Moi mourns former KCB chairman and former ambassador Benjamin Kipkorir

NAIROBI: Former President Daniel Moi has sent a message of condolence to the family of former Kenya Commercial Bank Chairman Benjamin Kipkorir, who died Wednesday morning in Nairobi after an illness.

Moi said he was saddened by the loss of Kipkorir who was also Kenya’s former ambassador to the United States.

“Kipkorir made tremendous contribution to the country in all the capacities he served in and death has robbed this country of a valuable son,” Moi said.

The former President said Kipkorir, as the chairman of KCB, spearheaded the opening of the bank’s branches all over the country that spurred economic growth.

He said while he was Kenya’s ambassador to the US, Kipkorir represented the country well and promoted the bond of friendship between the two countries.

Moi also appreciated the role Kipkorir played as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi.

“One of the greatest legacies Kipkorir has left is manifest in the number of students he taught at the University of Nairobi. The students are found serving this country in various capacities all over the republic,” he said.

Moi said he knew Kipkorir since the 1950’s.

“I taught him in Tambach in the 1950’s and his death is also a personal loss of a man who served diligently whenever he was called upon,” said Moi.

Kipkorir, who was born in Elgeyo-Marakwet in 1939, also served in various Government commissions as secretary while he was a lecturer at the university. He served on several panels and bodies, notably the Armed Forces Pay and Allowance Review Board and the Presidential Working Party on the Second University and Development Bank.

African elite

He went to Alliance High School before proceeding to Makerere University College where he graduated with a BA degree and later joined Sirikwa County Council as Deputy County Clerk.

In September 1966, he proceeded to Cambridge University for his post-graduate studies, and graduated with a PhD. His thesis was titled, “Alliance High School and the Making of an African Elite in Kenya”.

He returned to Kenya in December 1969, joining the Department of History at the University College, Nairobi, first as a Special Lecturer, becoming a full Lecturer in January 1970. He rose to the rank of Senior Lecturer in the Department in 1973 and was appointed Director of the Institute of African Studies in September 1977, a post he held until September 1983 when he was appointed Chairman of Kenya Commercial Bank.

Moi prayed to God to give the bereaved family the necessary fortitude to bear the loss.