Arising from this, several analysts have claimed the suspects' fate lie with the sub-committee. Saitoti came out strongly criticising the invocation of President Kibaki in the ICC debate, calling for sobriety from politicians. Saitoti has maintained a legal interpretation on whether the suspects can vie for presidency in the coming elections, stressing that only the constitution can bar or let them free to enter the race.
His elevation, however, complicated coalition politics and raised the stakes for the Kibaki succession in PNU. Other presidential hopefuls, Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka , shunned the party and embarked on consolidating their respective parties.
In November , Musyoka, Kenyatta and Saitoti signed a protocol to form and transform the PNU Alliance into a common political vehicle for the presidential race.
But the imperative to comply with the Political Parties Act forced them to abandon the Alliance and shift attention to their respective parties. Saitoti was both Vice-President and Finance Minister at the height of the — Goldenberg scandal. Even though his own culpability in the fraud has never been established, for decades the Goldenberg has become the proverbial Sword of Damocles used against Saitoti in intra-elite power wars. In early , Raila Odinga as a presidential contender to succeed Moi as President, sued Saitoti and others over alleged role in the Goldenberg scandal.
Three months after his re-appointment as Vice-President on 3 April , Otieno Kajwang ', a Raila ally, moved a private member's motion of no confidence in the Vice-President for his alleged role in the Goldenberg fraud. Saitoti survived the onslaught. On 3 February a report by the Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry, chaired by Justice Samuel Bosire , recommended that George Saitoti should face criminal charges for his involvement in the Goldenberg scandal.
On 13 February , Saitoti voluntarily stepped aside from his ministerial docket to pave way for investigations into the allegations. However, on 31 July , a three-judge bench headed by Justice Joseph Nyamu issued a certiorari order clearing Prof Saitoti of any wrongdoing, expunging his name from the Bosire Commission Report and issuing an order on permanent stay of prosecution against Saitoti. In dismissing the 23 paragraphs of the report, the High Court bench cited three inter-related errors of commission and omission by the Bosire Commission:.
In April , the vetting board found Justice Samuel Bosire unfit to serve in the judiciary citing fails as the Chairman of the Goldenberg Commission of Inquiry. The vetting board also accused Justice Nyamu of undermining public confidence in the courts for issuing a permanent stay of prosecution against Saitoti.
Starting October , Saitoti worked closely with national Minister of Defence Mohamed Yusuf Haji to see through Linda Nchi, a coordinated operation in southern Somalia between the Somali military and the Kenyan military against the Al-Shabaab group of insurgents. The mission was officially led by the Somali army, with the Kenyan forces providing a support role.
In November , Saitoti confirmed that he was in the race to succeed President Kibaki, who is set to retire after the next general election. Saitoti reiterated his candidature in January , continuing to tour Kenya, with meet-the-people excursions to the Rift Valley, Eastern and Central provinces.
It appeared to be history repeating itself in the battle for the soul of the Kikuyu between, Saitoti, a Maasai with Kikuyu kith and kin, and Uhuru Kenyatta , a thorough-bred Kikuyu. Uhuru is widely thought as the presumptive successor to President Kibaki, but Saitoti was emerging also, as a likely candidate.
In the event that Uhuru's run for the presidency is thwarted by the confirmed charges by the ICC, it remains a too-up as to whether Saitoti would have benefited from the spin-off. Saitoti was a businessman who had interests in agriculture, horticulture, real estates, hospitality and pastoralism. Saitoti's family life rarely made it into the public space. His wife, Margaret Saitoti, was with him when the High Court dropped charges on the 16 years Goldenberg case.
He was buried on 16 June in Kajiado North constituency. After the Maasai elders agreed to abandon the traditional burial rites and embrace the Catholic way, fifty bulls were slaughtered at the funeral in accordance with Maasai tradition. Al Shabaab militias and drug traffickers are the main suspects for the disaster. Investigations have not yet found anyone guilty. By David Nathan June 11, Media Contact Charles A.
Radin Office of Communications radin brandeis. Suggest a Story Email: news brandeis. Mr Kibaki's mandate ends in January The last presidential election, in December , was followed by a wave of ethnic and political violence in which about 1, were killed. Kenya PM warns of ethnic violence.
Kenya country profile. Africa Today podcast. Kenyan presidency. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Saitoti gave a speech on the occasion of the World Population Day celebrations on 11 July He had many opponents in parliament and after the elections the President did not appoint him as Vice-President. In he gave the keynote speech Strengthening mathematics and computer science and research in Kenyan Universities.
In he published the book The challenges of economic and institutional reforms in Africa. In it he argued as follows:- Throughout the continent, post-independence public policies discriminated against historically marginalized and excluded groups e. Although these perverse policies generated a significant amount of benefits and privileges for the ruling elites and enhanced their ability to monopolize political power, they imposed significant costs on the poor.
It is clear that such arguments would not make Saitoti popular with fellow members of the government. After the Kenya African National Union merged with another party in and changes were made, including the introduction of four Vice-Presidents, Saitoti lost his position. He said at the time:- There comes a time when the nation is much more important than an individual.
He certainly feared for his safety as Kamau Ngotho reports in [ 8 ] :- [ I was in ] a high-end hotel in Mombasa in I had been assigned to do a story on how hotels at the coast had improved on their security as a result of terrorist threats. I was walking into the hotel lobby on a Sunday morning when some mean-looking man pushed me aside.
Before I knew what was happening, Saitoti whizzed by escorted by even meaner-looking fellows than the one who had pushed me aside. It was a very sunny morning and Saitoti was the only person I saw that day dressed in a suit and a tie.
I would learn that he was always in a suit because he wouldn't leave the house without a bullet-proof vest. Later as I talked to the manager, I mentioned that I had met Saitoti at the entrance. He looked surprised that Saitoti had spent the night there.
He told me: "I know he comes here but he never makes his booking through us. We only get to know we have a VIP guest but can't even tell exactly which room he occupies. We book him at least three rooms in different floors and never get to know which one he uses! He remained loyal to Kibaki during political infighting and was appointed Minister of State for Internal Security and Provincial Administration in the Office of the President in January In December , as Chairman of the Party of National Unity, he became second in command to the President, returning to the status he had held over many years.
He became a member of the National Security Committee in and served for a time as Minister for Foreign Affairs in - In President Mwai Kibaki confirmed that he would stand down as President at the next election in Saitoti confirmed that he would seek election as President to succeed Kibaki. On Sunday 10 June a helicopter carrying Saitoti, the Assistant Minister for Internal Security, and four others crashed in the Kibiku area of the Ngong forest killing everyone on board.
It was widely believed that Saitoti had been assassinated but no definite proof has ever been forthcoming. We quoted from Kamau Ngotho above about the hotel where he stayed in Mombasa. Ngotho also wrote [ 8 ] :- It is in the same hotel where Saitoti spent the last weekend before his death while attending a top-level government function with President Kibaki.
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