While at Babylon base, my colleagues and I used to witness a
spectacle of “National Importance” every morning. The first time I saw it, I
almost ran away in fright. It used to be retired President Moi’s motorcade
taking him to State House to earn his pay slip. Moi never used to sleep in
State House. It is claimed that he took what was then supposed to be the
Vice-President’s official residence somewhere in the neighborhood of Kibera
slums, and made it his own. I even understand that nobody had the guts to evict
him from the house after he retired so they just let him keep it to date. That
daily spectacle became something we would always marvel at. The police car with
the screaming siren clearing the road ahead of the big black limousines surrounded
by outriders was awe-inspiring. It always made me wonder what kind of a person
the President really was. Well, I did not have long to wait.
One day I was dispatched to pick a client from a residence near Ngong road in the Kilimani area of Nairobi. When I arrived I found a softly-spoken man who appeared to be in his 50s. I ushered him into the car and asked him where he wanted to be taken to. He just told me, “State House!” I was a bit taken aback. I asked him again and he confirmed. I jokingly told him that it is not every day we get people asking to be taken to the “House on the Hill” He was a good sport about it and we really hit it off and joked about it. During the short trip, he explained that he was the President’s son in law and he was just going over to say Hi! Wow!
State House has many gates. The main one, “Gate A” is only supposed to be used by the President himself, or important visitors on official business. There is another gate leading to the grounds where outdoor functions officiated by the President are held. Then there is the one we used where the President’s private visitors go through. Like in many other places around the city, driver’s are not allowed beyond the parking lot and that is where I stayed until my new “best friend” came out (Anybody related to the President is my best friend).
After that day, the old man became my regular client and I took him to State House on many other occasions. I became quite free with him and I used to enquire from him what kind of person the president was. He told me a lot of things about the President such as the fact that he used to wake up very early, read the bible for an hour, exercise, and then take breakfast. His breakfast – and other meals as well – consisted of only traditional foods such as arrow roots and kienyeji chicken. This was a time when I like many Kenyans did not like our President that much. Talking with my friend however, made me to start viewing him a bit differently. I became curious as to what kind of person the President was. I asked my friend if he could one day take me to meet the President. After one of our State House visits, he told me that he had mentioned me to the big man and the big man had said he would be happy to meet me. I will never know how true that was because my friend passed on soon after that. Talk of an ill-timed death!
All the times I went to State House I used a side-gate. There was one of my colleagues however, who came quite close to using “Gate A”! It so happened that before he joined our company, he used to wash cars somewhere in the city center. He, like many other car wash boys, learnt how to drive by “stealing” the cars that had been left in his care and taking them for a spin. It was risky business but these guys were usually from very poor families and this was the only way they could acquire the important skill. Anyhow, after learning to drive, the guy started dropping paying “clients” in these same “stolen” cars.
One day, he was washing a relatively old car when a “client” came along. The client wanted to be dropped in the area around State House and this car wash boy-cum-taxi driver happily obliged. He was not one to refuse “easy” money. He dropped the client without incident and received his pay. On the way back however, the car stalled – just when it was positioned right across “Gate A” of State House! As fate would have it, the President arrived at that very moment. Four hefty security men rushed at the guy who was still in the driver’s seat of his ramshackle and he raised his hands in surrender. The poor guy almost peed on himself. He thought his death had arrived. The guys didn't even talk to him at all. Each positioned himself at the wheel arcs. They lifted the whole car plus the driver and threw it in the ditch just in time for the oblivious President to be driven in.
One day I was dispatched to pick a client from a residence near Ngong road in the Kilimani area of Nairobi. When I arrived I found a softly-spoken man who appeared to be in his 50s. I ushered him into the car and asked him where he wanted to be taken to. He just told me, “State House!” I was a bit taken aback. I asked him again and he confirmed. I jokingly told him that it is not every day we get people asking to be taken to the “House on the Hill” He was a good sport about it and we really hit it off and joked about it. During the short trip, he explained that he was the President’s son in law and he was just going over to say Hi! Wow!
State House has many gates. The main one, “Gate A” is only supposed to be used by the President himself, or important visitors on official business. There is another gate leading to the grounds where outdoor functions officiated by the President are held. Then there is the one we used where the President’s private visitors go through. Like in many other places around the city, driver’s are not allowed beyond the parking lot and that is where I stayed until my new “best friend” came out (Anybody related to the President is my best friend).
After that day, the old man became my regular client and I took him to State House on many other occasions. I became quite free with him and I used to enquire from him what kind of person the president was. He told me a lot of things about the President such as the fact that he used to wake up very early, read the bible for an hour, exercise, and then take breakfast. His breakfast – and other meals as well – consisted of only traditional foods such as arrow roots and kienyeji chicken. This was a time when I like many Kenyans did not like our President that much. Talking with my friend however, made me to start viewing him a bit differently. I became curious as to what kind of person the President was. I asked my friend if he could one day take me to meet the President. After one of our State House visits, he told me that he had mentioned me to the big man and the big man had said he would be happy to meet me. I will never know how true that was because my friend passed on soon after that. Talk of an ill-timed death!
All the times I went to State House I used a side-gate. There was one of my colleagues however, who came quite close to using “Gate A”! It so happened that before he joined our company, he used to wash cars somewhere in the city center. He, like many other car wash boys, learnt how to drive by “stealing” the cars that had been left in his care and taking them for a spin. It was risky business but these guys were usually from very poor families and this was the only way they could acquire the important skill. Anyhow, after learning to drive, the guy started dropping paying “clients” in these same “stolen” cars.
One day, he was washing a relatively old car when a “client” came along. The client wanted to be dropped in the area around State House and this car wash boy-cum-taxi driver happily obliged. He was not one to refuse “easy” money. He dropped the client without incident and received his pay. On the way back however, the car stalled – just when it was positioned right across “Gate A” of State House! As fate would have it, the President arrived at that very moment. Four hefty security men rushed at the guy who was still in the driver’s seat of his ramshackle and he raised his hands in surrender. The poor guy almost peed on himself. He thought his death had arrived. The guys didn't even talk to him at all. Each positioned himself at the wheel arcs. They lifted the whole car plus the driver and threw it in the ditch just in time for the oblivious President to be driven in.
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