The affable, likeable Senior Counsel and bar member is a household name in Kenya.
Kalonzo survived the Goldenberg scandal, the Anglo Leasing scandal, the Grand Regency scandal, and all other ugly financial “-gates” that have hit Kenya.
Other than the little matter of the NYS land inquiry, Kalonzo has stayed clear of sleaze.
He is politically magnanimous. Raila publicly humiliated him at Tononoka grounds in 2006. On this day, Raila’s goons stormed Tononoka armed with wooden hammers and disrupted Kalonzo’s speech.
Raila was present during the ugly event. He never condemned the goons, but pointedly said you don’t have to be handsome to be elected President of Kenya.
At the time, opinion polls by Synovate indicated that Kalonzo was ahead of Raila in their battle to make Kibaki a one-term President.
When Kibaki dumped Kalonzo for Uhuru quietly after the 2010 constitution, Kalonzo found solace in Raila.
Away from home, Kalonzo is viewed as the perfect political gentleman. He keeps his word, supports the causes he believes in, and is a Rotarian.
Meru Support
Kalonzo is close to the Ameru. He went to school there. His father, Musyoka wa Mairu (not Mailu), is rumoured to have migrated from Tharaka Nithi County.
Kalonzo speaks fluent Kitharaka and Kimeru, and sometimes exhibits the traits of this community. When Kalonzo gets angry, the only difference between him and Mpuri Aburi is the name and intellect.
DP Kindiki Kithure may be sharing very close ties with Kalonzo — through heritage.
Ruthless
Kalonzo is as ruthless as they come. He never forgives traitors.
Sample the following.
In 1999 or thereabouts, Kilome MP Tony Ndilinge organized the famous Kitaingo Declaration that crowned Kalonzo the Kamba kingpin and successor to President Moi.
The following day, Gideon Ndambuki and David Musila rushed to the home of Mulu Mutisya and demanded that Kalonzo be called to explain why he was fighting Moi.
Ndambuki acted at the behest of Saitoti; Musila at the beckon of Nyachae.
Also summoned alongside Kalonzo was Ndilinge.
During the meeting, Musila and Ndilinge reportedly removed their shoes and placed their feet in Kalonzo’s direction to humiliate him.
Mulu, by then partially blind, could not see. Ndilinge nearly beat them up, but security intervened.
Today, Gideon Ndambuki lives from hand to mouth. He can hardly afford a meal, and his two wives and children have abandoned him.
Musila is, of course, a rich man. But he is politically bankrupt after Kalonzo preferred Governor Malombe against him in 2017 and 2022.
Little wonder that when Tony Ndilinge was murdered in 2001, Kalonzo cried like a baby for a week. He reportedly stopped eating.
It is rumoured that Ndilinge’s death nearly depressed Kalonzo — his close friends had to sneak brandy into his tea to calm his nerves.
To date, Kalonzo is super close to the Ndilinge family.
