Hospitals grapple with cancer as list of those it has claimed gets longer

Samuel Kivuitu 1939 - 2013

Former electoral commission boss

The former chairman of the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), died while undergoing cancer treatment at Nairobi’s MP Shah Hospital early this year.

Before his high-profile role at the ECK, which threw him in the spotlight during the 2005 referendum and 2007 General Election, Kivuitu had a long standing career as a lawyer, legislator and civil servant.

Njenga Karume 1932 - 2012

Leading politician and business magnate

Arguably one of the top iconic figures of central Kenya politics over the last 50-years succumbed to prostate cancer last year aged 83.

A staunch apologist of the first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Karume was the patron of Gema and led a subtle resistance aimed at blocking former president Daniel Moi’s assent to power.

Justice Moijo ole Keiwua 1948 - 2012

Court of Appeal judge

After an illustrious career that spanned more than three decades, Justice Keiwua succumbed to bile duct cancer.

Appointed High Court judge in 1983, Justice Keiwua at one time served as the president of the East African Court of Justice and was a trustee of the Kenya Wildlife Trust.

Justice Keiwua’s death was a profound loss to the country’s legal fraternity and his native Maasai community where he was held in high esteem.

Josephine Watiri Michuki

Josephine Watiri Michuki, widow to former Environment minister John Michuki succumbed to a long battle with cancer last year.

Josephine passed away at the Nairobi Hospital after a long battle with the disease.

This was barely six-months since the passing on of her beloved husband, John Michuki.

Prof Wangari Maathai 1940 - 2011

Nobel peace laureate and environment rights crusader 

She was the first African woman to win the Nobel peace prize, and the first Kenyan ever to get the accolade.

All her life, Prof Maathai was a trend-setter, becoming the first woman in East and Central Africa to obtain a PhD and the first female professor at the University of Nairobi.

Her role as a crusader of human rights and environmental conservation thrust her into international limelight with millions of trees being planted through her Green Belt Movement. Prof Maathai succumbed to ovarian cancer on September 25, at the Nairobi Hospital aged 71.

Martin Shikuku 1933 – 2012

Leading political icon and long serving MP  

Veteran politician and democracy icon Martin Shikuku died of prostate cancer at Nairobi’s Texas Cancer Centre last year.

First elected into parliament on a KADU ticket in 1963, Shikuku’s political career spanned three presidents and he was once detained for his fight for democracy in the country.

He was the co-founder of the Forum for Restoration of Democracy.

Shikuku made news by digging his own grave and buying a coffin eight years before he was to succumb to cancer.

David Nalo 1962 - 2012

Government economist and technocrat

Until his death, David Nalo was one of the most influential personalities behind the drive to resuscitate the East African Community.

Nalo, a former Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of East African Community, succumbed to Hodgkin’s lymphoma in February last year.

The leading government economist had also served as the PS in the ministries of Trade and Industry and Planning and National Development.

Prof Margaret Ogola 1958 – 2011

Writer and anti-HIV crusader

Many Kenyans best remember Dr Margaret Ogola as the author of the “The River and the Source,” a book that gave an in-depth look into tradition and modernity in Kenya’s rapidly changing world.

So profound was the text that the Ministry of Education elevated it into a set book to be studied by secondary school students in literature classes.

Dr Ogola was also a HIV/Aids advocate at a time when stigma and mis-information about the disease was at its highest, especially in her home province Nyanza.  She served as the director of the Institute of Healthcare Management at Strathmore University.

Mary Onyango

1967 - 2012

Public servant and breast cancer advocate

Mary Onyango, who at her death was the vice-chairperson of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), was 32 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

In her 13-year battle with breast cancer, Onyango co-founded the Kenya Breast Health Programme, a breast cancer advocacy and support organisation together with the late Julia Mulaha to provide support to others like herself.

In her capacity as the vice-chair of NCIC, Ms Onyango led the fight against hate speech on social media sites in the run up to the March 4 General Election.

 

Beth Nyambura Mbaya 1943 - 2013

Actress

The death of television actress Beth Nyambura Mbaya, popularly known by her screen name Wanade left the film industry inshock.

‘Wanade’ graced Kenyan television screens in several productions, including Mother in Law and Makutano Junction 

Mugure Mahinda 1989 - 2013

Student

Barely 24 at the time of her death, Mugure Mahinda was a promising fifth year mechanical engineering student at the University of Nairobi.

 

Prof Naomi Luchera Shitemi 1959 – 2013

Linguistics scholar

Prof Naomi was a leading Kiswahili scholar and was until her death a Swahili professor at Moi University’s School of Arts and Social Sciences. 

Okoth Waudi

Businessman and politician

He might not be a household name in Kenya but to residents of Mombasa, the name carries significant weight.

The Mombasa-based businessman, who succumbed to colon cancer this year, owned a host of top establishments including the famous Casablanca Club and Club Rio.