No, Jimmy Kibaki didn't say that

The final send-off of former First Lady Mama Lucy Kibaki in Othaya on Saturday was exceptionally well covered by the media.

The tone of the coverage was, for the better part respectful, truthful and cordial. The Standard on Sunday carried, arguably, the most memorable farewell picture of the solemn ceremony.

However, writer Job Weru o reported that Jimmy Kibaki was implored by the former First Lady to seek formal appointments to see his father who was then the newly installed Head of State.

However, quite on the contrary, Jimmy said he had casually shared with his mother about an overzealous State House official who had insisted that former President Mwai Kibaki’s children needed to clear with State House officialdom before seeing their father.

On hearing that, Mama Lucy summoned the officials and impressed on them the need to allow the family spirit to prosper when her children expressed the desire to see the president who was recovering from a near-fatal accident that saw him take the presidential oath on a wheelchair.

To claim that Mama Lucy was the one who sought to put sanctions on her children with respect to visiting the Head of State is gross misinterpretation of facts or outright mischievous.