Military takes over funeral preparations

Moi families led by Baringo Senator Gideon Moi and Rongai MP Raymond Moi at Lee Funeral Home. [Samson Wire].

The military last evening moved to make preparations for the burial of former President Moi, with the family saying he will be laid to rest at his Kabarak home.

Last evening, Deputy President William Ruto visited the family of the late Moi at the Kabarnet Gardens residence in Nairobi where he had a closed-door session with, among others, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi.

Earlier, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i was accompanied by the Chief of Defence Forces, General Samson Mwathethe, in condoling the family, where they held the initial burial preparations meeting with the military officially taking over the plans.

The family, through Rongai MP Raymond Moi, told the media that they had ceded the burial arrangement to the government, following the proclamation statement by President Uhuru Kenyatta that the country’s second president would be given a State burial.

“The Government has now taken over everything. We are still in consultations with the Government since the whole matter is now a military affair. It will now be the Government spokesman who will give subsequent briefs on the timelines and other arrangements,” said Raymond at the deceased’s Kabarnet Gardens home.

Best medication

The residence was a hive of activities as friends and relatives streamed in to condole with the family.

It was a blend of mourners from all spheres of life; majority who had close ties with the retired Head of State, especially in politics and business circles.

The family said that though they were still mourning, they were deeply touched by the tributes that kept flowing after they had announced the demise of their patriarch.

In the statement, Raymond said they had been “deeply touched” by President Uhuru’s statement and the presidential proclamation.

“We know that the days ahead are going to be tough for us, both young and old, and we therefore ask for your prayers to the family and the people of Kenya who are bereaved by this great loss of someone they loved and lived with for all their lives,” said the family.

The family said they had given the former president the best medication in the hope that he would walk out of Nairobi Hospital after three months of admission.

”We are aware that the best in medical science and clinical medicine was deployed to try and save mzee’s life but our creator had decided that his time had come… Now that this time has arrived contrary to our expectations, it is our prayer that God gives us the energy to brave the troubled waters until mzee is laid to rest,” said Raymond in the family statement.

The family also appreciated the speed with which the military and government apparatus moved in after the death was announced.

Leaders who were at Kabarnet Gardens home to condole the family included Franklin Bett, who served as Moi’s Comptroller of State House, former Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey and the immediate former African Inland Church Presiding Bishop Silas Yego.

Yego told The Standard that he administered holy sacrament to the former Head of State last week on Thursday. “He looked to be on the road to recovery. He was stable, though he was still in hospital, but God did his will,” said the retired Bishop