist in paediat- where they are now: kitty that goes to help a needy Hospital, and at the Outpatient the East African region. He has a rics and child health, he was student. They have been doing Centre in the central business law degree and went to Harvard undaunted by student riots and Patrick Onyango Sawa this for the past six years and district. On completing school, Law School for a Masters in In- lecturers’ strikes in the mid 90s District: Siaya help students at KCA University, she joined the University of Nai- ternational Human Rights Law. that caused a seven-year delay, Primary: Sega Boys where she is Dean of the Fac- robi for a degree in medicine. She From Harvard, Mr Kiai went into Godfrey was finally granted his High School: Alliance ulty of Science and Information later mastered in Neurodevelop- private consultancy before join- much coveted degree in medicine Technology. She holds a Masters ment at the University of Witwa- ing the Canadian International in 1997. He currently works as Patrick Onyango’s father could in Science – computer based in- tersrand in South Africa. Development Agency as a senior a paediatrician and research of- not have met his fees since his formation systems – from the Her specialisation in neurodevel- programme officer. Currently he ficer in Kisumu. two siblings were also in nation- University of Sunderland, UK. A opment has seen her work with is with Open Society Initiative al schools. After high school, he mother of three, she is currently children who have autism and for East Africa in charge of Af- Naeem Samnakay joined Moi University and studied studying for a PhD in IT. cerebral palsy. rica governance project. District: Kisumu medicine and then University of Primary: Aga Khan London and the London School Secondary: Alliance High Naeem Samnakay scored 531 points out of 600 in KCPE and scored an average of Hygiene and Tropical Medi- cine for a diploma. A in the 10 subjects he took in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in 1989 Naeem topped the first KCPE Now a father of two, he is a and went to the University of Western Australia in Perth to pursue his dream of exams in 1985 and four years specialist in malaria. His work- being a doctor graduating in 1997. later, he again topped the 1989 ing career began in the Ministry Fourth Form final exams after of Health but he left to join the scoring an average A in 10 sub- International Centre of Insect jects. He went to the University Physiology and Ecology on Mbita of Western Australia in Perth to Campus, South Nyanza. study medicine. The father of He has been published in vari- three now works as a consult- ous peer-reviewed international ant paediatric surgeon and pae- journals and has his sight on a diatirc urologist at the Princess PhD in the near future. Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, Australia. Florence Neema Mturi District: Mombasa Millicent Kavugila Primary: Aga Khan District: Siaya Secondary: Alliance Girls Primary: Mulaha Secondary: Limuru Girls Neema Mturi received a Bach- elor of Medicine and Surgery in Dida Roba Adilla N. Anyanzwa Onesmus Kamau Kagwanja Millicent Kavugila works at 1997 from University of Nairobi. District: Marsabit District: Kisumu District: Muranga Techno Brain, an international IT After her MBA, she began her ca- Primary: St Mary’s Primary: Kisumu Union Primary: Kihoya company. She went to Kenyatta reer at the Coast Provincial Gen- Secondary: Mangu Secondary: Alliance Secondary: Mangu University where she graduated eral Hospital and worked with with a Bachelor of Education in Kemri-Wellcome Trust Research Dida Roba has come a long way Adila joined Moi University Murang’a was the only district Science degree. Programme in Kilifi as a medi- from top male student in Marsa- in 1990 and graduated with a out of 41 that had three scholars She went off to teach but cal officer. bit to head of systems operations Bachelor of Education degree and Onesmus was one of them. switched her career to informa- at K-Rep bank, where he oversees in home science and technology. After his final primary school tion technology. Caroline Biegon IT service and infrastructure se- She has taught in many second- exam in Kihoya primary school, She became a training consult- District: Kericho curity. ary schools in Western Kenya. he was admitted to Mang’u and ant at the Institute of Advanced Primary: Sirigoi He is helping set up a commu- In 2001, she joined the Univer- later to Moi University, from Technology. A couple of years Secondary: Mary Hill nity trust fund to sponsor de- sity of East Africa, Baraton, for where he graduated with a de- later she moved to Izon Future serving Moyale students. Dida a Masters degree in education. gree in engineering. However, he Systems and Techno Brain Lim- Caroline Biegon is currently at has a Bachelor of Science in civil This year, the mother of two has never worked as an engineer. ited and worked in Enterprise Kabarnet High School in Barin- engineering from the University moved to Rift Valley Technical Three years ago, he and some col- Resource Panning. go, teaching German as a foreign of Nairobi. For a year he served as Training Institute as lecturer in leagues started Verviant, which She has worked in a range of language. She is also an aspiring an assistant engineer in the Min- the department of institutional outsources software to small and organisations in Africa as a con- istry of Public Works . management. medium enterprises. sultant. DAILY NATION LIV | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

