It was after the March 18 2002 merger between KANU and Raila Odingaβs National Development Party that Prof. George Saitoti realised that his quest for the presidency was going to be an uphill climb.
And it wasnβt without reason that he was worried.
Behind his back, Moi had organised a scheme to deflate Saitoti and KANU Secretary-General Joseph Kamotho.
What Saitoti and Mr Odinga had not realised was that Moi had his eye on Uhuru Kenyatta, the then chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board, to become his successor.
If they saw Uhuru coming, they hardly thought much of him.
Mr Kenyatta was lacklustre and looked a bit dishevelled having lost the race for the Gatundu South parliamentary seat in October 2001.
To save him, Moi forced Mark Kiptarbei Too to step down as nominated MP in favour of Mr Kenyatta.
In November 2001, Mr Kenyatta was appointed to the Cabinet.
On the day of the merger, Saitoti was shocked to find that his name was nowhere in the list of candidates.
He walked over to the President and reportedly complained loudly about his missing name.
It was the first time that many of his friends saw him complain bitterly.
But Moi dismissed him with:
'Bwana Professor, kimya! (shut up!). Kama jina lako haiko kwa orodha, basi haiko!'.
It was the beginning of the end.
Embarrassed, Saitoti returned to his seat, beaten.
His friends would later admit that he was pained.
It was the worst public humiliation.
It was then that he took the microphone and made his now most famous political speech:
'There come (sic) a time when the nation is more important than an individual but one day I will be proved right'.
Saitoti joined national politics thanks to then Kajiado politician, the late Stanley Shapashina Oloitiptip.
The VP was one of the most learned in his adopted community.
He was a Kikuyu bred in Maa land.
