Kenya's Dr. Taita arap Towett's Lifestyle Moved The Nation

By: Alex Kiprotich

[ Posted On: 2007-11-04 ]

Dr Taita Towett, whose life was snuffed out following a road accident, was controversial and mercurial.

When he was the minister for Education between 1969 and 1979, Towett was a study in paradox.

Angered by a rampant failure of students in national examinations, he kicked a storm when he put an advertorial in the Press, urging the students not to give up but seek his assistance.

"I do not believe that a person's chance in education should be curtailed by results. Everyone should get a chance to pass examinations for a bright future," he said in the advert.

Within two weeks, Towett received over 1,000 letters from students, seeking assistance, but his response is not clear.

He, at one point, called for the abolition of free primary education, because it was draining all the resources allocated to the ministry.

He also dismissed boarding primary schools as useless creations of the colonialists.

He told university students to make use of their academic freedom so long as they did not embarrass the Government.

On how to deal with upsurge in crime, Towett addressed a press conference at independence and said thieves should be arrested and shot in public. "Thieves should be shot in public to deter crime," he said.

He astonished the world in 1961, when he declared in public that he was a tribalist per se and urged his Kalenjin community to be proud.

But ten years later, in 1971, he described people who cherished their tribes as short-sighted.

Towett, who until his death maintained his trademark spectacles, was born in 1925.

He started schooling in Litein Primary School and later joined Kabianga Mission School.

He emerged top pupil in the country, in the Kenya African Preliminary Examination, in 1948.

He later joined Alliance High School and proceeded to Makerere University College in Uganda.

Towett joined politics in 1958 after being elected to the Legislative Council to represent Kericho.

He went on to become Kaddu's chief adviser and prophesised the death of Kanu — then led by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta — in four months.

When Kenyatta became the Prime Minister, Towett gave conditions that he would only co-operate with him as long as those who worked with Kenyatta did not backstab him.

Against political backstabbing

When Kaddu was dissolved in 1963, to join hands with Kanu, Towett made history by refusing to cross the floor of the House and opted to seek a fresh mandate from his electorate.

He, however, lost the by-election and was thrown into political oblivion, until 1969 when he recaptured the seat.

He at one time, he described Kenyatta as a president without a stand, a kind of person who kept silent when in bad company and did good when he was with good company.

"When in bad company, he is mum and when in good company, he does something good," said Towett.

While quitting Kaddu, he cited political disillusionment and he was philosophical: "In view of the fact that I have ceased to distinguish what is right from what is not as a result of my metaphysical studies, I find it very difficult to take side in political matters and abide by one-sided political decisions despite new and changing realities of life," he said.

Towett's political debacle began in early 1970s, when a powerful political clique surrounding Kenyatta tried to change the Constitution to bar then Vice-President Daniel Moi, from ascending to power.

He found himself on the spot and this heightened tension between him and Moi.

The tension was blamed on his losing the 1979 General Election to Prof Jonathan Ng'eno.

In 1981, Towett caused uproars when he revealed that he had written a will, indicating his corpse should be preserved for human anatomy studies.

In 1988, he announced his interest for a parliamentary seat, only to bow out of the race for what he termed "dirty" politics.

Not a man to shy away from saying what he disliked, he once denounced parliamentary reporters as semi-deaf and mediocre.

Towett owned a flat at Highrise in Nairobi, where he led a relatively modest life.

Despite his small height of 4' 10, and a failing eyesight that made driving difficult for the 82-year-old politician, a conversation with Towett was always stimulating, speckled with wit and rib-tickling sense of humour.

He had peculiarities that one would find intellectually difficult to rationalise.

His glasses were always on the forehead in a legendary poise no other politician has been associated with in recent history.

People would remember him for strange statements he made in the early 1990s, during the clamour for multi-partism. He advocated for a party-less state.

His peculiarities burst into the open when The Standard carried an exclusive feature story on a detailed account of a rare research on moles he conducted in the 1980s.

He carried out a study on the sleeping habits of moles and went further to establish the effects on human beings if someone ate the mole.

He had first wanted to use cats for the study but abandoned the feline animals because he discovered their ineptness. The cats were naturally heavy sleepers and he settled on the moles.

He paid catchers Sh15 per mole after delivering them to him at his Mashimoni home.

His Mashimoni residence is not built at the ground level. It is below the ground, hence the name ‘Mashimoni' (banker).

From a few metres, as you approach his house, there is no indication of habitation.

He always explained that the style was unique and it shielded him from strong winds.

His vehicles either had the front passenger seats removed or turned backwards so that the person occupying them faced him.

Insisted on facing his speakers

"He repeatedly refused to let the person talking to him face the other way, so he decided to have the passenger seat in his vehicle either completely removed or turned to face the back seat," his driver, Mr Mathew Thuita, recalls.

At one time, Towett bought a brand new Isuzu Trooper and immediately removed the back seat and replaced it with a sack full of cement as a seat.

And despite his old age, Towett always kept time and often chided latecomers.

His children and wives could not just walk into his house. He always insisted that they book an appointment with him.

Thuita accompanied his boss on the ill-fated journey. He is recuperating from the injuries he sustained in the accident. He says the former Bureti MP was in a jovial mood before the accident.

"He was looking forward to celebrating this year's Moi Day at his Mashimoni residence," said Thuita from his Pine Breeze Hospital bed.

"Mzee sounded upbeat about the occasion and looked forward to a great moment with the guests he had invited," he recalls.

Thuita says he has worked for the Towett for the past four months as his official driver.

Towett was married five times and had divorced twice. In an earlier interview, Towett said he divorced his first wife because she sued him over the custody of his children.

He said his second wife, a Marakwet, could not cope with his lifestyle and opted out of the marriage.

Though his 26 children and remaining wives had to book an appointment to see him, he took pride in them, saying they were all bright.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author(s): Alex Kiprotich and Peter Mutai --

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