AUGUST 27, 1965 RECOLLECTIONS The rapid rise of Kipchoge Keino Fifty yea≥s of cove≥ing spo≥ting exellence enya’s sensational athlete Kipchoge The country owes much of its reputation to KKeino knocked six- and-a-half seconds off the its talented runners— Kipchoge, Temu, Biwott 3,000 metres world record in Halsingborg, Sweden, By HEZ WEPUKHULU patches from Perth did not reach Keino clocked 7mins 39.5 Nairobi until after I returned seconds in the race, aston- n the half-century since the home. ishing a delighted crowd Nation first saw the light of It was vastly different in Ger- at the Scandinavian meet- Iday, much has happened in many 12 years later. Football ing. East German Sei- the field of sport. Kenya has en- matches were covered in detail gfried Hermann had set joyed success not only in athlet- by the international news agen- the record only a week ics, its traditional strength, but cies, to which the major Kenyan earlier and no one had ex- also in football, rugby, boxing, newspapers subscribed, so my job pected it to fall so quickly basketball, swimming, cycling, was to write a personal report on or so definitively. When cricket, hockey, motor racing, the aftermath, requiring in-depth Keino left Nairobi at the horse racing, tennis, volleyball analysis of the game. beginning of the week, and netball. I actually travelled to West he told reporters that his The country owes much of its Germany as a representative of main ambition was to reputation to its talented runners, the then East African Standard break a world record to including the legendary Kipchoge (where I worked before joining add to his two gold med- Keino, Naftalli Temu, Amos Bi- the Nation) and the Nation it- als from the recent All wott, Julius Sang, Charles Asati, self was represented by its senior Africa Games; he did just Henry Rono, Moses Kiptanui, sports writer, Norman da Costa. break the record but shat- John Ngugi and Paul Tergat. Among the games I remem- tered it. Second place run- Since writing my first story for ber was the closely fought final ner Britain’s Geoff North Taifa in 1961, I have reported on between West Germany and Hol- took over eight minutes to many great sporting events, in- land which the hosts won 2-1, to complete the course, a full cluding the 1962 Commonwealth claim the coveted trophy at the 20 seconds behind Keino. Games in Perth, Australia, and Olympic Stadium in Munich. Organised sport in Kenya did not begin The policeman’s achieve- the Fifa 1974 World Cup in West Back home, I covered local and in any serious way until after the Sec- ment was particularly spe- Germany. regional football including the ond World War. Today sport is largely cial for, without someone Back then we relied on cables Gossage Cup, precursor to the about money. No soccer player is ready pushing behind you, it is and teleprinters to file our stories East and Central Africa Senior to change and take to the field unless he very hard to run at your and the delays were unendurable. Challenge Cup, the Remington best. “This implies that he I remember that one of my dis- Cup and the Kenya National is well paid and kitted out could do even better,” said an Amateur Athlettics As- sociation statement. President Kenyatta sent Pele ve≥sus Matiba a message to Sweden, hailing the achievement: Pele, the world’s greatest football player, “Many congratulations left Kenya for Uganda at the end of a tour Pele’s opinion was clear. “It is my belief on breaking world record mired in controversy and recrimination. the blame lies squarely on Mr Matiba’s for 3,000,” said the tel- Kenneth Matiba — the chairman of the shoulders,” egram “By this great - 1972 1968 Kenya Football Federation — jeopardised achievement, you the visit by having a spat with one of Pele’s have put Kenya entourage; it almost led to the Brazilian on the map of World Cup star cutting short his ground- world sport. breaking trip. The incident happened at Government a reception welcoming Pele to Kenya: of Kenya is Matiba was upset because he had not very proud of been consulted about tour arrangements your record.” and approached Steve Richards of drinks group Pepsico about the subject. Pepsico was sponsoring the tour. It was understood that Richards, a British former sports reporter, told Matiba that he had not been consulted regarding ar- rangements for Pele’s visit here because Matiba was “just a publicity seeker”. Rich- ards was promptly dismissed and flown back to London, but the sacking did not Kenya’s two- satisfy Matiba, who announced KFF’s time Olympic complete withdrawal and dissociation gold medal- from all arrangements made for Pele. At a list, Kipchoge press conference, Matiba said: “We place Keino, the the blame squarely on the organisers of first Kenyan his programme. No doubt they will wish to break a to explain why they chose to have things track world entirely their own way in complete disre- record. gard of opinions from Kenyan authorities — both Government and soccer adminis- Brazil’s Pele, voted the World Footballer of the Century, shows off some of his daz- tration.” zling skills at Jamhuri Park during his tour of Kenya in 1971. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS LV

Fifty yea≥s of cove≥ing spo≥ting exellence

ABOVE: Charles “Fundi” Onyango (right) led Gor Mahia to their first continental cup victory, the Africa Cup Winners’ Cup, Former world marathon record holder and three-time world in 1987. half marathon champion Tegla Loroupe was the first African woman to win the New York Marathon in 1994.

