When I served Nyeri as a young district surveyor, Mwai Kibaki was so highly regarded that one had difficulties figuring him out.
He respected others, he avoided polarising discussions and he demonstrated humility and integrity, regardless of the offices he held.
He implored us to respect public office and resources and did so by example.
A friend in USA sent me a condolence message following the death of our 3rd President. He wrote, “Condolences over the loss of our Mwai Kibaki, OB Makerere University, and a good Economist”.
I answered, “Great man, great role model. We would do this country proud by emulating his values…..patriotism, high quality services and respect for public office and resources”.
I share the Mang’u High School Alumni with the departed president. The school’s motto is “Jishinde Ushinde”. And, looking at messages on Mang’u’s Alumni WhatsApp walls, Mwai Kibaki remains one of the most inspirational students to have ever gone through the school. He remains revered even in death.
Colleagues correctly observe that the late president lived the school motto practically.
He worked his way from a humble beginning to become a great local, national and international servant.
Above the rest
When I served Nyeri as a young district surveyor, Mwai Kibaki was so highly regarded that one had difficulties figuring him out. I kept working up folks in his Othaya constituency to explain why, and how, the man had remained their member of Parliament without change.
They were proud of him. And one could literally “feel the intensity of this” in the constituency. It felt like Othaya was a cut above the others. To be fair, there was evidence of this on the ground in the infrastructure and management of local agricultural networks. And Othaya town was growing fast and was clean.
When I served as an official with the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya, we had the occasion to host him in one of our annual dinners.
He was then leader of official opposition. And during our invite, we had tried to impress upon him that the surveyor’s body was apolitical, hoping that the guest would navigate around any political matters judiciously.
When he took the podium, Mwai Kibaki was worked up. He lectured surveyors on the imperatives of national development, and the need for professionals to get out of their elitist cocoons and participate in political leadership. Because therein lay the route to improving the lives of fellow countrymen.
He served us several international examples to illustrate. I must admit, his message was spot on and impacted.
Great leader
Enough has been said about Mwai Kibaki the student, the economist, politician and great leader.
Lots of space in our broadcast and print media has gone into applauding his achievements. But, like I observed while responding to my friend, this will all be in vain if we cannot rise up to the late President’s style and values.
He respected others, he avoided polarising discussions and he demonstrated humility and integrity, regardless of the offices he held.
He implored us to respect public office and resources and did so by example. So, even as we lay him to rest tomorrow, talk and write to praise him, let’s be real.
Let’s adopt and live his values for the sake of a more equal and prosperous Kenya.
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