Masood comes into contact with the feared Total Man

Kipyator Nicholas Kiprono arap Biwott went by many monikers and Nomes de guerre. Total Man meant he was a complete African man,the Alpha male. Karnet denoted his tough as nails nature, a veritable man of steel. Kirgit symbolized the champion bull, the one that lead the heard successfully.

Karnet will for many years fascinate our society due to his mysterious ways and his enigmatic mannerisms. He will have a mixed legacy for he elicited various emotions from different strata of the populace.

My first interaction with him was in 2007. The campaign season was in full swing. Biwott had recently reconciled with Uhuru and both had agreed to support the incumbent President in his reelection bid.

In the Rift Valley the ODM wave was very strong and threatened to sweep aside many veterans like Mr. Biwott. This was despite his unmatched 28 years of uninterrupted parliamentary service. He had represented Keiyo South since 1979.

One Saturday morning a close friend summoned me to the University of Nairobi. We met over tea and snacks. He confided in me that one of Karnet’s opponents wanted to meet students from Keiyo South. He asked me to assist in organizing the meeting.

I asked him how much the aspirant could cough up. He gave me a figure and I asked him if he thought the total man could cough up twice the amount. He said Karnet was a billionaire many times over and he would have no problem financing such a meeting.

He did not seem to get the drift. I explained. I asked him to get into contact with the Total Man’s aides and see if they could finance us to sabotage the meeting. Hr made a few calls and came back excited. They had offered some good money. Two and a half times what Karnets opponent was offering.

I now got to work planning a treacherous reception for the unsuspecting aspirant. I advised that we host him and organize a massive reception for him. Only that we would fill the audience with Non- Keiyo south residents/students. We selected a few students from Keiyo south and then a large number of non Keiyo Kalenjin who would at least seem genuine. Finally,there was the component of non kalenjin like myself who would give the fellow encouragent and advice as we hailed his “remarkable” vision for Keiyo South.

At around 12 noon, the meeting hall was full to capacity. It was adjacent to the University of Nairobi so mobility was not a problem for the invitees. The aspirant who was in ODM,although party nominations had not taken place, arrived and was received by the top leadership. Me included. We ushered him into the hall. A short prayer was said and the meeting began.

The candidate laid out his vision,explained his background and asked for support. The Keiyo representatives that got to speak were effusive in their praise and promises of support. We his diaspora “supporters” also chimed in and said he was very courageous to battle the Total Man. We assured him of a victory if his vision was well understood by the wananchi. The meeting ended with a prayer.

There was food for the participants and as they lined up to be served we escorted the aspirant out. He gave us some cash to distribute to the students. We had paid for the food and so we were not going to pay the impostors after giving them free food. We only paid some few Keiyos and split the rest of the cash amongst the organizers.

We would meet the Total Man at the Norfolk the next Monday where we assured him of our support and were rewarded for our political antics the previous Saturday. Most of the talking was of course done by my Keiyo friend. I got to talk when Karnet asked me about myself and told stories about his life. He was very humorous and always seemed to engage in self deprecation. He had an encyclopedic memory and remembered very minute details about things.

We would become acquaintances as I joined his strategy team both in 2007 and 2013 (He lost both to neophytes) In the process we executed many sensitive assignments for him and he came to trust us.

I will however describe some few things about him that I observed. Meeting him or communicating with him was through his PA strictly. He did not have a phone. The PA had power over life and death for anyone wanting to meet Karnet. Once you were allowed to meet him you would only receive a call and be summoned to either Norfolk or Serena hotels. You would meet many other people waiting to see him.

He had piercing eyes that seemed to be able to look into your soul. He was generous to a fault and lavished cash on his friends and the needy. The only thing was that in case you were to meet him you had to go in before some people otherwise all the cash would be finished. One such fellow was Alex ole Magelo a longserving nominated councillor in the Nairobi city council. If you went in after Magelo you would only meet rubber bands strewn all over the floor.

He loved hardworking people and more so those who were serious with studies. He was also very well versed with technical issues in fields such as civil engineering where he took some time to explain to us about beams in structures.

He did not eat carelessly. We once invited him to a graduation reception at a reputable hotel. When we asked him to have a bite he was very uneasy but eventually picked a banana had a bite and left. As we escorted him out I realised he had not swallowed the banana piece which he spat out.

We last met in 2017 at a local bank. I greeted him and we had a small chat. He gave me words of encouragement and some chai. He looked sickly and would go to be with the Lord soon thereafter.

Remind me to tell you of when I had become a fake IDP after 2007.

You have dined with high and… he was mysterious, died in mystery

Amongst those I have interacted with he treated me best. Hao wengine treat you like trash especially after elections.

u should vie 4 a seat yr self kama ww hufanya waende to nxt level

Nice prose

Nice one you have very rich and interesting experiences

His PA is now the MP ainabkoi, a Mr Chepkut.

The Kingmaker can never be King

In other words

He gave you most money.

Yes and we worked genuinely. He also was warm and receptive to us even in between elections. He was a man who did not abandon friends.

Nice

I see another miguna here

you were there to “eat” the money!

I have rarely seen people do political work for free. Most of the others believe they belong to another class after winning. Once they lose or are about to seek reelection they begin to look for their former campaigners and strategists.

I do not betray my masters. I have also, as far as possible, kept the participants anonymous.

He wasn’t ur friend.
He used you

I believe I know our relationship better.

wueh. So far umekula milioni ngapi from politicians.

My Keiyo friend once told me that once he graduated he would like to have a career and be an advisor to Karnet.

I once had a lengthy talk with Karl Marx(Christopher Owiro) and he gave me very good advice about having a career and being independent of politicians.

So nowadays I do strategy and what is called Leadership and campaign academy training part time. I have a career which I pursue most of the time.

nice. keep it up and work hard.