Football League, which was in- troduced in 1964, the qualifying rounds of the African Nations Cup and the regional inter-club com- petitions which Kenya hosted at different times. Kenyan track stars, rugby play- ers and women’s volleyball play- ers have subsequently left an in- delible impression on the world stage, though development has been slower in other sporting areas. That said, it must be remem- bered that organised sport in Kenya did not begin in any seri- ous way until after the Second World War. Today sport is largely about money. No soccer player is ready to change and take to the field unless he is well paid and kitted out. In the past, sports- men and women were happy and ABOVE: In a span proud to wear the national col- of 81 days in 1978, ours and play for love of game. Henry Rono (353) The demand for money and broke four world huge allowances seems sadly records in the to be here to stay. 10,000m, 5,000m, 3,000m steeplechase and 3,000m flat!

LEFT: Five times World Cross Country Champion John Ngugi (second left) won Kenya an Olympic gold in the 5,000m in Seoul in 1988.

RIGHT: Dennis Oliech (right) was the first Kenyan to play in one of the “Big Five” Euro- pean football leagues when he signed for Nantes in the French league in 2005. DAILY NATION LVI | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010

LEISURE Juha Kalulu, 60 yea≥s and counting

Gitau is an ordinary fellow who Taifa Leo’s Deputy Chief Sub, Mr George Migwi. has done extraordinary work in Mr Gitau’s cartoon has seen him rub shoulders with the shaping cartooning landscape mighty of the land. He met Mzee Kenyatta at his home in Gatun- By DOROTHY JEBET du immediately after his release from detention in 1961 and gave ou can’t do anything him a symbolic water colour of a about the length of your Maasai Moran spearing a lion. life, but you can do some- The retired Catholic Archbish- Ything about its width op Mwana Nzeki is one of Gitau’s and depth — Shira Tehrani friends, not to mention President This motivational quote sums Edward Kibaki who wrote the preface for up the width and depth of the Gicheeri one of Mr Gitau’s three cartoon past six decades that have seen Gitau, aka booklets in 1978 when he was Edward Gicheeri Gitau churn out Juha Kalu- Minister for Finance. his comic strip, Juha Kalulu. lu, with his Eight years later, Mr Joseph His fans call him Juha Kalulu brush and a Kamotho, then Higher Education because they think that is his real copy of his Minister, prefaced the second name. “Even my own children work. cartoon strip. “My third cartoon call me Juha Kalulu,” says the vet- strip was prefaced by Mr George eran cartoonist with a twinkle in Muhoho, Minister for Tourism, his eyes. Science and Technology,” Gitau Gitau is an ordinary fellow who As he lay in what is now Standard group. In 1960, Baraza among Taifa Leo readers and if says. Even with modern infor- has done extraordinary work Kenyatta National Hospital, he followed Tazama into oblivion, for any reason the cartoon strip mation communication technol- in shaping the cartooning land- began to think more and more but not Juha Kalulu. Another is not published, there is uproar ogies, Gitau has no qualms about scape in East Africa and Kenya in about cartoons. In March 1951. small weekly was on the streets among readers. “If we fail to pub- his traditional method of manual particular. he joined the Fine Art Photo En- called Taifa, later to become the lish for a single day, there will be cartooning. At 80, he is still drawing. It all gravers Company and made his Nation group’s Kiswahili daily, no peace for the newsroom,” said started when he fell 25 feet while cartoon debut working for six Taifa Leo, and Gitau and his working as an electrician with the months for the weekly newspa- popular character, Juha Kalulu, Gitau started drawing cartoon when he fell Ministry of Public Works in 1950. per, Jicho. pitched tent. It was a partner- The fall broke his arm and it was When Jicho folded, he moved ship that has lasted 50 years, 25 feet while working as an electrician with 10 months before he could use a to another weekly, Tazama, and and counting. All said and done, the Ministry of Public Works in 1950. The screw-driver again. “That fall re- when that went to the wall, Gitau Juha Kalulu is himself all of 60 fall broke his arm and it was 10 months be- ally scared me. I never went back joined Baraza, a Kiswahili week- years old. fore he could use a screw-driver again to fixing electrical wires,” he says. ly published by the East African He has a huge following

