Kamwaro, the man helped in drafting 'Michuki Rules,' succumbs to throat cancer at a US hospital

The family of the late TLB Chairman Hassan ole Kamwaro addresisng Journalists at his home in Narok town on August 28, 2019. [Robert Kiplagat/Standard]

Former Transport and Licensing Board TLB boss Hassan ole Kamwaro, who died of cancer yesterday, is credited with bringing sanity to the public transport industry.

Mr Kamwaro died aged 75 in Oklahoma, USA, where he had been undergoing treatment at the Mercy Oncology Centre for the last six months.

He teamed up with the late John Michuki, who was then Transport minister, to ensure all public service vehicles were fitted with speed governors and safety belts amid protests from stakeholders.

Before his appointment to TLB by President Mwai Kibaki in 2004, Kamwaro was an elected councillor and served as the chairman of the now defunct Narok County Council.

He retired in 2007 to focus on farming in Narok County.

He was one of the drafters of the rules to regulate the matatu industry that came to be known as ‘Michuki Rules’, which were credited with bringing sanity on Kenyan roads.

Kamwaro was until his death the organising secretary of the Maasai Council of Elders and has been at the forefront of uniting the Maa community in times of conflicts.

For all his education, the late Kamwaro was a traditionalist. Five years ago, pictures of him standing next to 22-year-old Eunice Sission swept across social media.

Age 69 then, Kamwaro was clad in Maasai regalia as he married Eunice in a traditional ceremony. As debate on the marriage raged on social media, Kamwaro downplayed the issue, saying he was an African man and that his marriage to a woman 47 years his junior was proof that he had the ability to woo a pretty woman.

Yesterday, a family spokesperson said they have started making arrangements to have his body flown from the US to Kenya for burial arrangements.

Confirming the death from the US via phone, his third-born daughter Diana Kamwaro, 50, said Kamwaro died at 7am, Kenyan time.