Mwai Kibaki: The iconic leader with an indelible legacy
President Mwai Kibaki.
Leo Tolstoy once said that there is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.
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. Kibaki recognised 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, they 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. In fidelity 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 as President. He undertook his duties with a distinct sense of civility and dignity and will undoubtedly inspire many in Kenya, Africa and beyond for years to come.
Sunrise
Mwai Kibaki was born to Kibaki Githinji and Teresia Wanjiku Githinji on 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, the late Githinji, the late Kinyua, Waitherero, the 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 that Mwai Kibaki was destined for greatness.
Those who knew him from his childhood days through to his time at Makerere 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 joining Mang’u High School.
Discovering yonder
It was Mang’u High School that greatly transformed Kibaki’s life. Started by Catholic priests, Mang’u became the melting pot in which some of the best brains in the country were chaperoned into greatness. The founders of the school were keen on establishing an institution firmly anchored in the Catholic faith and fully committed to the pursuit of academic excellence.
After excelling at Mang’u, Kibaki joined Makerere University College in Uganda to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, History and Political Science.
He emerged as one of the best students in the Faculty of Arts in 1955, attaining a First Class Honours degree. After graduation, Kibaki was employed at Shell Uganda as an assistant sales manager. He resigned when he secured a scholarship to study for a Bachelor of Science in Public Finance at the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). At LSE, Kibaki became the first African to graduate with a First Class Honours degree. He returned to Makerere as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Economics. The university would, later in 2012, bestow upon him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree as a testament to his distinguished and outstanding contribution to public service at the national, regional and international levels.
Just as a farmer plants a small seed which grows to become a large tree with branches that yield a bounty of fruits as well as providing a safe and secure shade, Kibaki settled back home where he met and wedded Lucy Muthoni in the year 1961. Their union bore them one daughter and three sons – Judy Wanjiku, Jimmy Kibaki, David Kagai, and Anthony Githinji. Today, the home is also filled with seven grandchildren: Joy Marie, Ryan Mwai, Kristina Muthoni, Georgio Mwai, Jeremey Mwai, Anna Lisa Muthoni and Liya Rose Muthoni.
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 emancipation of the African.
His career as a lecturer lasted between 1958 and 1961, after which he resigned to become the first Executive Officer of Kenya’s independence party, Kanu. He put his best foot forward to strengthen Kanu for victory in the 1961 elections. The party garnered 19 out of the 33 elective seats in the House of Representatives.
Kibaki himself was elected MP 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 Kibaki was a key architect of the acclaimed “Sessional Paper Number 10 titled African Socialism and its Application to Planning in Kenya”.
He and Tom Mboya were in this historic venture together.
Joining the Cabinet
Kibaki became a full Cabinet minister on May 3, 1966 when he was appointed Minister for Commerce and Industry. He would three years later be appointed to serve his nation as the Minister for Finance. During his tenure at the National Treasury, Kenya recorded a seven per cent economic growth. As Minister for Finance, Kibaki guided the country through a global economic turndown and managed to steady the fortunes of a relatively young economy to safe shores.
Given Kibaki’s notable exploits in the arena of leadership, former World Bank President Robert McNamara described him as one of the “greatest economic brains to have emerged from Africa”.
Kibaki’s former lecturer at Makerere, Prof Kenneth Ingham, believed that had Kibaki stayed long enough in academia, he would have ended up as President of the World Bank.
A rising star
Upon the demise of the founding father of the nation, President Jomo Kenyatta, in 1978, Kibaki became President Daniel arap Moi’s Vice-President.
Kibaki’s star was clearly on a climbing trajectory. While at the Ministry of Finance and later as Vice-President, Kibaki’s adeptness, guided by his economic and fiscal outlook, transformed Kenya’s economy.
During that period, Kenya benefited from a commodities boom propelled by monetary policies that led to consistent economic growth.
Kibaki represented his people for 50 years, effectively becoming one of the longest-serving MPs in the Commonwealth.
That, though, does not mean he did not have antagonists and detractors. His unyielding resolve to succeed and conspicuous political charm handed him serial victory at the ballot.
In 1988, Kibaki was moved from the twin docket of Vice-President and Minister for Finance to the Ministry of Health. He took this unseemly turn of events in his stride. Neither did he cause a stir nor turn into a rebel. In fact, Kibaki went on to tattoo an indelible mark in the ministry when he momentarily waived cost-sharing measures imposed on healthcare by donors.
The 1980s were uncertain times for politicians.
The ruling party, Kanu, had tightened its grip on dissenting political voices than ever before.
Through this difficult stretch, Kibaki maintained an aura of calmness and decency.
Opposition leader
In December 1991, Kibaki announced his resignation and formed the Democratic Party (DP). He thus started a new political journey.
When Kibaki lost the presidential election in 1992, coming third after then President Daniel arap Moi and Kenneth Matiba, he found himself in unfamiliar territory – the Opposition.
For a man who had been in government all his political life and Vice-President for a decade, this presented a new opportunity to serve Kenyans.
He even brought fresh wit and humour to the House, and later in his presidency by treating the public to many memorable light moments usually in Swahili.
Kibaki’s political triumph came in 2002 when the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) picked him as its preferred presidential candidate. He got more than 65 per cent of the vote. On December 30, 2002, he was sworn in as the Third President of the Republic of Kenya on a wheelchair, having survived a near-fatal accident while on the campaign trail hardly a month earlier.
He served as the Head of State and Government until April 9, 2013, when his successor, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, ascended to the Presidency.
Inking history… The indelible mark
No doubt a leading figure in Kenya’s post-independence history, Kibaki won countless Kenyan hearts.
He has many admirers right across the globe. Fondly referred to in several quarters as the gentleman of Kenyan politics, Kibaki will be remembered as an insightful and eloquent debater with a unique sense of humour.
After Kenya dumped the single-party system in the early 1990s, Kibaki became a leading light in nurturing a political culture of vibrant multiparty democracy. The ruling party was kept on its toes with Kibaki on the wheel as leader of the Official Opposition. His role in shaping multiparty democracy is etched in Kenya’s history.
Once Kibaki became President, his government introduced critical reforms in the education sector, foremost of which was the globally acclaimed Free Primary Education Programme. His administration also instituted comprehensive infrastructure developments in the transport and energy sectors.
Access to better healthcare took a new turn during Kibaki’s tenure.
Kibaki will be remembered for championing the promotion of policies that promoted economic and social empowerment, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
At the regional level, Kibaki was at the forefront in supporting the objectives of the East African Community, including the common market and trade liberalisation for the benefit of the citizens of the partner states. His commitment and conviction in matters of economic empowerment went beyond Kenya.
Perhaps one of the most memorable achievements of the Kibaki era was the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, which ushered in a new dispensation whose far-reaching effects have redefined how Kenya is governed today.
For two decades, Kenyans had expressed their wish to change the Constitution the country had inherited at the dawn of independence in 1963.
It had been an elusive goal; at Kibaki’s first attempt, it did not fly. It was on his second attempt, in his second term, that it was finally realised.
During its promulgation in August 2010, Kibaki termed the achievement “the boldest step the Kenyan people have taken towards changing their lives”. Kenya’s 2010 Constitution is definitely a huge part of the Kibaki legacy.
In retrospect, Kibaki’s servant-leader credentials offer seminal lessons on how best to negotiate a more rewarding future for a nation.
Kenya is today more desirable in numerous ways, courtesy of the solid foundation built by an exemplary icon who no doubt loved his motherland.
This is an edited version of the President’s speech, which was read at the funeral service yesterday by Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi and President Kibaki’s grandson, Ryan Mwai Kibaki.
