Amb Solomon Karanja narrates exciting Makerere University nightlife with Mwai Kibaki

A long-time friend of former President Mwai Kibaki, in April 2022, narrated exciting experiences he had with the Kenya's 3rd President, Mwai Kibaki, when he was a lecturer at Makerere University.

Amb. Solomon Karanja, who was Kemsa Board Chair in 2015, narrated that their friendship started while he was himself a student and Kibaki was a lecturer.

"I first met Mr Kibaki at Makerere, when he was going for his post-graduate diploma at the University of London, I was just a freshman," Amb. Karanja started, adding that their friendship continued even after Kibaki returned from London.

The former Kemsa boss went on to narrate that he, together with Kibaki and one other gentleman by the name Karimi used to live together as bachelors and coincidentally, all married the women they were each dating at the time.

"He was definitely a great man, let me also say he was quite cunning. While we were students at Makerere and he was teaching, he had a little Volkswagen and occasionally he'd go with us to a nightclub called Kamulus, a spot frequented by university students.

"Because university students were required to be back in their hostels by midnight if you were lucky to have gone in Mwai's little Volkswagen - and because he was the resident tutor for Livingstone Hall - you could sneak back in through his garage and escape being booked and losing the privilege to go out," the veteran state official narrated, noting that he found the act to be kind, on Kibaki's part.

Kibaki's cure to hangovers

Amb. Karanja went on to disclose that he would be surprised to see Kibaki conduct lectures in the morning after the exciting night out, and punctually at 8:00 a.m.

Kibaki's composure and apparent lack of a hangover, while Karanja himself could not get out of bed after partying with the former President, pushed the former Kemsa boss to ask for Kibaki's hangover cure.

"I asked him his secret and he told me the secret was not to go to bed immediately after you've come back home from the late night out but to do so after you have done your job. So, he used to go to university rooms and give beautiful lectures and apparently, when he came back, that's when he used to sleep," Karanja concluded.

Grateful for the opportunity to have narrated the story at his burial in Othaya on April 30, 2022, Amb. Karanja stated that he had more of such fond memories of his departed, long-time friend.

Editor's Note: The laws of Kenya prohibit the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 18 years and the excessive consumption of alcohol is harmful to your health. Drink responsibly.