Pamela, Mboya’s widow, dies in S. Africa

By Peter Opiyo and Maina Muiruri

Pamela Mboya, widow of MP Tom Mboya, died yesterday in a South African hospital where she had been undergoing treatment, family members said.

Pamela, 70, died 40 years after her husband, then Economic Planning Minister, was assassinated in one of independent Kenya’s most enduring murder mysteries.

Pamela Mboya

After Mboya’s assassination, Pamela led a low profile life, keeping off politics. Professionally, she served as Kenya’s envoy to the UN-Habitat and Chairperson of Helpage Kenya.

Pamela was also a member of Kenya Women’s Political Caucus.

High-profile style

Mboya and Pamela, who wed in 1962, were among independent Kenya’s glitterati couples, owing to her husband’s high-profile political style.

She is remembered by those who were of age in 1969 as a young widow grieving over her husband’s body at Nairobi Hospital, soon after he was shot on Moi Avenue (then Government Road) at noon on July 5, 1969.

The country empathised with her, as she appeared in deep grief after the assassin’s bullet cut short what many say would have been one of Kenya’s most illustrious political careers.

President Kibaki last night sent a message of condolence to her relatives, family and friends.

The President said he had learnt of Pamela’s death with a deep sense of regret.

President Kibaki described the late Pamela as a "resilient lady", who served her country diligently despite losing her husband.