Mwai Kibaki, Former President of Kenya, Dies at 90

NAIROBI, Kenya — Mwai Kibaki, who helped rework Kenya’s economic system and usher in a brand new Structure as its third president, however whose tenure was marred by high-profile corruption instances and election-related violence, has died. He was 90.

His loss of life was introduced in a televised speech by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who didn’t specify a trigger.

Mr. Kenyatta stated that flags can be flown at half-mast within the nation and at diplomatic missions worldwide, and {that a} interval of nationwide mourning can be noticed till sundown on the day he’s buried. He additionally stated Mr. Kibaki can be accorded a state funeral however didn’t specify a date.

Mr. Kibaki was the final surviving former chief who had participated in Kenya’s battle for independence from British colonial rule, having been preceded by Daniel arap Moi, who died in 2020, and Jomo Kenyatta, who died in 1978.

An economist by coaching, Mr. Kibaki labored as a college professor, lawmaker, cupboard minister, vice chairman and chief of the opposition earlier than ascending in 2002 to the very best workplace within the land.

Mr. Kibaki, who distinguished himself as a scholarly and cerebral determine in academia, turned adroit at navigating the twisting and tense political eras in Kenya. Regardless that he might come throughout as aloof and impatient, he managed to maneuver within the political sphere for 5 many years, changing into an institution insider whose election ended many years of one-party rule in Kenya.

His election as president was a hopeful moment for Kenya, coming after Mr. Moi’s 24-year rule, which had been defined by widespread graft and repression.

As president, he helped revive the stagnated economic system and commenced efforts to enhance well being care entry. He additionally pushed widespread enhancements of the nation’s highways and was lauded for introducing free main faculty schooling nationwide.

However his efforts to remodel the nation had been shortly undermined by graft, which remained rife even on the highest ranges of presidency. Whilst corruption scandals continued to floor, Mr. Kibaki’s authorities did not correctly prosecute these concerned. His personal anti-corruption czar, John Githongo, fled the nation, fearing that his life was at risk.

But it surely was the 2007 elections that put Mr. Kibaki’s management to the take a look at. After the electoral fee declared Mr. Kibaki a winner within the tightly contested election, the nation descended into a wave of violence and bloodshed that pushed it to the brink of civil war.

In the course of the upheaval, greater than 1,100 persons are believed to have been killed and greater than 300,000 others displaced. The violence subsided solely weeks later, when the feuding political leaders settled on a power-sharing agreement.

The disaster pushed Kenya and Mr. Kibaki to revive efforts to draft a brand new Structure — voters rejected an earlier effort in a 2005 referendum — to deal with longstanding imbalances in energy and competitors for assets. In 2010, a brand new Structure, promising greater freedoms and rights for Kenyans, was accredited with an virtually 70 % majority.

In a transfer that was a primary for impartial Kenya, Mr. Kibaki additionally sent Kenyan troops to Somalia in 2011 to guard its northeastern borders and battle the Qaeda affiliate Al Shabab.

Emilio Mwai Kibaki was born on Nov. 15, 1931, in Gatuyaini village in central Kenya. After finishing highschool in Kenya, he studied economics, historical past and political science at Makerere College in Uganda after which studied public finance on the London College of Economics.

Following independence in 1963, he served as a lawmaker with the Kenya African Nationwide Union get together, which preached what it known as African Socialism. He later served as finance minister for greater than a decade, starting in 1969 and leaving the publish in 1981, and was vice chairman for Mr. Moi from 1978 to 1988.

As Kenyans agitated for multiparty democracy within the 1990s, Mr. Kibaki broke ranks with Mr. Moi and challenged him within the 1992 and 1997 elections, each of which he misplaced. In 2002, with Mr. Moi unable to run due to presidential time period limits, he ran once more for president.

He defeated Mr. Kenyatta, the present president, whom Mr. Moi had picked as his most popular successor, and stayed in workplace for 2 phrases, leaving in April 2013.

An avid golfer, Mr. Kibaki was a humorous chief whose quips and witty remarks had been repeatedly performed on tv and printed on the entrance pages of newspapers.

He was married to Lucy Muthoni Kibaki till her loss of life in 2016. He’s survived by his 4 kids: Judy Wanjiku, Jimmy Kibaki, David Kagai and Tony Githinji.