Mzee Mairu laid to rest as choppers flood skies

The late Mzee Peter Musyoka Mairu's (Father of Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka) burial.

Mzee Peter Musyoka Mairu, father of Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, was on Friday laid to rest in a colourful ceremony at his Tulimani village home, Tseikuru in Kitui County.

The father of 21 and husband to three wives, who died at the age of 94, was eulogised as hardworking, industrious and a brutally honest man who curved his niche in business although he had never set foot in school.

His grandson Kennedy Musyoka, Kalonzo’s son and now serving as EALA MP, said his grandfather was a streetwise man who learnt life skills the hard way. “Alisomea dirishani but he was intelligent,” Musyoka said.

It was a scene to behold at the sun-scorched Tseikuru market as choppers upon choppers dropped from the skies like poisoned birds.

Some helicopters landed at Tseikuru Technical Institute and when it was full, more choppers dropped at Tseikuru Airstrip, which stalled years ago after the multi-billion shilling Wikithuki Irrigation Scheme collapsed.

Deputy President William Ruto said he also came from a polygamous family but praised Mzee Mairu for bringing up rather a larger family.

“Sisi kwetu tulikuwa kumi na mmoja lakini leo nimepatana na shujaa mwingine ambaye amejaribu sana,” Ruto said.

ODM leader Raila Odinga described the late Mairu as pure chuma ya ukambani (Ukambani metal), which does not rust, saying the same gene had been passed on to Kalonzo. “Hata Kalonzo hazeeki (Kalonzo doesn’t age),” said Raila.

The burial ceremony also presented an opportunity for Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua and Kalonzo to meet after their acrimonious fallout. Governor Mutua, who mostly appeared timid and in deep thought and who is facing an election petition by Wavinya Ndeti, painfully acknowledged Kalonzo as the one who mentored him politically.

Baringo Senator Gideon Moi read his father, former President Daniel Moi’s eulogy while Raila brought former President Mwai Kibaki’s condolences.