Former Head of Civil Service Jeremiah Kiereini dies aged 90

Jeremiah Gitau Kiereini, a former powerful Head of Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, passed on Monday evening – the end of a remarkable life that saw him emerge as a corporate titan and a respected technocrat. He was 90.

Mr Kiereini worked as Permanent Secretary for Defence in Jomo Kenyatta’s government before he was elevated to the Head of Civil Service position by President Daniel arap Moi to replace Mr Geoffrey Kariithi – who had fallen out of favour.

He was at the Defence ministry during the troubled years of Shifta war and when President Idi Amin of Uganda was threatening to annex parts of Kenya – events which would lead to strengthening of the army.

Unlike his age-mates, Charles Njonjo, Kenneth Matiba, and John Michuki, who found solace in politics after a career in civil service, Mr Kiereini chose to stay away and became one of the blue-eyed boys of blue-chip companies among them East African Breweries where he was chairman for a record 24 years and motor-dealer CMC Limited, where he would exit under a cloud of controversial dealings.

Mr Kiereini died while trying to clear his name.

Born in 1929 in central Kenya, Mr Kiereini studied at Alliance High and finally Makerere University before he joined the civil service at the dawn of independence.

He was first African District Commissioner in Embu and in June 1963, he was promoted to the position of deputy civil secretary for Eastern Region.

With the likes of Eliud Mahihu, Simeon Nyachae, and Mr Kariithi, the team made became the shapers of the Kenyatta presidency and became the bedrock of his success.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has eulogised Mr Kiereini as a towering reform-minded public servant and patriotic Kenyan who served his country with distinction.

In his message of condolence, the President said the late Kiereini remains an important part of Kenya's public service history and will be remembered for the role he played in the modernisation of the military when he served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence.

“Mr Kiereini was a polished patriot and loyal Kenyan who served this country with dedication as a public servant for over 30 years rising through the ranks to the position of Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet,” President Kenyatta said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Indeed his sterling performance at the helm of the public service gave us the foundation upon which the successes we are witnessing in the sector today are anchored."

Mr Kiereini was an astute coffee farmer and had interests in insurance, banking, and the hotel industry.

He was married to Eunice Muringo Kiereini, a former Kenya's Chief Nursing Officer.