In what was meant to be a highly guarded secret visit to State House by more than seven hundred leaders of the pledging cooperative movement in the country last month, officials at the House in the Hill are reeling in shock and embarrassment as more than three quarters declined to attend.
It took the personal intervention and persuasion of the Cooperative bank of Kenya Chief Executive officer Gideon Muriuki and his ageing board chairman Stanley Muchiri, a self-confessed Uhuru campaigner, to marshal a group mostly from the Jubilee leaning regions for the controversial meeting that sought to endorse the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta for a second term.
The meeting was the initiative of the fast fading deputy Chief of Staff and Secretary to the cabinet Waita Nzioka and Gideon Muriuki whom they established close links in his days in the cooperate world.
Nzioka was previously involved in the debacle that led to the President skipping university of Nairobi graduation ceremony early in the month.
Among those who accompanied the influential and moneyed cooperative bank CEO, and who has been mandated to bankroll the initiative, were embarrassingly from Mt. Kenya region as the rest of the country stayed away fearing a backlash from their members even after assurances that the mission would be secretly guarded.
The group included Stanely Muchiri, Cooperative bank of Kenya board chairman who also doubles up as the chairman of the Cooperative alliance of Kenya, CAK, and the organizers of the meeting.
CAK is an umbrella body drawing its membership from cooperative bank, CIC insurance group Ltd, Cooperative University of Kenya, Kenya union of cooperatives, KUSCO, New KCC,KERUSSU, Kenya Rural saccos, Kenya farmers’ cooperative union and a host of more than seven hundred national and county cooperative societies.
Muchiri tagged along with his vice chairman at CAK Joseph Magomere who is also the chairman of CIC insurance, Daniel Marube CEO of CAK ,directors Philip Gichuki, Gladys Mwiti also the Principal of cooperative University, Mutegi, Simon Nganga, Ibrahim imam, Pius Bolei , Rose Aseka, Dr. Cherono.
Those accompanying Muruiki were Rosemary Githaiga,the banks company secretary as well as Julius Riungu who is the Board vice chairman.
Sources say matters were made worse at the end of the meeting when the Mt. Kenya group retreated to a closed door meeting with their host leaving the rest of the group in the corridors for over thirty minutes. What was discussed in the meeting is unknown.
