Mwai Kibaki

Emilio Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013.

Kibaki was born on 15 November 1931 in Gatuyaini village, Othaya division of Kenya's then Nyeri District (now Nyeri County).

He was the youngest son of Kikuyu peasants Kibaki Gĩthĩnji and Teresia Wanjikũ.

Though baptised as Emilio Stanley by Italian missionaries in his youth, he has been known as Mwai Kibaki throughout his public life.

Kibaki started his schooling at the village school in Gatuyaini, where he completed two years.

He then continued his education at the Karima mission school, close to Othaya town, before moving to Mathari School (now Nyeri High School) between 1944 and 1946.

In addition to his academic studies, he learned carpentry and masonry at the school.

After Karima Primary and Nyeri Boarding primary schools, he proceeded to Mang'u High School, where he studied between 1947 and 1950, gaining the highest grade in his O Level examinations.

In his last year at Mang'u, Kibaki briefly considered enlisting in the army, but this ambition was thwarted when Kenya's Chief colonial secretary, Walter Coutts, prohibited members of Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru communities from joining the military.

Kibaki instead attended Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where he studied economics, history, and political science.

He graduated with a first class honours degree in economics.

After graduation, Kibaki remained in Uganda, working for the Shell Company of East Africa.

He then earned a scholarship entitling him to undertake postgraduate studies at any British university.

He chose the London School of Economics, from which he obtained a BSc in public finance, with distinction.

In 1958, he went back to Makerere, where he taught as an assistant lecturer in the economics department until 1961.

In early 1960, Mwai Kibaki left academia for active politics by giving up his job at Makerere and returning to Kenya to become an executive officer of Kenya African National Union (KANU), at the request of Thomas Joseph Mboya (who was the secretary general of KANU).

Kibaki then helped to draft Kenya's independence constitution.

In 1961, Kibaki married Lucy Muthoni, the daughter of a church minister, who was then a secondary school head teacher.

In 1963, Kibaki was elected as Member of Parliament for the Doonholm Constituency (subsequently called Bahati and now known as Makadara) in Nairobi.

His election was the start of a long political career.

In 1963 Kibaki was appointed the Permanent Secretary for the Treasury.

Appointed Assistant Minister of Finance and chairman of the Economic Planning Commission in 1963, he was promoted to Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1966.

He also held cabinet ministerial positions in the Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi governments, including as minister for Finance (1969–1981) under Kenyatta, and Minister for Home Affairs (1982–1988) and Minister for Health (1988–1991) under Moi.

In 1969, he became Minister of Finance and Economic Planning where he served until 1982.

In 1974, Kibaki, facing serious competition for his Doonholm Constituency seat from an opponent Mrs. Jael Mbogo, whom he had only narrowly and controversially beaten for the seat in the 1969 elections, moved his political base from Nairobi to his rural home, Othaya, where he was subsequently elected as Member of Parliament.

The same year Time magazine rated him among the top 100 people in the world who had the potential to lead.

He had previously served as the fourth Vice-President of Kenya for ten years from 1978 to 1988 under President Daniel arap Moi.

When Daniel arap Moi succeeded Jomo Kenyatta as President of Kenya in 1978, Kibaki was elevated to the Vice Presidency, and kept the Finance portfolio until Moi changed his ministerial portfolio from Finance to Home Affairs in 1982.

He had in 1978 rejected an offer to become World Bank Vice President for Africa instead choosing to further his political career.

As of 2023, he is still regarded as one of the most effective and consequentual finance ministers of the Republic of Kenya.

Later as President, he kept close tabs with the treasury and directly influenced key economic policies resulting in steady economic growth.

He was re-elected Member of Parliament for Othaya in the subsequent elections of 1979, 1983, 1988, 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007.

Kibaki fell out of favour with President Moi in March 1988, and was dropped as vice president and moved to the Ministry of Health.

Kibaki's political style during these years was described as gentlemanly and non-confrontational.

This style exposed him to criticism that he was a spineless, or even cowardly, politician who never took a stand: according to one joke, "He never saw a fence he didn't sit on".

Similarly, Kenneth Matiba also referred to him as "General Kiguoya" for refusing to resign the Kanu government and join the opposition after he was dropped as vice president in 1988.

Kibaki served as an opposition Member of Parliament from 1992 to 2002.

He unsuccessfully vied for the presidency in 1992 and 1997.

He served as the Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament from 1998 to 2002.

Following the 2002 presidential election, he was elected as President of Kenya.