Kenyans pour praise on First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for championing noble cause at marathon

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta

By LONAH KIBET

NAIROBI: Kenyans praised First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for her participation in the London Marathon to raise funds to improve access to maternal health care in the country’s 47 counties.

Mrs Zahra Moi was among other proud Kenyans who congratulated Mrs Kenyatta, who finished the gruelling 42km London Marathon course on Sunday.

“I am overwhelmed with joy and pride at Your Excellency’s completion of the London Marathon. It is humbling to see the hard work you put into making a difference in maternal health care. My congratulations to you and the whole team that participated,” said Zahra, who is Baringo Senator Gideon Moi’s wife.

She added that the First Lady’s actions should act as a challenge and a motivation to many other Kenyans and leaders striving to make a difference.

“The rest of us are now challenged to the core… Thank you Lady Margaret for winning our trust; in your gentle spirit, we see strength, determination and humility. May God bless you,” said Zahra.

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The First Lady finished the race in 07:05:28 hours where she was met at the finish line by jubilant fans and family members led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta.

The funds raised will go towards acquiring mobile clinics for maternal health care as well as prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in all the counties.

Zahra also praised Edna Kiplagat and Wilson Kipsang for emerging top in the women’s and men’s marathon, and thereby flying the Kenyan flag high.

Sunday’s development in London created a buzz on social media. “Well done Kenya’s First Lady. It’s good to see your husband is doing an excellent job for Kenya, and you as First Lady,” read one comment by Standard Digital site (www.standardmedia.co.ke) user Nomadiambo.

“Well done Madam, may God bless you for thinking of the children of Kenya,” said another comment by user Wamusie.

“God bless you Madam and Kenyans will be happy when our mothers, sisters and wives will not die giving birth due to preventable causes,” said Omundu Omundo on the same platform.

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Said J Gatihi: “This is time to celebrate the hard work from the First Lady. But again, for us Kenyans to succeed, corruption has to come to an end, it’s our biggest problem.”

Grace Jensen, another Standard Digital user, said: “Congratulations Maggie. I cannot get enough reading about you. You make me a proud Kenyan, and thank you for this.”

It is in true Kenyan fashion that last-minute fans of Mrs Kenyatta’s efforts emerged from churches, bars, hair salons, libraries and kitchens to cheer on one of their own. It is a disease that Kenyans have learned to live with – temporary insanity – before we all went back to our daily hustle and bustle.

“People were excited and they expressed it on our social media platforms. We updated when she finished the race, there were many congratulatory messages from people thanking her for her efforts in helping women and children access healthcare,” said Charles Sidney Odero, of the GameYetu/Sports platform on Standard Digital.