Many world leaders including African heads of state have commiserated with the
Kenyan people following the death of its longest-serving President Daniel Arap
Moi, who passed on at a Nairobi Hospital.
Leaders across the world have sent their condolences to Kenya and the family
of the late former president Moi who died on Tuesday morning.
Presidents from the East African region including Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Tanzania’s John Magufuli were among those who took to social media to
eulogise Moi.
The late former president who died aged 95 has been undergoing treatment at
the Nairobi Hospital since October.
Similarly, the U.S. embassy in Nairobi offered its condolences to Kenyans on the
death of Moi.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the people of Kenya and to the family and
friends of former President Daniel Arap Moi upon his passing.
“As a friend and partner of Kenya for over 55 years, the U.S. stands with
Kenyans during this time of mourning,” Ambassador Kyle McCarter broadcast on
the embassy’s official Twitter page.
Moi, a former school teacher who ruled Kenya for 24 years, had been in hospital
for over a month.
“It is with profound sadness that I announce the death of a great man of an
African state,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement.
He ordered a period of national mourning until a state funeral is held on a date
not yet announced.
The former president died “in the early morning of Feb. 4, at a Nairobi hospital in
the presence of his family,” Kenyatta said.
The former president will be laid to rest in a state funeral, with all appropriate
civilian and full military honours.
His son, Gideon Moi, said his father passed away peacefully, and that the family
had accepted it.
“I give my heartfelt gratitude to all Kenyans,” he said.
Moi was in office from 1978 to 2002, a time that was marked by the centralisation
of power, corruption and allegations of human rights abuse.
Moi served as vice president under Kenya’s first post-independence president,
Jomo Kenyatta, before taking over the top post.
