UNAMKUMBUKA ‘MUUAJI’ WA JOSIAH MWANGI KARIUKI ALIYEJIFICHA FAT ?

Marehemu Josiah Mwangi Kariuki 'JM'

Na Daniel Mbega

ZAMANI vyombo vyetu vya usalama vilikuwa makini, ingawa yapo makosa kadhaa ambayo yalipata kufanyika.

Kama inavyojidhihirisha hivi sasa kwamba wahalifu wengi – majambazi, majangili na mafisadi – wamejificha kwenye siasa ili ‘kupata unafuu’ wa matendo yao ambayo wengine wanayaendeleza, wapo pia ambao wamekuwa wakijificha katika sekta mbalimbali.

Wageni wengi hivi sasa wanajificha kwenye michezo ambako, kama ilivyo kwenye vyama vya siasa ambako hakuna mkaguzi, wanadhani wanaweza kufanikisha mambo yao bila matatizo.

Mwaka 1994 sekta ya mpira wa miguu ilikumbwa na kashfa, hususan Chama cha Soka Tanzania (FAT) wakati huo baada ya kubainika kwamba aliyekuwa Makamu Mwenyekiti wake, Alhaj Omar Juma, kumbe hakuwa raia wa Tanzania bali alikuwa Mkenya. Ilikuwa aibu kubwa siyo kwa familia ya soka tu, bali kwa taifa zima kwa ujumla.

Yawezekana wengi wameisahau, nitawakumbusha:

Wakati ligi ya Tanzania Bara ikielekea ukingoni, FAT ilikumbwa na kashfa kubwa baada ya Makamu Mwenyekiti wa chama hicho, Alhaj Omar Juma kufukuzwa nchini kutokana na kuwa na uraia bandia wa Tanzania.

Taarifa iliyotolewa Ijumaa Agosti 5, 1994 na Naibu Waziri Mkuu na Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani ya Nchi, Augustine Lyatonga Mrema, ilisema kuwa kiongozi huyo wa FAT alikuwa akiishi nchini kwa njia za udanganyifu akiwa raia wa Kenya. Taarifa hiyo ilisema kwamba Alhaj Omar Juma alifukuzwa mara moja nchini kwa kuwa ni mgeni mkazi asiye mwaminifu na alitakiwa kuirudisha mara moja pasipoti ya Tanzania yenye nambari A 0047788 iliyotolewa Agosti 17, 1992 kwa kuwa aliipata isivyo halali na kuishi kwake Tanzania hakukuwa halali pia.

Taarifa kamili ya Serikali iliyotiwa saini na Waziri Mrema ni kama ifuatavyo: "Taarifa hii inamhusu Alhaj Omar Juma raia wa Kenya ambaye kwa miaka mingi sasa ameishi hapa Tanzania kwa kutumia uraia bandia wa Tanzania ambao aliupata kwa njia za udanganyifu.

"Alhaj Omar Juma baada ya kuingia Tanzania kwa nyakati tofauti alitumia mbinu mbalimbali kuupata uraia wa Tanzania na katika kufanya hivyo mara zote ametoa taarifa zenye kudanganya ambazo baada ya uchunguzi wa kina na wa muda mrefu, ukweli halisi kumhusu umedhihirika. Pamoja na kuingia kwake Tanzania kama mgeni na hata baada ya kupata vibali vya kufanya kazi akiwa mgeni kutoka Kenya, amekuwa kwa wakati wote siyo raia mgeni mwaminifu. Utaratibu wa mgeni kupata uraia wa Tanzania kisheria upo wazi na taratibu zake zinaeleweka wazi. Hakuna wakati wowote ule ambapo Alhaj Omar Juma alifuata utaratibu huo wa kuomba uraia wa Tanzania. Maelezo yafuatayo yanadhihirisha ukweli wa mambo ulivyo:-

*Alhaj Omar Juma alizaliwa Nairobi, Kenya tarehe 15/3/1949 na alijulikana kwa jina la Peter Kinyanjui. Mama yake anaitwa Elizabeth Wanjiku au Mary Kinyanjui, ambaye ni Mkikuyu na mzaliwa wa Kenya. Anaishi Mathare North, Thika Road, Nairobi. Haijulikani baba yake hasa alizaliwa wapi, lakini kwa mujibu wa kiapo ambacho Alhaj Omar Juma alikiwakilisha Uhamiaji wakati akiomba pasipoti, kinaonyesha baba yake alizaliwa Mafia mwaka 1921. Kwa maana hii Alhaj Omar Juma alikuwa raia wa Kenya na Tanzania hadi alipotimiza miaka 18.

