Popular and controversial gospel and political crooner Ben Githae has resurfaced after going underground following the August 9 elections, saying he was sorry for supporting the Uhuru Kenyatta camp.
Mr Githae had thrown in his lot with the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party, and even released a song in praise of Azimio.
“I am sorry. I promised Baba (Azimio presidential aspirant Raila Odinga) the Mountain votes. It was not to be the case,” he told Nation.Africa.
His pro-Azimio song contained statements like “ndani kabisa State House Baba … Mlima Kenya twasema Baba Tosha” (into State House for real, in Mt Kenya we are all saying Baba fits the bill).
He had also sung in praise of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) that Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta had attempted to use to make changes to the Constitution. But the Judiciary rejected the process, condemning it to the dustbin.
Mr Githae added: “I have come to learn that you can only promise what you have … I did not have my own mountain to promise and deliver, so it now emerges”.
He said the victory of William Ruto of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in the presidential election in Mt Kenya was “cruelly humbling”.
He added that the experience had taught him that even in his personal life, he should promise “what I have … what I own”.
Mr Githae, popularly known in musical circles as “Mpendwa” or “Baba Daisy”, said he was only asking his fellow residents of Mt Kenya to cease teasing him whenever he appears in public.
“Please, cease taunting me that I lost the bet … that we lost the vote. It is hurting. I am healing. We are healing. Let the process be peaceful,” he said.
He said he will be cautious even in church “and let us say there is a harambee to promote the gospel and I will only be pledging what I can afford”.
Building materials
“Building materials I can promise, since it all requires a purchase and delivery, but I will never promise something that I am not sure I can get.”
He plans to come out in full force and pursue his musical career, “this time round more focused on people-driven declarations … sometimes maybe we follow the wallet too much, but I have come to realise that people are the voice”.
To Mr Githae, good music can mellow even the heart of the devil – the case of the biblical King Saul attests – and win votes “if only we learn to listen and [understand] the aspirations of the voters”.
(Whenever the evil spirit descended on the good moods of King Saul, David the harpist would be summoned to the palace and when he harped, the soul of the king would be refreshed and the evil spirits depart him.)
Mr Githae, 44, the good-hearted, generous musician who has no trouble meeting his friends even in bars, insists that he has been singing to tame the evil in our politics, suspending his calling as a fisher of men to the kingdom to fish votes for his favourite political formations.
Mr Githae is considered a nice and down-to-earth man, the father of two daughters with one woman and male twins from another relationship.
On May 14, 2017 he released the single “UhuruRuto Tano Tena”, where he successfully ‘incited’ Kenyans to give Mr Kenyatta and his deputy Dr Ruto a second term.
He sang that he had a spiritual visitation that the regime was a godsend and the best to befall the lives of Kenyans.
Supreme Court
But then Chief Justice David Maraga and his Supreme Court bench chose to differ and ordered a rerun.
Mr Githae countered the Judiciary “demon” that was pretending not to know what was widely known – that the gods had spoken and their word was final that UhuRuto was a blessing for Kenya.
He went back to the studio and released “Wembe Ni Ule Ule (“UhuRuto will win again in the rerun”), and it came to pass.
Mr Githae started singing for the Lord in 1995 after the gospel delivered him from being his grandmother’s employee at her posho mill in Gatundu.
He says he maintained 55 kilograms as his mass until he sang that “Tano Tena” song, which doubled his weight owing to the generous appreciation that it was accorded by the President.
Mr Githae could be seen sweating even in cold weather as the wallet heated in abundance.
When Jubilee split into the Kieleweke and Tangatanga factions in 2018, Mr Githae initially supported Dr Ruto. He could be seen with the DP roaming the country, netting hustlers and baptising them in the name of the wheelbarrow and UDA and those things that others called handouts but which Dr Ruto called acts of generosity.
But when Mr Kenyatta started publicly criticising “Hustler Nation”, Mr Githae listened to the ground, which reminded him of how generous the State House had been in his life. After all, Mr Kenyatta is his village mate in Kiambu County.
“The President’s authority, wisdom and generosity outweigh that of Dr Ruto. I joined the Handshake … I am now head over heels in love with Baba,” he had declared.
He now says he came out of the 2022 elections smarter and wiser “and as we march to 2027, I will be very cautious with my promises … I have come to realise that promises have consequences”. BY DAILY NATION