How Jimmy Carter laid the foundation for collapse of Soviet Union

The late former US President Jimmy Carter. [AFP]

Long life, Martin Luther King once remarked, has its place but not for him; he was assassinated soon after in 1968. It was the same year that Robert F Kennedy, the man who predicted that a "Negro" would become US President in 40 years, was also assassinated just as he clinched California for his bid to become US president. Both King and Kennedy were friendly to Kenya's Tom Mboya who, in 1969, followed them by way of assassination. The three had accomplished a lot in their short lives and probably would have accomplished much more had they been blessed with longevity. Few people anywhere live long enough to see the fruits of their labour.

Anyone clocking more than 90 years is likely to reap some fruits. It happened in Kenya and the United States. Two Kenyan matriarchs and a former US president lived long, died late in December 2024 and were buried in January 2025. Anne Nanyama Wetangula of Bungoma, 94, and Virginia Wanjiru Kamau of Kiambu, 93, reaped the fruits of longevity having lived through the Mau Mau War, the post-colonial nation building challenges, and the first decades of the 21st Century.