* Alhaj Omar Juma aliingia Tanzania kwa mara ya kwanza tarehe 15/4/1970 kwa matembezi akitokea nchini Kenya. Aliondoka na kurejea tena Tanzania tarehe 15/4/1971 kuja kufunga ndoa na Bi Eshe Abbas Max ambaye walifahamiana Nairobi wakati binti huyo alipokuwa akifanya kazi ya Air Hostess katika Shirika la Ndege la Afrika Mashariki. Baada ya ndoa hiyo alirudi Nairobi. Mwaka 1972 alikuja tena Tanzania akiwa Disco Joker (DJ) baada ya kukodiwa na Frank Marealle aliyekuwa anamiliki Hoteli ya Sea View jijini Dar es Salaam. Wakati huo alijulikana kwa jina la Mc-Twist. Baadaye aliondoka kurudi Nairobi.

* Mnamo Septemba 1975 aliingia nchini Tanzania baada ya kutoroka kutoka Kenya kutokana na matatizo anayoyafahamu mwenyewe.

* Agosti, 1980 aliwasilisha maombi ya pasipoti katika Makao Makuu ya Idara ya Uhamiaji yaliyoambatana na Hati ya Viapo (Affidavits) zikionyesha kuwa jina lake ni Omar Juma badala ya Peter Kinyanjui na jina lingine la Mc-Twist. Hakuna ushahidi ulioonyesha kuwa alibadili dini au alikuwa amebadili jina kwa taratibu za kisheria (Deed Poll). Hati hizo zinaonyesha kuwa Alhaj Omar Juma alizaliwa Nairobi, Kenya 15/3/1949, na baba yake aitwaye Juma Omar alizaliwa Mafia, Tanzania mwaka 1921. Hati hizo alipatiwa na mtu aitwaye Hassan Ahmed. Alipohojiwa na maofisa Uhamiaji Alhaj Omar Juma alidai kuwa baba yake alizaliwa Mikindani, Mtwara mwaka 1910 na kuwa baba yake yu hai na anaishi Nairobi. Kutofautiana kwa tarifa hizi kunadhihirisha udanganyifu aliokuwa akiuendeleza. Kiutaratibu hapa aliyepaswa kumwapia ni baba yake mzazi na viapo hivyo vingetolewa kutoka kwa mahakama za Nairobi, Kenya siyo Tanzania.

"Kutokana na viapo hivyo alijipatia pasipoti za Tanzania Na. 111366 ya Agosti, 1980, Na. 161011 ya 11/6/1983, Na. 247766 ya 30/8/1989 na Na. A0047788 ya 17/8/1992 zote zikiwa zimetolewa kwa kuzingatia udanganyifu alioufanya Alhaj Omar Juma.

"Kwa kuzingatia sheria, Omar Juma alikuwa raia wa Kenya kwa kuzaliwa na ule wa Tanzania kwa kurithi (by descent) kama kweli baba yake alikuwa mzaliwa wa Tanzania. Aidha, kwa misingi ya sheria ya uraia wa Tanzania Alhaj Omar Juma alipaswa kuukana uraia mmojawapo kati ya ule wa Kenya (kuzaliwa) au ule wa Tanzania (kurithi) alipotimiza miaka 18 kwa kuwa sheria haziruhusu uraia wa nchi mbili (Dual Citizenship). Jambo hili hakulifanya na hivyo aliupoteza uraia wa Tanzania kwa mujibu wa sheria. Alitimiza umri wa miaka 18 tarehe 14/3/1967.

"Kutokana na maelezo haya Alhaj Omar Juma au Peter Kinyanjui au Mc Twist siyo raia wa Tanzania na wala siyo mgeni mwaminifu. Serikali ya Tanzania imefikia uamuzi wa kuifuta pasipoti yake Na. A0047788 iliyotolewa tarehe 17/8/1992 kwa Alhaj Omar Juma isivyo halali. Aidha, Serikali imeamua kumfukuza Alhaj Omar Juma kutoka nchini mara moja kwa kuwa kuishi kwake Tanzania siyo halali."

Ilikuja kufahamika baadaye kwamba, Peter Kinyanjui ndiye aliyehusika na mauaji ya Mbunge maarufu wa Kenya, Josiah Mwangi Kariuki 'JM' Machi 2, 1975 na baada ya mauaji hayo na Polisi wa Kenya walipompokea mpakani wakasema kwamba watafanya uchunguzi, ikibainika kama ndiye aliyehusika na mauaji ya Mbunge huyo aliyekuwa kipenzi cha wengi, basi angefikishwa mikononi mwa sheria.

