The greatest legacy one can pass on to their children is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith, as Billy Graham said.
Retired President Daniel Moi goes down in Kenyan history and historiography as the founder and patron of major schools in Kenya which include Moi University, Moi Educational Centre, Kabarak High School and Sunshine Secondary Schools and Sacho Primary and Secondary schools among others.
A Kenyan statesman and politician who was the second and longest-serving President from 1978 to 2002, Moi succeeded President Jomo Kenyatta when he died in 1978. Moi was the first Kenyan head of state to retire from office. His philosophy and tenets stood on peace, love and unity based on the Biblical fruits of the Holy Spirit.
He remarked, “siasa mbaya ni maisha mabaya na siasa komavu ni maisha bora,” translated loosely to mean “dirty politics leads to bad life, but cohesive politics to leads to quality lives”. As the pro-government Sunday Times paper read, “Moi may not have studied politics at anyone’s university, but he has proved himself a real Professor of politics in the practical sense as he allowed multipartism in Kenya in the 1990s”.
Moi who sought forgiveness from his critics and foes alike “if he wronged them”. He goes down as an education revolutionist who overturned the 7-4-2-3 education system that was faulted for its lack of capacity and flexibility to respond to the changing aspirations of individual Kenyans and the labour market needs.
As millions of Kenyans pay their last respects to Moi, the most ideal ways to show respect is to uphold his tenets of peace, love and national integration.
Linguistic and History graduate
