Daniel Moi, Kenya’s longest President is dead
His death was announced in a statement issued by the current President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday.
The statement reads, “It is with profound sadness and sorrow that I announce the passing of a Great African Statesman, H.E. Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, the Second President of the Republic of Kenya,”
“His Excellency, the Former President, passed on at the Nairobi Hospital on the early morning of this 4th February, 2020, in the presence of his family,” it added.
A period of national mourning has been ordered until the president is buried at a later date. Till then, all flags are to fly at half-mast.
The former president assumed the position in 1978 and left in 2002, serving for 24 years.
Mr Moi was born September 2, 1924, in Baringo County. He became president in 1978 after the death of Jomo Kenyatta.
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Educated at missionary and government schools, Mr Moi became a teacher, as Kenya was moving towards independence from British rule.
In the 1990s, due to western countries’ economic and political reform, he was led to legalise opposition parties in 1991.
Under his rule, Kenya was recognised as one of the most prosperous African nations.
He is described by some as a president, who, during his tenure, was passionate about education and planting trees. He built many schools and “supervised many tree-planting projects.”