Maelezo haya ni sehemu ya kumbukumbu za muswada wa kitabu cha ‘UBINGWA WA SOKA TANZANIA’ kinachoandaliwa na DANIEL MBEGA ambacho kiko mbioni kukamilika.

Huyu ndiye Josiah Mwangi Kariuki

Early life

J. M. Kariuki was born in Kabati-ini town in Rift Valley province. He was born to Kariuki Kigani and Mary Wanjiku. He was the only boy in a family of five siblings. In 1938, he briefly enrolled in Evanson’s Day School, but dropped out shortly due to lack of school fees. He then started working for the settler’s farm until 1946, when he won a bet in Nakuru Horse races. Using the bet’s proceeds he then enrolled himself back to a string of schools and was able to finish his primary school education in 1950. Later, he joined King’s College in Uganda‘s Wakiso district for his secondary education.

Political life

J. M. Kariuki’s political life probably started in 1946 in earnest, after listening to a Kenyatta speech denouncing the way colonial government was handling the natives in a political rally. Its however likely he was political earlier than that. His parents had earlier on been forced to leave their home area, Chinga, located in the Nyeri native reserve, back in 1928 to work in the white highlands. There, they became squatters on a European settler’s farm and were expected, as was the case with other African squatter families, to do the regular and seasonal jobs for wages. Such a life trauma was certainly likely to have made him political.

In late 1940s, he joined the primary school drama and role played in the fight against colonial rule. While in Uganda for his secondary education, he closely followed the struggles that local Kenyans were facing from the European settlers. On 22 October 1952, he finished his secondary school education and returned to Kenya. Shortly after that, Kenya was placed under state of emergency by the new Governor, Sir Evelyn Baring, and Kariuki joined the Mau Mau uprising. After Kariuki took his oath, he started working as Mau Mau liaison officer between Eldoret and Kisumu. He also helped in soliciting money, boots and housing for Mau Mau. This led to his arrest in his hotel, which was working as a front to his political work. He was then detained in various camps (including Kowop and Langata) from 1953 until his release, seven years later in 1960.

After his release, he managed to secure Kenyatta’s approval in starting Nyeri’s Kenya African National Union (KANU) branch by visiting him in detention. When Kenya became independent, Kariuki worked as Kenyatta’s private secretary between 1963 to 1969. In late 1960, Kariuki relationship with Kenyatta became increasingly strained as Kariuki became increasingly vocal of Kenyatta’s policy. Some of their disagreement were:

• Government corruption.
• The widening gap between rich and poor due to drought and the oil shock of 1973.
• Deteriorating relations among East African Community members.
• Unfair distribution of land: After independence, United Kingdom government gave Kenyatta government funds to buy back land from the white settlers and redistribute it back to the natives. However, the land was never redistributed, but most of it was handed over to Kenyatta’s close friends.

In 1974, he was elected as Nyandarua’s Member of parliament and became an assistant minister in the Kenyatta government between 1974 and 1975. This was despite Kenyatta government pulling all strings at its disposal to avoid his re-election as his popularity threatened to overshadow the government of the day. He was last seen alive at the Hilton Hotel, accompanied by Kenyatta’s bodyguard on March 2, 1975. Several days later, Kariuki’s remains were found by a Maasai herdsman, Musaita ole Tunda, in a thicket in the Ngong Hills.

Indeed JM Kariuki was, up until his violent death in 1975, a larger than life figure on Kenya’s political scene. JM was a prolific giver and ‘Expressive Giving’ best describes JM’s philanthropy: it was prompted by His desire to express support in something larger than Himself and reflected His vision for a Nation who’s citizens would be able to fend for themselves. Indeed, JM’s mode of giving was designed to have a measurable impact on society as a whole.

JM is remembered by Kenyans as a hero as he came to represent the force against the evils that have harmed the country to this day.

Kariuki wrote “Mau Mau Detainee”, an account of his experience in camps during the uprising that lead to Kenya’s independence.

Quotes

• “Kenya has become a nation of 10 millionaires and 10 million beggars.”
• “Every Kenyan man, woman and child is entitled to a decent and just living. That is a birthright. It is not a privilege. He is entitled as far as is humanly possible to equal educational, job and health opportunities irrespective of his parentage, race or creed or his area of origin in this land. If that is so, deliberate efforts should be made to eliminate all obstacles that today stand in the way of this just goal. That is the primary task of the machinery called Government: our Government.”
• “We fought for independence with sweat, blood and our lives. Many of us suffered for inordinate days – directly and indirectly. Many of us are orphans, widows and children as a result of the struggle. We must ask: What did we suffer for, and were we justified in that suffering?”