‘Nation Man’ title I wear with pride Successes and p≥oblems of Kiswahili newspape≥s By NATION REPORTER to 16 and then beyond, became vertising revenue. Strong com- ties at the Coast and in country’s By FRED NDUNGU a unifying factor among Ken- petition came from Kiswahili urban centres. Taifa Leo occupies a special place yans at a time of rising literacy FM radio stations, which mush- Investigators have also estab- I was 20 and the Nation group six years old not only in the NMG stable, but, levels and circulation soared, es- roomed over the last 10 years. lished that Taifa Leo is the high- when I joined Taifa as a reporter in 1966. more importantly, in Kenya as pecially in the rural areas. A Sun- Because many stations reported est placed and most respected For the next 27 years I pounded away at my the only remaining Kiswahili day product was added, Taifa Ju- and analysed Taifa Leo content Kiswahili newspaper in the Olivetti typewriter, mostly in the smoky, language newspaper. mapili, and additional sections, over the air, readers began to world, making it key reference noisy, sauna that was Nation House in It marked the Nation Group’s including sports news, fattened abandon the newspaper itself. material for teachers, students, those days. arrival in the country in 1959, the product. Loyal readers of Taifa Leo scholars and researchers, both But the Olivettis went the way of all the when the founding company, Na- In the 1970s, Taifa Leo began today are mostly above 45, pos- locally and internationally. old technology when the Atex system ar- tion Newspapers Ltd., acquired a to experience competition from ing an obvious challenge to at- However, industry experts be- rived. There was resistance from a few re- weekly paper called Taifa from the English newspapers, includ- tract new, youthful, progressive lieve that while Taifa Leo’s print porters, but it was soon overcome. Charles Hayes and Althea Teb- ing its own stablemate, the Daily (and usually English-speaking) version remains relevant, there Of the people I worked with, I have fond butt, two former employees of Nation. The problem was that in readers. is a need to take the paper to the memories of my immediate boss, friendly the colonial government’s Infor- the face of commercial and edu- Questions about the relevance next level, that is, online. George Mbugguss, the serious sub-editor, mation Department. cational imperatives, ever more and future of Taifa Leo as a news- The British Broadcasting Cor- Harry Sambo, humorous Edwin Omori After a few months at Nation Kenyans learned to read English, paper seem to focus on the con- poration (BBC) website has an and mischievous Njoroge wa Karuri, all of House in Tom Mboya Street, Nai- which had already been declared tinuing strength of Kiswahili option of news in Kiswahili, whom are now departed. robi, Taifa became a daily, Taifa the official language. and the paper’s niche as the only which is fast gaining a follow- I also remember the erudite Phillip Leo, leading the way to the Eng- The role of the indigenous lin- remaining one in Kiswahili in ing. Five years ago, Google also Ochieng, hawk-eye photographer Joseph lish-language Sunday Nation and gua franca as a uniting factor in a Kenya. launched a Kiswahili website Thuo, fearless editor Joe Kadhi, quiet then the Daily Nation in 1960. country by then secure in its own Its supporters say Taifa Leo under domain KE in order to Wainaina Kiganya and born-again editor’s Taifa Leo, like the English pa- sovereignty became irrelevant. has unique content that makes reach a wider audience. secretary Irene Karanja. pers, pressed the fight for the Commercially, the purchas- it a viable alternative source of Kiswahili has been integrated It is 14 years since I retired, but my release of Jomo Kenyatta and ing power of Kiswahili-speak- news and entertainment. by various international websites heart is still with the Nation, which I read early independence, which was ing Kenyans was also less than Market research has discov- including social sites such as Fa- every morning. The people in my village of achieved in December 1963. among the English speakers, ered loyal readership among cebook, prompting more people Kinoo, just outside Nairobi, call me, “The The daily, eight pages, rising with deleterious effects on ad- Kiswahili-speaking communi- to surf in Kiswahili. Nation man.” It’s a title I wear with pride. DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS LVII

RECOLLECTIONS Reporting for Kenya from UK By PAUL REDFERN

