State officials tour Kabarak as Moi funeral plans in top gear

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i (second left) and Chief Of Defence Forces General Samson Mwathethe (third left) inspect the burial site of the late former President Moi at his Kabarak home in Nakuru County, yesterday. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Preparations for the interment of the late former President Daniel Moi who died on Tuesday are in top gear at his Kabarak home in Nakuru County.

Senior government officials in the State funeral committee, including Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, Chief of Defence Forces General Samson Mwathethe, Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua and Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai, visited the home yesterday.

The officials held a meeting with members of the Moi family on the preparations and inspected the site where the former President will be laid to rest.

Addressing the Press at Kabarak University, Dr Matiang’i said all was set with military and the police preparations in top gear ahead of the burial slated for Wednesday next week.

“We are satisfied that almost everything is set at the home where the second President will be interred. The preparations deadline will be tomorrow (Saturday) evening and there will be another inspection on Monday,” said the CS.

Moi’s body will lie in-state at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi from today to Monday for public viewing between 8am and 5pm every day.

A national memorial service will be held at Nyayo Stadium on Tuesday followed by the final rites at his Kabarak home on Wednesday. The CS explained that the final funeral service will be conducted at Moi’s home in Kabarak on Wednesday attended by a limited number of people and televised on screens that will be set up in four locations for the public. The Kabarak funeral service is expected to be attended by up to 1,200 people among them family members, the President, senior government officials, foreign heads of state and ambassadors.

“We shall have four screens on which the funeral service shall be projected. One screen shall be at Afraha Stadium where a localised service shall be conducted before the Kabarak service begins. Other screens shall be at Sacho and Kabarnet in Baringo. The family will decide where the fourth screen will be put,” said Matiang’i.

Full honours

He added that they were under strict instructions from President Uhuru Kenyatta to ensure the former President is accorded full military honours.

“The President gave firm instructions that it shall be done in accordance to the Kenya Defence Forces traditions. He shall receive a 19 gun salute before he is buried,” said Matiang’i.

Moi will laid to rest next to his wife Lena who died in 2004.

With the high number of people expected to attend the funeral service in Nairobi, Nakuru and Baringo, Matiang’i said the event is likely to disrupt the flow of traffic but more officers will be deployed for effective controll.

“The Inspector General of Police shall issue a comprehensive statement on the routes where traffic shall be diverted. This will affect Nairobi, Nakuru and the Nakuru-Eldoret highway,” he said.

Matiang’i assured journalists of access to the venues but requested them to uphold ethics and respect the Moi family. “No journalist will be barred from covering the event. However, there are certain areas that require privacy. We need to tolerate each other. Where we will feel that there is need for a measure of privacy, we will communicate,” he said.

Kabarak University Vice Chancellor Henry Kiplagat eulogised Moi as a defender of the weak and a committed educationists who left a mark in every sector of the country.

“He touched many lives in Kenya. He was a committed Christian. He cared so much for the vulnerable. I was greatly touched by his legacy. There is no single individual who shares such a legacy,” said Kiplagat.