Cross posted on Mentalacrobatics
These past few days Kenyan newspapers and news stations have been dominated with the news of the end of Dr.Wanjiru Kihoro’s brave battle from coma which she has been fighting since January, 24 2003. Dr. Kihoro went into a coma following the Busia plane crash in which three people were killed. She had accompanied a high-profile government delegation to Funyula to celebrate Vice-President Moody Awori’s election victory. The end came at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, at 10pm on Thursday.
Dr. Kihoro was a true patriot, a strong daughter of Kenya, highly principled in an age where people’s convictions change with the direction of the wind.
In Kenya, where she took on the Moi regime on human rights abuses when most were to scared to speak out, she showed patriotism and courage. Refusing to be broken by the arrest and detention of her husband, Wanyiri Kihoro, and colleagues by Moi’s notorious security forces, she showed patriotism and courage. As the founder and director of ABANTU for Development, an international development agency, Dr. Kihoro’s vision, inspiration and direction touched and changed the lives of many.
Forced into exile after detention, the Kihoro’s London house came to be known as the true home of Kenyans in the UK. For many years, it was the first point of contact for many Kenyans in the UK before the embassy. These past few days I have heard story after story from a wide range of people all saying how warmly they were welcomed into the Kihoro’s London home, how they were feed enthusiastically. The Kihoro home was a place where they could sit and debate the issues of the day openly and honestly. A warm meal, a place to sleep and the kinship of country(wo)men. Today many gratefully remember that welcome.
Closer to home, here on the Kenyan Blogs Webring, the pain is real and more personal for some. Kui has lost her mother, Mshairi, Uaridi, Nyakehu have lost their elder sister. A highly dedicated, extremely warm and strongly united family. My thoughts and prayers are with them. Together we will create a space online where we and you, if you so wish, can pay tribute to Dr. Kihoro, share your stories of your time with Kihoro family. This space will be announced soon.
Dr Wanjiru Kihoro, wife, mother, sister, daughter, economist, activist, feminist, patriot, visionary, leader, friend. An inspiration and example for all Kenyans.
Daudi
On the behalf of the Kenyan Blogs Webring Admin Team
[...] Cross posted on KenyaUnlimited [...]
Rest In Peace.
Ni huzuni kubwa. Ni sehemu ya maisha.
Nawatakia Mshairi, Kui, Uaridi, na Nyakehu nguvu na uzima katika kipindi hiki.
Deepest condolences. I knew Dr Kihoro when I worked for the BBC World Service in London. A truly great woman, and a great loss.
Peace.
Deepest condolences and May God give you strength to go on from here. He gives and Takes all praise to him.
My condolences and prayers
A poem for Dr. Wanjiru Kihoro
She Never Begun………
When others thought that freedom had finally come,
Wanjiru rejected the neo-colonial yard sticks for success
and instead
decided to climb rungs constructed
by independence visionaries symbolized by
mau mau,
Mekatilili wa Menza,
Dini ya Msambwa, Muthoni Nyanjiru
among others………….
When others were dancing to the song of betrayal
uhuru na kazi,
she stuck with the mau mau’s
“uhuru na mashamba”……….
When others sought
Election through sycophancy….
Wanjiru re-inforced Chelagat Mutai,
Bildad Kaggia,
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Seroney and JM Kariuki
In the struggle for a people’s democracy…
When others struggled to win jobs
As educated intellectuals in
The Neo-colonial hierarchies
Wanjiru opted for the non-paying,
risky job of educating and organizing
Progressive forces for the fight against dictatorship.
When others chose to acquire land and posh homes through unpatriotic
loyalties,
She fought for the release of patriots from prison
She trained fighters for the recognition of slum dwellers
And squatters’ right to the space they occupied.
Do you remember the mothers at the freedom corner?
Because of her firm belief in a beginning for all
By all
And for the benefit of all
A PHD holding economist,
A teacher, a worker, and a political leader.
Dr. Wanjiru Kihoro
NEVER began
A sad event. Tragic. May the Good Lord grant her the peace that passeth all human understanding. Rest my sister. I shall always remember you on those BBC African Service Quiz programmes for your knowlege and witty remarks as well as your down-to-earth approach to the issues of life.