hen I spotted an advertisement in WThe Guardian in the late 80s for a full-time UK-based correspondent for the Nation, I was intrigued. Working with the develop- ment agency Christian Aid, I already travelled to Kenya periodically. Thus when an advert was published, I was already in a sense hooked on Kenya. I Paul Redfern joined in 1990 and my role in London was swiftly clear: To I turned up anyway, in time to write the things that were not see a group of solemn Kenyan being said in Kenya. politicians leaving his room. Scotland Yard was called Had he died? I was told he in when the then Foreign was resting and would see Minister, Dr Robert Ouko, me in time. was murdered but the Kenya I waited…and waited. I said government failed to publish I had to go and would write the report of the investiga- what I had seen. They said, Nation starts to look tion by Chief Superintendent Come and see him. Wamala John Troon, which remained had not died but was unable shrouded in mystery. to speak. He was drifting back It took time, but eventually to sleep and was clearly seri- Troon agreed to meet me. He ously ill. He died a few days then spelled out, in a series of later. beyond the borders interviews for The EastAfri- I was glad to convey the can, how and why his inquir- truth to Kenyans, though it EBT-FREE AND buoy- would be interested in bringing services, industry, tourism and Aquisition ies were thwarted. was hard to rejoice in my ant at the end of 2002, quality journalism to Tanzania. aviation. of Monitor, The man who led the plu- privileged access. Dthe Nation Media Group Prolonged negotiations led to It was felt that the group’s fu- Uganda: ralism campaign of that era In the spring of 2008, took steps to implement a board the acquisition of rights to Mwa- ture would best be assured by Despite the was Kenneth Matiba, then Prime Minister Raila Odinga commitment to pursue “other op- nanchi Communications Ltd, institutionalising what was pre- fact that NMG ill and recovering in Lon- led a ministerial delegation portunities beyond our current which published three titles in viously the Aga Khan’s personal was invited don. When I first met him, to London for government- area of operations” and turned Kiswahili and held a 51 per cent investment. Thus his 23.9 million to Uganda he was still having trouble to-government meetings. its attention to its neighbours in interest in Radio Uhuru. shares, representing 44.73 per by President with his speech but his mind One scene springs to mind. Uganda and Tanzania. Germane to NMG’s moves was cent of the group’s ownership, Museveni, was crystal clear. In exclusive The delegation was booked Having already acquired a the belief that conditions were were transferred to AKFED. NMG soon ran interviews he spelled out his into a central London hotel feisty, but hard-up, Kampala tab- ripe for a revival of East Afri- By 2005, with 15 media prod- into trouble vision. to address UK-based Kenyans loid, The Monitor, NMG launched can links. The East African Fed- ucts under its wing, NMG ranked with a goven- When he eventually flew and the media. But they had a radio station, Monitor FM 93.3, eration had died but it was clear number six on the Nairobi Stock rnment not back to Nairobi, a huge seriously under-estimated the to capture the prime Uganda au- that a new five-nation grouping Exchange. It had radio, televi- used to being crowd gathered at the air- numbers. The result was like dience for news and entertain- of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, sion, newspaper and magazine challenged port to greet him. By then, the “black hole of Calcutta” ment. It won a starting audience Rwanda and Burundi, involving products in both Kenya and and ques- multi-partyism had become with thousands struggling to share of 2 per cent against 11 per 150 million people, could prove a Uganda and though it had closed tioned a reality and Matiba entered get into an airless basement cent for the top Uganda station, significant force in the continent. Uhuru Radio in Tanzania, it had the battle against President conference room designed for but added to Monitor Publica- The group began to think of itself, started a rare English-language Moi in the 1992 election. But a few hundred people. tions Ltd’s fiscal burdens. in words that were to become an newspaper there, The Citizen. with the opposition unable to It has not all been politics. For its part, the newspaper ex- in-house mantra, as “the media of Looking farther afield, ex- agree on a single contender, In the early 1990s, an invest- perienced constant difficulties Africa for Africa”. ecutives acknowledged that to the anti-Kanu vote was split ment conference was held for with a government not used to To facilitate this, the Na- become the most authoritative and Moi was returned to Kenya in London. The guest being questioned and challenged tion group was placed under media about Africa meant physi- power. It was 2002 before a speaker was President Moi, in detail by the media. An irony the umbrella of the Aga Khan cally operating outside of their new era dawned under Presi- who was introduced by the inherent in the situation was Fund for Economic Develop- current area. A business devel- dent Mwai Kibaki. then deputy British Prime that NMG had been invited into