Self-made billionaire James Maina Wanjigi is dead. Wanjigi died on June 28 aged 93 while receiving treatment at The Nairobi Hospital.
The former Kamukunji Member of Parliament (MP) and long-serving Cabinet minister has been mourned as a father and a pillar of the Wanjigi family. He is the father of Jimmy Wanjigi, a businessman and politician.
He is remembered as one who made significant contributions to Kenya's political and economic landscape over his career in politics and business spanning more than 25 years.
Wanjigi joined active politics immediately after the assassination of Tom Mboya in 1969, where he succeeded him in the by-election and served as an MP for 25 years.
Notably, in 1973, he made a landmark statement in Parliament advocating for free primary education in Kenya, a vision realised three decades later when President Mwai Kibaki took over power in 2002.
In a speech he made in Parliament in June 1973 advocating for free primary school education for all, he said, “Unless you have a good education to which every child has access and that can be harnessed to enable them to reach their full potential, you cannot build a sound population and a sound nation. It is about time somebody got the message that we want free primary education. Let every child in this country be entitled to at least eight years of free primary education.”
Under President Daniel Moi's administration, he was appointed chairman of Kenya Airways in 1979 and later Minister of Tourism and Wildlife in 1983.
Wanjigi's political career was not without challenges. In 1990, he was expelled from the ruling party, KANU, for his support of multi-party politics. Undeterred, he continued his political journey in opposition.
The minister's constituency included the vast Muoroto slums. Wanjigi takes credit for initiating and developing the expansive open-air Gikomba Market in his Kamukunji Constituency, which is the largest open-air market in the East and Central Africa region.
Maina Wanjigi was born on October 7, 1931, in Wahudura village, Murang’a County. He began his education at Wahudura Primary School in 1938 and went on to Kagumo Intermediate School in Nyeri in 1943 after passing the common entrance examination.
He completed his secondary education at Alliance High School, where he served as the medical prefect. Wanjigi's academic pursuits led him to the soil conservation division of the Department of Agriculture and later to Makerere University in 1951, pursuing agriculture.
He furthered his education at Stanford University in the U.S., where he attended the Food Research Institute.
Wanjigi's professional journey was marked by a series of pioneering achievements. He became the first African director of settlement, overseeing the one million-acre scheme, and the first CEO of the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation.
His tenure saw the introduction of small-scale coffee growing in Kiharu and the establishment of the National Economic Council.
