Former Kuria East MP and Kanu national vice-chairman Shadrack Rodgers Manga is dead.
Manga died aged 81 years on Thursday after suffering from cardiac arrest at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, his son Andrew Manga told the Star on phone.
“He got sick on Wednesday when he collapsed at our Nairobi home and was rushed to Aga Khan hospital for treatment where he has been in a coma since then,” he said.
Manga said his father’s body is still at Aga Khan.
Gordon Ogola, former Migori speaker and Kanu administrative and legal affairs officers at the board mourned Manga as a gallant soldier who was loyal to the party.
“The Kanu fraternity is mourning Manga for serving the party diligently in Nyanza region, nationally and the parliament. He left an inedible mark on residents, especially in the education sector. Most elites in Migori and Kuria passed through him,” Ogolla said.
He said his wisdom and advice helped shape many political careers in the county and nationally.
Manga, a soft-spoken man was respected in the Kuria community and Migori county and was first elected in parliament to serve the Kuria constituency on a Kanu ticket in the 1992 first multi-party elections.
He was re-elected on Kanu ticket in the 1997 general elections and his stance and loyalty with the Kanu party at the onslaught opposition from Nyanza saw him hold several party positions with the last being the national Vice-Chairman.
In the 2002 general election, he was unseated by Wilfred Machage on the Democratic Party ticket, only to bounce back in the 2013 general election with the onset of devolution when Kuria constituency was divided into Kuria East and Kuria West.
However, because of poor health, Manga stepped down from active politics and relinquished his seat to Kuria East MP Marwa Kitayama whom he endorsed.
Manga’s loyalty to Kanu saw his serve under Moi, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Baringo Senator Gideon Moi and even when Kenyatta left he refused to leave the party.
In 2013, Manga was chosen by the Kuria community to spearhead the negotiated democracy with the majority Luo community and when ODM leader Raila Odinga offered him a chance to change parties he refused.
“Kanu is the mother and the father of all parties in Kenya, I will never leave Kanu. On that front I will step aside as the chairman of the negotiated democracy team out of respect for Kanu,” Manga told reporters then.
President Uhuru Kenyatta through a tweet said Kenya has lost a progressive leader who exemplified the true meaning of service to mankind.
“Kenyans especially Kuria residents will forever cherish his contribution to the social-economic development of the region,” Kenyatta said.
He termed him a consummate debater who enriched the country’s legislative agenda.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