ment (AKFED), which was re- opment unit was set up and re- He faced an immediate Minister, Michael Heseltine. Uganda by President Yoweri Mu- structured to include a division search began into target areas problem. Vice-President The briefing by his civil seveni himself. entitled Media Promotion Serv- such as the English-speaking Michael Wamalwa was servants was clearly not all Similarly in Tanzania, Presi- ices. Operating widely as a sig- countries of Africa followed by known to be in London, his it should have been since dent Benjamin Mkapa, dismayed nificant presence in Africa and Francophone and Portuguese- return to Kenya constantly Heseltine referred to Kenya’s by the quality of existing media, Central and South Asia, the Fund speaking territories. To facilitate postponed. Speculation was leader throughout as “Presi- inquired if the Nation group also had sectors for financial quality journalism in these areas rife that he was dying and dent Mwa”, apparently in the in the future, plans were laid for the Nation newsdesk want- belief Kenya was a French- the establishment of a Graduate ed me to find out what was speaking nation. School of Media and Communi- happening. Wamalwa’s aides The group began to think of itself, in cations of the Aga Khan Univer- kept promising me an inter- Paul Redfern has been the words that were to become an in-house sity in East Africa. The aim was to view at his London hospital, Nation correspondent in the mantra, as “the media of Africa for Af- provide the necessary academic but then kept backing down. UK for 20 years. rica”. capacity and lead research on media issues. DAILY NATION LVIII | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 Nation moves to Kimathi street The shift from Nation Atex was magic. But there was apprehension, as usual with House to Nation Centre new technology. For obvious rea- sons, some staff foresaw massive wasn’t just about distance, sackings with the advent of the computer. The prediction never it was about nostalgia, came to pass. “To some journal- ists, it was a matter of ‘better the about bridging the devil you know than the devil you don’t,’” declared a group IT technological divide expert who worked at the old office. “Whereas the production By KEN OPALA department embraced the new technology very quickly the edi- oving the Daily Nation torial department appeared less and Taifa from Nation enthusiastic. There was some MHouse in busy, bus- fear. It was hardly surprising.” tling Tom Mboya Street to the ul- Plans to move house had been tramodern, multi-storey Nation in the pipeline since 1988. The Centre on Kimathi Street, was a company was in dire need of logistical nightmare. more space to introduce new It was just a street away, a dis- products – magazines, more tance of only 200 metres (which newspapers (such as the The Usain Bolt could demolish in EastAfrican) -- and set up TV under 20 seconds), but it took and radio space. The old news- days of physical movement. It room was squeezed and next to unleashed a rush of emotions the newsroom was a crammed li- and exposed reporters to a huge Above: The brary headed by Charles Mallei. technological test. new imposing According to the Daily Na- The date was June 5, 1992. Na- entrance to tion of July 16, 1992, the birth tion, the leading media house in Nation Centre of Nation Centre started in 1988 east and central Africa, was mov- just before it when the owners of the centre, ing out of its abode into a new was officially Industrial Promotion Buildings, 16-storey architectural marvel. opened. decided to build for the city and “Turning a Page” is how the Daily themselves a modern communi- Nation captured its own reloca- cations centre that would also tion, in its front page. Right: house their head offices. “It was a great moment, like A street “The 73-metre building is the Biblical move from Egypt to view of the made up of reinforced concrete Canaan,” said Bob Okoth, then old Nation frame structure to withstand deputy managing editor of Taifa house on Tom earthquakes in accordance with Leo. “On that day most of our Mboya street local conditions,” the statement work got delayed. We couldn’t with the ‘twin said. “Columns are used both meet our deadlines.” towers’ still for structural and aesthetic ef- Emman Omari, then Political under con- fect. The total floor area is 21,500 Editor, captured the excitement struction square metres, including the thus, “It was like moving into a towering in basement. The three basements, new home, like moving house the back- well below the foundations of ad- from Eastleigh to Runda.” ground. jacent structures, had to be exca- Some Nation staffers took days vated with great care to ensure to accept that they had shifted EXTREME the safety of other buildings in base. A story goes