John ‘KJ’ Kiarie, a member of parliament for Dagoretti South, is grieving the passing of his father David Waweru Ng’ethe, a former Kandara MP and three-time unsuccessful presidential candidate.
Mr Kiarie announced the death of his father in a solemn tweet saying “The Lion had rested.”
“The Lion has rested. Dark, dark hour… As the 3 o’clock late afternoon sun battled with a stubborn dark cloud, for superiority in the skies, a stubborn dark cancer struck a final mortal blow. Death is so final, it is unbelievable,” he wrote.
The MP went on to add a bible verse before describing the surreal pain of losing a loved one.
“Grief pierces to the core. :…” he wrote.
The Lion has rested.
Dark, dark hour.
As the 3 o’clock late afternoon sun battled with a stubborn dark cloud, for superiority in the skies, a stubborn dark cancer struck a final mortal blow. Death is so final, it is unbelievable.
Grief pierces to the core.
𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝟷𝟹:𝟹𝟼 pic.twitter.com/N8ddeAAZjr
— John Kj Kiarie (@KiarieJohn) May 10, 2023
While sharing the news, KJ attached a black and white photo of his father in his younger days.
Kiarie’s father, David Waweru Ng’ethe, was also a legislator himself and was a former MP for Kandara Constituency in Murang’a.
Mr Ng’ethe joined politics in 1981 after the court nullified the victory of the late George Ndung’u Mwicigi.
He would serve until 1983 when he was ousted by his political nemesis Mwicigi.
An astute politician, Ng’ethe would become the fourth MP for Kandara since it was established in 1963.
Ng’ethe would inherit the same constituency that was first represented by famed freedom fighter, Mau Mau veteran Bildad Kaggia.
In the 1997 General Elections, under the Chama Cha Umma Party, Ng’ethe would take a shot at the Presidency but went on to emerge last in a crowded field of 15 candidates.
In 2002, the indefatigable politician was at it yet again but still managed to perform rather dismally in a tightly-contested race.
And again, in the controversial 2007 elections, Ng’ethe threw his hat in the ring. This time, he only managed to defeat ex-soldier Nixon Kukubo.
While speaking in a past interview, KJ described his father as a tough disciplinarian who always believed in the age-old biblical adage, ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’.
“He never allowed us to visit or get visited by other kids. We got a beating that came with a teaching. He would quote a verse from the Bible to justify his punishment” KJ narrated in a past interview.
