Ajabu Africa News

PHOTO:

President Uhuru Kenyatta addressing mourners during the burial of former President Mwai Kibaki at Othaya Approved School in Nyeri County on Saturday, April 30,2022. Image: ENOS TECHE

By:

Justus Otieno

Posted:

Apr,30-2022 09:27:04

President Uhuru Kenyatta has challenged leaders to emulate the late former President Mwai Kibaki with action and not just empty rhetoric.

Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late President in Othaya, Nyeri county, Uhuru said that leaders should put into action the good attributes they said about Kibaki.

"As Kenyans, let us not just say by word of mouth (good things about Kibaki). Let us do it by action. Let's emulate what we have learned from Mzee," the President said in his short speech.

Mourners at the event had eulogised the late President as a visionary, astute, and distinguished economist who undertook his duties with passion and distinction.

In his speech, Uhuru said that Kibaki was a hero and a great leader whose good deeds forever live in the memories of Kenyans.

"Mwai Kibaki was the father of the nation and father of many people in our republic," he said.

"We are here to send our hero to his resting place. The journey we had had with him has ended because he has rested we will continue working together with the family," he said.

Uhuru assured the Kibaki family that he and the government will continue collaborating with them even after the burial of their father.

"You are not standing alone. We are with you and will continue to be with you," he said

The President thanked the Kibaki family and the residents of Othaya for giving the country a visionary leader who turned around its fortunes of the country.

That Mwai Kibaki was a humble man who loved simplicity is well known. That he was a good and great man is an acknowledged fact. That he cherished truth and fairness is not in doubt.

Mwai Kibaki recognized that serving others is life’s greatest joy and its ultimate reward.

To millions of Kenyans, he was the brightest of a thousand points of light.

In him, Kenyans found a reason to hope, the courage to dream, and a man to emulate.

Mwai Kibaki’s life story is intertwined with our nation’s history.

But besides being a story of a Commander-in-Chief of great accomplishments, it is the story of a deeply devoted family man, a beloved son, a dear husband, a cherished father and a grandfather, a treasured brother, and a dutiful uncle and relative to many.

Mwai Kibaki taught us that public service is noble and necessary.

He showed us that one can serve with passion and utmost integrity.

Infidelity to our shared humanity he heeded the call to serve his country and never looked back; earning the profound privilege to serve as a teacher, lawmaker, Cabinet Minister, Vice-President, Leader of the Official Opposition, and President of the Republic of Kenya.

He undertook his duties with a distinct sense of civility and dignity and will undoubtedly inspire many in Kenya, East Africa, Africa and beyond for years to come.

Eulogy

Mwai Kibaki was born to Kibaki Githinji and Teresia Wanjiku Githinji on the November 15, 1931, in Thunguri village, in the present-day Othaya Sub-County in Nyeri County.

He was the last born in a family of six.

His siblings are the late Wangui, late Githinji, late Kinyua, Waitherero, late Nderitu and the late Waruguru.

During his childhood, a time when Kibaki and his agemates routinely engaged in tending goats and calves near home, a peculiar structure erected in the area caught his fancy.

He was to learn later that the unusual edifice, constructed by Catholic missionaries, was a sanctuary-cum-school.

As fate would have it, young Kibaki ended up being part of the new world that this new phenomenon portended.

He attended his preparatory school, dubbed ‘Sub A’ and ‘Sub B’ there. At first, his father was a little sceptical about young Kibaki’s peculiar venture.

However, Kibaki’s enthusiasm to become part of a novel adventure was unstoppable. And so his long and illustrious academic enterprise started in earnest.

After successfully completing his foundational schooling, Mwai Kibaki joined Gatuyaini Primary School where he spent two years. Back then there was no telling where this journey would land him.

However, being the diligent and bright boy he was, his prospective fortunes were already ascertainable.

As it came to pass Mwai Kibaki was destined for greatness.

Those who knew Mwai Kibaki from his childhood days through to his time at Makerere University speak of a man who, right from the start, knew what he wanted to become and the path he wanted to follow to achieve it.

Nothing, it would seem, was coincidental or fortuitous about his life. Everything seemed aligned to purposefulness.

Kibaki later joined the Holy Ghost Catholic Missionaries’ Karima Mission School, which is today Karima Primary School, for another three years.

From there he went to Mathari School (later named Nyeri High School) before.

Political inclination

Makerere was where Mwai Kibaki launched his political career.

He was elected chairman of the Kenya Students’ Association as well as vice-chairman of Makerere Students’ Guild during a watershed moment marked by heightened political consciousness right across East Africa.

This was a time when the agitation to end colonial domination in Africa was at its peak.

Kibaki seized that moment and distinguished himself as a champion of the emancipation of the Africans.

Mwai Kibaki’s career as a lecturer lasted between 1958 and 1961 after which he resigned to become the first Executive Officer of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), Kenya’s independence party.

Mwai Kibaki put his best foot forward to strengthen KANU for victory in the 1961 elections.

KANU garnered 19 out of the 33 elected seats in the House of Representatives.

Mwai Kibaki himself was elected Member of Parliament for Donholm in 1963 and appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the National Treasury.

He continued to hold his position as KANU’s Executive Officer and gained immense respect across the board much to the chagrin of his adversaries.

Also notable is that Mwai Kibaki was a key architect of the acclaimed “Sessional Paper Number 10 titled African Socialism and its Application to Planning in Kenya.” Again, Mwai Kibaki and Tom Mboya in this historic venture

Source:

The Star