that the then RIGHT: the vicinity. The structural steel chief sub-editor of Taifa Leo, Martin mast rises from the third floor Obere Akaranga, went for lunch Muumbo to a height of over 81 metres and after Nation moved. On the way Muyanga, acts as a focal element for the back to the office, he found him- Business sys- building,” the write-up shows. self heading automatically for the tems Manag- And in another commemo- old Nation House. er, then in IT ration of the relocation, A.H The shift from Nation House to systems engi- Rashid, the then chairman of Nation Centre wasn’t just about neer and Kibe Industrial Promotion Buildings, distance, it was about nostalgia, Kamunyu, observed: “The Twin Towers sit- about bridging the technological Quality con- ting on top of the podium provide divide (discarding the typewriter trol Editor Managing Editor, noted. “The Atex, the newspapers would be the Daily Nation, would spike a panoramic view of the city and for the new gizmo), about aban- then Chief new home was not just another produced centrally (the same (kill) our stories as we worked has a noise-free atmosphere. The doning a long, low, two-storey Sub Editor, building, but a landmark that be- machine would be used for fil- on them. Here was technology building has a comprehensive building for a massive, self-con- Daily Nation came the talk of the town.” ing stories, editing, design and that enabled the boss to trash fire fighting system, including tained, two-towered home. It was For some staff, the move was lay-out). It rendered typesetting your story even before you were an automatic sprinkler system in a requiem for the Telex machine, apocalyptic. The new office dis- irrelevant. Soft-spoken Briton through writing it! the car parking areas. whose clacking noise awoke the allowed smoking, so it was tough Nick Chitty, helped to run Atex newsroom (when it sparked into for those used to puffing on a and would fret when there was life you knew a new international cigarette while hitting the type- any breakdown in the system, For some staff, the move was apocalyptic. story had arrived!) writer keys. while working with his IT col- The new office disallowed smoking, so it It was nostalgic because “31- And then there was the Atex leagues on the fourth floor, Mar- was tough for those used to puffing on odd years cannot be wiped off computer, a system tailored for tin Muyanga and Dave Orwa. the slate of a lifetime, forgotten Nation’s in-house use which Yet for many correspond- a cigarette while hitting the typewriter just like that,” as George Mbug- turned around the way the ents, Atex was difficult. Kibe keys at the Tom Mboya Street office guss, then the Nation’s Group newspaper was produced. With Kamunyu, chief sub-editor of DAILY NATION Thursday March 18, 2010 50 GOLDEN YEARS LIX Giving back to the community becomes a way of life After the success of the Aberdare project, the company turned its attention to the Mau

aving grown from small companies such as East African beginnings through Breweries and Equity Bank. Htough times to great Experts say its 400,000 hec- things, the Nation was keenly tares, the biggest water supply aware of the debt to its early, area in Kenya lost 107,000 hec- loyal core readership of ordinary tares or 25 per cent of its cover Kenyan Africans. due to tree felling. The forest Thus, seeking to give back also feeds Lake Victoria and the something to the community, White Nile, and its destruction the Nation Media Group adopt- The other project of note was ed a policy of Corporate Social the Save-A- Life-Fund set up Responsibility, one of whose in 1999 after the Daily Nation flagship projects was the Save- carried an in-depth investiga- A-Life-Fund. Partnering with tion piece of famine in Turkana East African Breweries and District Standard Chartered Bank, it The picture of a four-year-old was launched in the 1990s. The Aro Koriang, wracked by hunger programme saved the lives of and begging for food, appeared thousands of people faced with on the front page of the Daily hunger. It was re-launched in Nation publication of November 2008 to help victims of the post- 22, 1999 and revealed the gravity election violence. of the problem. The company’s Corporate So- Aro Koriang’s picture became cial Responsibility policy goes the face of the Nation’s dona- beyond feeding the hungry. tions hot-line logo. Aro, was A keynote project was helping airlifted to Nairobi and received to fence off the Aberdares moun- treatment at Gertrude’s Garden tain range, one of the country’s Children’s Hospital. In a show five water towers, north of the unity, the hospital waived her capital city. Sh325,736 medical bill. The range is the water catch- The Nation Media Group and ment for Sasumua and Ndakaini other charitable organisations dams, which