List of those decorated by Uhuru impressive

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to award Eliud Kipchoge with the Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart medal is good news, not only for the history-making marathoner, but also for all Kenyans.

The award is among the highest honours the President can bestow on an individual. As Uhuru rightly pointed out, Mr Kipchoge is a veritable living legend.

The athlete surmounted what the world had hitherto thought humanly impossible by running a marathon in under two hours. The world is still in awe and admiration of this Kenyan who has lived up to his slogan, “no one is limited”, by finishing the 42-kilometre race in 1:59:40. We are all in agreement with Uhuru: no one deserves this honour more than Kipchoge.

Importantly, the Government appears to have learnt from its past mistakes as this time round it came up with a list of heroes and heroines Kenyans can agree with. Previously, the Government was lampooned for bestowing honours frivolously on individuals, such as Kamotho Martin aka ‘Githeri Man’ who merely queued to vote in the 2017 election, something millions of other Kenyans did.

That garlanded yesterday have made a difference in society; individuals worth celebrating and emulating. There were those who shed tears and blood to earn our country independence, those who have taken on modern-day enemies, such as HIV and Aids and FGM, philanthropists who have been making the lives of the less fortunate bearable, and journalists like The Standard’s Kirinyaga correspondent Munene Kamau and others who have made and are still making this country proud.