Former President Mwai Kibaki is dead.
President Uhuru Kenyatta officially announced Mwai Kibaki‘s death on Friday at State House, Nairobi. The retired President was aged 91.
In honour of President Mwai Kibaki, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that the country observe a period of national mourning from Friday, April 22 until sunset of the day of his interment.
Further, the Kenyan flag will be flown at half-mast across the country and in all Kenyan diplomatic missions abroad.
President Kenyatta further directed that the Deputy-President, the Chief Justice, Cabinet Secretaries, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Speaker of the Senate, Kenya’s Diplomats abroad and whomsoever else is so authorized by law, shall not fly the national flag on their official motorcade from today until sunset on the day Kibaki is laid to rest.
President Kibaki shall be accorded a State funeral with full military honours and protocols being rendered and observed.
His death was announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday.
“It is my sorrowful duty to announce to the nation the passing on of H.E. Emilio Mwai Kibaki, the Third President of the Republic of Kenya. H.E. Mwai Kibaki lived a dedicated life of public service. We salute a notable father figure in the chronicles of our Nation. A leader who strove so hard and accomplished so much for his country. A Nation he so deeply cherished and served with commitment and an unbending will to improve the lives of our people,” he said.
“As we mourn this immeasurable loss, we recall with eternal gratitude President Kibaki’s patriotic journey in service to his Country, which can be traced way back to Kenya’s fight for liberation,” he added.
After announcing his death, President Kenyatta declared a period of national mourning, including the flying of national flags at half-mast, until a state funeral is held for Kibaki.
No funeral date
No date has been set for the funeral. Mr Kenyatta said the late President will be accorded a State funeral with full military Honours and Protocols being rendered and observed.
“The President, the Deputy President, the Chief Justice, Cabinet Secretaries, the Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate, Kenya diplomats abroad and whomsoever else is so authorized by law, shall not fly the national flag on their official motorcade from today until sunset on the day of Kibaki’s interment,” said Mr Kenyatta.
Private life
After leaving office in 2013, Kibaki rarely engaged in public life. In 2016 he started becoming ill and Government officials and his family have all along been guarded with information on his health.
Initially he enjoyed good health most of his adult life and was known to play golf and was an almost permanent fixture in the country club circuit until a 2002 car accident.
Kibaki served as the third President for ten years (2002- 2013) and as MP for 50 years (1963-2013).
Political career
He joined the National Assembly in 1963 as Member of Parliament for Donholm, which was subsequently renamed as Bahati and now Makadara Constituency. In 1974, he shifted his political base from the capital city to his rural home in Othaya, Nyeri County, where he was elected and served as MP up to 2013.
He also held various Cabinet ministerial positions in the governments of Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arapa Moi.
Upon joining parliament in 1963, Kibaki was appointed by the late the first President Jomo Kenyatta as Permanent Secretary for the Treasury and in 1966 got appointed Assistant Minister of Finance and chairman of the Economic Planning Commission.
He later became Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Industry and in 1969 became Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.
Kibaki also served as the vice president for ten years (1978 to 1988) under the late President Daniel arap Moi, who died in February 2020.
He left the position after falling out with Moi and became an opposition Member of Parliament against Moi from 1992 to 2002, when he was elected the third President after two unsuccessful attempts (1992 and 1997).
After leaving office in 2013, Kibaki took a private life and did not engage in active politics. In august 2016 he was flown to South Africa for specialised treatment after he fell ill over the weekend and was rushed to Karen Hospital in Nairobi.
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