Veteran politician Kenneth Matiba dies at 85

0
1521
Kenneth Matiba.

Nairobi, KENYA: Kenya’s Multi-Party pioneer Kenneth Matiba is dead.

According to family members, the second liberation leader died on Sunday evening aged 85years at Karen Hospital in Nairobi; his daughter Ivy Matiba confirmed the news.

Matiba died while undergoing treatment at the Karen Hospital ICU in Nairobi after suffering from cardiac arrest. He was hospitalized for 55 days and on a ventilator for the past two weeks.

According to reports, his internal organs started failing on Friday and his blood pressure was too low for a dialysis.

In August last year, the court ordered the state to pay the late Kenneth Matiba over sh 504 million for wrongful detention in the year 1991.

High Court Judge, Chacha Mwita, ruled that Matiba’s rights were violated by the state during the Moi era.

Leaders have come out to express their condolences, Raila Odinga who was also among the leaders in the struggle for multiparty, said he learned with deep shock that the veteran politician has passed on.

“Our country has lost one of the last living symbols of the pains our people have had to bear in order to get where we are. It is hardly where we intended or ought to be, but certainly better than where we were at this time over 20 years ago, thanks to the sacrifices of Hon. Matiba and his team,” said Raila.

Gitobu Imanyara also paid his tributes, adding that Kenya ought to have done more for him.

“We watched him die. We watched him suffer. We could have saved his businesses. He was bankrupted because he financed the second liberation,” said Imanyara.

President Kenyatta also eulogized him as ” a true patriot who loved this nation of Kenya, a nationalist who believed in hard work and building strong bonds of friendship for the betterment of all,”

His body has been taken to Lee funeral hospital awaiting funeral preparations.

Comments

comments