Curtain falls on ex-Mathira MP Matu Wamae
Former MP Mathira Matu Wamae died in Nairobi aged 85.
Former Mathira Member of Parliament Matu Wamae is dead.
Retired president Uhuru Kenyatta led Kenyans in mourning Mr Wamae.
“Apart from his outstanding leadership as a Member of Parliament for Mathira Constituency for three terms, former President Kenyatta said Mzee Wamae will also be remembered for the key role he played in the revival of the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries,” Mr Kenyatta wrote on Twitter.
Incumbent Mathira MP Eric Mwangi Wamumbi also mourned the fallen politician-cum-businessman who also once headed the Industrial Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) and Kenya Co-operative Creameries.
"May God grant his family peace and solace during this difficult moment. Rest in peace senior," Mr Wamumbi posted on his Facebook page.
The late Wamae was an accomplished businessman and an astute late President Daniel Moi-era politician and a long-time friend of the late former President Mwai Kibaki.
He came to the national limelight in 1979 when he resigned as ICDC CEO to contest for the Mathira parliamentary seat then held by the late Davidson Ngibuini Kuguru who was a close confidant and former president Moi’s point man in then Nyeri district.
In subsequent general elections, Mathira became the hotbed of central Kenya politics witnessing epic supremacy political battles between the two.
The two dominated the local political scene for more than two decades, characterised by the infamous banga (machete) and chabi (key) political symbols belonging to Kuguru and Wamae respectively.
Their supporters would occasionally clash using real machetes and metal keys during charged campaigns that in some instances resulted in deaths.
In 1983, Mr Wamae made his second stab at the seat where he trounced Mr Kuguru and a former provincial commissioner the late Isaiah Mathenge.
That campaign was marked by violence that saw one Michael Weru, a butcher at Kiamariga stabbed to death.
Mr Wamae has been described by many as an amiable, inspirational and hard-working person both in politics and the corporate world.
Mr Joe Wanjau, a former head of marketing at the Kenya Breweries, said he met Mr Wamae while he was a student leader at the University of Nairobi and he inspired him to join the corporate world.
"I will remember him as a person who succeeded both in the corporate world and in politics. After I was through with the university, I interacted with him in both arenas. He is a very inspiring person who helped many people in the corporate world," said Mr Wanjau.
The late Mr Wamae’s autobiography provides insights on leadership by incorporating historical accounts with personal experiences.
He was Mathira MP for three terms: (1983-1988), (1992-1997) and (1997-2002).
Born in 1937 in Kiunjugi, Mr Wamae has lived through different epochs in Kenya’s history.
In Born to Serve, he packs a captivating memoir tracing his gallant journey as a small boy born on the slopes of Mt Kenya to his service to the nation, both in the political field and other arenas for close to six decades.
The book chronicles significant memories from pre-colonial, colonial to post-colonial times through the 85-year-old’s eyes.
