NAKURU: A sombre mood engulfed Kabarak in Nakuru County where hundreds of mourners joined former President Daniel Moi’s family in bidding farewell to his departed grandson Kiprono Ruto.
Kiprono, 16, who died at Millwall Hospital in South Africa after a brief battle with brain cancer, was the last born son to Mr and Mrs Raymond Moi. Raymond is the MP for Rongai Constituency.
He was a grade 10 student at Rosslyn Academy, a Christian International School in Nairobi. Kiprono, a staunch Christian, has been undergoing treatment for the past five months before his demise on July 13.
Despite the grief, words of encouragement and hope filled the air.
The former President said Kiprono embraced Christianity at tender age and even preached the gospel to patients while undergoing treatment in India and South Africa.
“I know he was a born-again boy who longed to go to church every Sunday morning to pray. What pleases me most is even when he was a patient in South Africa he preached to other patients almost every day to get better. Some got better and left the hospital but he continued preaching,” said President Moi.
He described his grandson as an amazing teenager who put God first, saying the fact that Kiprono knew and accepted Jesus Christ has left him assured that he would have everlasting life.
The requiem mass was conducted at the Kabarak University Graduation Square by the African Inland Church (AIC) presiding Bishop Silas Yego. Kiprono was later laid to rest in his father’s Ol Rongai farm in Rongai Constituency.
Yego noted that losing a child is painful but urged the parents to be encouraged because Kiprono had committed his life to serving God at an early age.
Among dignitaries who attended the ceremony were Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua and his Trans Nzoia counterpart Patrick Khaemba, Senator Zipporah Kittony, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso, Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat, MPs Kimani Ngunjiri, Jacob Macharia, Grace Kiptanui, Victor Munyaka, Chris Wamalwa, Hellen Sambili and Naomi Shaban.
Others were Nakuru Deputy Governor Joseph Rono, MPs Mary Mbugua, Alfred Keter, Asman Kamama and Ziporah Kiring as well as former Cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott, Cyrus Jirongo and Paul Sang.
In a moving tribute, Moi challenged the youth to embrace Christianity, saying this was the best way to a sure future.
“Like Kiprono those who have received Jesus know where they will go after they die,” he said.
Moi said embracing Christianity and serving God at an early age was important not only for the youth but all those who believed in the afterlife.
President Uhuru Kenyatta in a message of condolence read by Baringo Senator Gideon Moi said he was saddened by the death of the Kiprono who he described as brilliant person who loved God’s word and had a passion for football.
“His sudden and untimely death is a great loss to the country because he was a brilliant young man with a promising future,” said the President.
In his condolence message, Gideon described his nephew as an amazing teenager, saying the family had suffered a great loss. He said there is nothing much anyone can do to ease the burden of grief they faced on learning of his death.
“For those who knew Kiprono to call him kind, charming and personable young man is an understatement. He was a person wise beyond his 16 years. He made a real impression on me personally because despite being so young he had quickly grasped what is important in life and that is leading a spiritual existence,” said Gideon.
The senator said that so deep was Kiprono’s Christian faith that he was referred to as priest or bishop at home and by his close friends.
“However small the iron it can still sustain the fire. Kipruto was young when God decided to use him in his work. Despite his young age, he touched many lives both in South Africa and India and his contemporaries through understanding of God’s purpose in his life. He served his purpose and it is a challenge to all of us never to forget God’s purpose for us,” said Gideon.
Judy Birir, who spoke on behalf of the late Kiprono’s mother, said Kiprono was always the baby in the family and a model child that each and every parent would want to have.
“He was a prayerful and God fearing child who established a prayer centre at his school and back in Rongai,” she said.
Major Fred Serem who read a tribute from the deceased’s maternal family described the late Kiprono as joyful, wonderful and an amazing child.
Governors, senators and MPs who attended the requiem mass at the Kabarak University Graduation Square similarly paid a glowing tribute to Kiprono.
Mbugua said it was painful for a parent to lose a child and prayed to God to console the family saying the deceased was a very young person with a promising future.
