It is our Kenyan culture to give our departed loved ones a befitting send-off as a way of respecting and appreciating their lives.
The send-offs are different if the deceased was the head of state or held a national significance to the nation. Such send-offs are dubbed state funerals, and they usually incorporate military honors.
Well, very dignitaries in Kenyan have been “lucky” enough to receive a state funeral. Apart from Mwai Kibaki’s ongoing send-off, only five Kenyans have been accorded state funerals.
They are as follows (in chronological order from the first to the fifth)
Jomo Kenyatta
The founding president died on August 22, 1978, and he was the first Kenyan to be accorded a state funeral. His body lay in parliament for public viewing for ten days. The country was subjected to national mourning for one month.
Kenyans celebrated his death anniversary until 2019, when his son, the sitting president, Uhuru, decided to stop the trend.
Kijana Wamalwa
Kijana Wamalawa was the first vice president under the recently deceased President Kibaki’s regime. He died in 2003, and he was accorded a state funeral, becoming the second Kenyan to receive such an honorable rite.
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai was a woman of many firsts. She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate. In 2004, she became the first African to win the Nobel Peace Prize following her dire efforts in environmental and political activism. She sadly succumbed to cervical cancer in 2011, and the Kibaki government decided to honor her by giving her a state funeral.
Ironically, she was always at war with the administration, especially Daniel Arap Moi’s regime, due to her unapologetic criticism of governmental corruption and injustices.
Mama Lucy Kibaki
Kenya’s third first lady evolved the role of first ladies. Her predecessors were more of “flower girls” who accompanied their husbands to state functions. Under Mama Lucy, the office of the first lady started performing national tasks independently from the influence of the office of the president. Mama Lucy is known for speaking her mind fiercely, especially against the injustices of vulnerable Kenyans.
She died in 2016 and was given an elaborate state funeral.
Daniel Arap Moi
Kenya’s second president Daniel Moi died in February 2020. As a former state head, he was accorded a full military state funeral with 19 gun salutes. His body was laid in parliament for public viewing for three days as the country went into national mourning for nine days.
He was laid to rest in his home in Kabarak.
