Kenyans are mourning the death of the third president of the Republic of Kenya Emilio Mwai Kibaki which was announced on Friday afternoon.
The sad news was confirmed by president Uhuru Kenyatta. Kibaki served as the head of state for two terms from 2002-2013Â and handed power over to president Kenyatta. He died at the age of 90 years.
The cause of death was not made public immediately but the former PNU leader has been hospitalized from time to time in the past days .
“He is not with us in body, his spirit, legacy, values and ideals live on in each one of us and in the limitless ways that he made Kenya immeasurably better. Mwai Kibaki lives on in the hearts of millions of Kenyans, East Africans and Africans who benefitted from his leadership, admired his character and were inspired by his example,” President Kenyatta said in his statement.
The head of state further directed Kenyans to observe the period of mourning until the sunset of his burial day. The Kenyan flag will be raised half throughout the period.
Kenyans will however remember Kibaki for the great achievements during his era including:
- Free primary education.
President Kibaki introduced free primary education in 2003 and this saw millions of Kenyan children get a chance to become literate.
Most of them had been locked out of the education system since they could not afford to pay for their education. The move was highly lauded even by international leaders like Bill Clinton
- Infrastructure development.
Kibaki’s era witnessed a massive development in infrastructure after years of stagnation and mismanagement under President Moi’s era.
Some of the notable projects under his administration include the commissioning of Thika superhighway project in 2012, Olkaria 280 MegaWatt (MW) geothermal project among others.
- Implementation of the new constitution
Another of Kibaki’s legacy was the adoption of the 2010 constitution that was transformative and key in addressing challenges in governorship and institutions.
Kenya had attempted to come up with a new constitution for two decades unsuccessfully and over the years, the country was relying on the 1963 independence constitution.
- Vision 2030 Blueprint
Under his administration, the idea of making Kenya a middle income and industrialized country was conceived and activated with the intention of providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment.
The strategy was officially launched on June 10,2008 by president Kibaki.
- Media Freedom
The development in infrastructure also saw development in information communication technology.
It was during his era that the country enjoyed freedom of expression and the freedom of the media was highly regarded as compared to that of his predecessor’s era as well that of other countries. A number of media houses sprouted.
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