provide most of the also offered to educate the young water for Nairobi. Before NMG girl, who is now 14. came into the picture, joining hands with the charity organi- sation Rhino Ark, the range was rapidly losing its cover to illegal settlers and loggers while human-animal conflict was an- other problem. The media group and Rhino Ark, with the help of other com- panies and charitable organisa- tions, funded a 400-km fence around the 2,000-sq.km forest. Mr Wilfred Kiboro, a member of the Rhino Ark Board of Trus- tees and chairman of Nation Media Group, said a fund had been set up that will be man- aged by trustees from the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Kenya For- est Services and Rhino Ark. After the success of the Aber- dare conservation, the company turned its attention to the Mau, another major water tower fac- ing destruction. Under the lead- Clockwise from above: A section of the Mau forest; malnourished ership of NMG’s chief executive Aro Koriang; then Chief Executive Wilfred Kiboro (left) after the officer, Linus Gitahi, the Save the helicopter he was in crashed as it was about to land in the Aberd- Mau Fund was launched with ares during campaigns to build the park fence in 2006, and a hale an other environmentally aware hearty Koriang after being saved from hunger. DAILY NATION LX | 50 GOLDEN YEARS Thursday March 18, 2010 Looking to the future with optimism

hroughout the years under berspace recently, a Kenya blog- some dam-construction and review, catastrophic head- ger pointed out that “there has despite motorists’ justified com- Tline events were accompa- been an improvement in our plaints, huge efforts are being nied by instances of economic health care system and now you made to reconstruct many roads. and social decline and charges of can safely take your sick one to Huge progress is evident in the official corruption, both high and a government dispensary and communications sector. low. Accurate as they were, such get medicine for free”. Nurses Whilst honouring such negative developments did not and teachers had been recruited feel-good factors as Wangari tell the whole, complex nature of widely in the public sector, thou- Maathai’s Nobel Prize and the the Kenya story, blurring merit- sands of new electricity connec- continuing successes of Kenyan ed perceptions of the progressive tions were made through the athletes, a roundup of measur- and the positive. Rural Electrification Programme able advances in the past decade Good news will always take and if power and water were pe- would surely also include the fol- second place to bad – in the gos- riodically rationed, the role of lowing: sip between politicians and the drought and rains failure could µThe value of exports doubled conversations of ordinary people not be ignored, he said. to nearly $5 billion. as much as on the front pages of As little as 10 years ago, many µSome 26,000 kilometres of newspapers. children could not afford prima- roads built. But this should not disguise ry school fees, there was no Con- µPoverty cut by nearly 10 per the fact that Kenya has consist- stituency Development Fund, cent ently produced good people harambees were the order of the µCell-phone subscribers up doing good things, and that does day, and, as the blogger recalled, from 15,000 in 1999 to 16 mil- The World Economic Forum’s against any relapse into aid de- A systems not always exclude the govern- “We had to beg our MPs for hand- lion. Global Competitiveness Report pendency. engineer at ment. outs.” Today, schools and dispen- µHundreds of kilometres of for 2009-10 placed Kenya 98th Kenya’s blend of beautiful work. IT will Musing on this situation in cy- saries have been built, there is underseas cable laid. among the nations of the world, landscapes and wildlife has made drive the fu- µMassive investments made in behind South Africa, Namibia, it one of Africa’s top tourist na- ture. As little as 10 years ago, many children green energy. Botswana, Mauritius and Senegal tions and also one of the world’s could not afford primary school fees, µWholesale invasion of public in sub-Saharan Africa, but ahead top five bird-watching destina- there was no Constituency Development space ended. of Nigeria and all its East African tions. Whatever turbulence the µKenya held no political pris- neighbours. nation undergoes, it never seems Fund, harambees were the order of the oners. Aid flows continued generous- to take long for the tourists from day, and, as the blogger recalled, “We µThe Office of the President ly but the competitiveness of the Europe, America and, increas- had to beg our MPs for handouts.” demystified. national character seemed proof ingly, East Asia, to return. THE ACULASER INSTITUTE

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