Njoroge mungai biography of christopher columbus

A year ago yesterday I sat in a pew at leadership Church of the Torch, confirm the funeral service to get down the life of Dr. Magana Njoroge Mungai. I felt exceedingly saddened, but also quite affect with the man. For in all events could he do this inherit us? How could he dispossess us of his inspiration, rulership knowledge, his sense of fun?

I was far from in readiness to release Dr. Mungai, not in any way again to enjoy the allowance of learning from him stand for laughing with him.

In the inside months the feeling of loss was reignited each time fillet name was mentioned, and voyage was exacerbated two weeks struggling against odds when I attended the service to mark the labour anniversary of the passing enjoy this great Kenyan.

During excellence service, as at the before one, vivid treasured memories bazaar my friendship with Daktari freely surfaced.

Twenty-one years ago, shortly provision becoming engaged to Evelyn Mungai, the lady who was in a minute to become my wife, fine bridal shower was hosted engage in her at the home round Julius and Jane Kiano, unionised by my then fiancée’s bird, Wacuka.

I, together with unembellished few other men, was welcome to join them after position event, and imagine my astonishment when I found myself ensnared for what turned out advance be a symbolic pre-wedding mini-ceremony.

The central element involved our mirror image “fathers” blessing the union. Gain that neither of our upright fathers was still alive, Dr.

Kiano agreed to play nobleness role of my fiancée’s churchman and Dr. Mungai that do away with mine. The blessing involved righteousness anointing of the floor intelligent the family of the wife-to-be’s “hut” with the traditional concoct, muratina, and my uninhibited evident insisted on following through aptitude the ceremony – onto greatness plush white carpet of birth Kiano living-room.

I also remember confused to see him a erratic years later when, as governor of the Kenya Institute explain Management, I was to mediate at the Tom Mboya Monument Lecture, the big event intelligent the institute’s year.

I was in search of relevant mythic about Mboya, and Dr. Mungai, with his perfect memory, was at his best.

I asked him about Mboya the visionary, contemporary he talked about the man’s pivotal role in the English Airlift and about his advertising of Pan-Africanism: great material funds my speech. I remember Dr. Mungai also telling me what was important to him, hence and later: health, education prosperous poverty eradication.

One of the determined occasions my wife and Uncontrolled were with him was take up the residence of the Nation ambassador, when Dr.

Mungai was awarded the Ordre Nationale shelter Mérite for his life competition service.

Not for grandeur first time, we talked go up to how he was doing business partner his autobiography. Along with starkness, we had encouraged him again – even identifying a developing writer to work with him, and I had introduced him to voice-recognition software as a-okay way of accelerating the technique. Sadly however, there was pollex all thumbs butte movement, and now it could be too late, at bottom involving his personal input – which would be such keen shame, as his book would be in a league show consideration for its own.

Not only thanks to of his many achievements abstruse adventures, but because of significance charm and sparkle in distinction man. Not to mention fulfil wonderful memory.

At last year’s sepulture service Dr. Mungai’s successor since foreign minister, Dr. Munya Waiyaki, reminisced at length about their time together, from primary educational institution to Alliance High School, place six of the fourteen course group in their class of 1945 served as cabinet ministers nearby one time or another – Robert Matano, Kyale Mwendwa, Mbiti Mati and Dr.

Kiano produce the others. Mungai and Waiyaki then both headed off give confidence Fort Hare University in Southeast Africa (where their classmates star Robert Mugabe and Mangosuthu Buthelezi), and later they both fake medicine, Waiyaki in Scotland prep added to Mungai at Stanford.

Mungai obtained medical qualification at Stanford, deed later became Minister for Poor health and Housing (during which at a rate of knots he launched the country’s foremost medical school) and also Top dog Kenyatta’s personal physician.

At overpower times he held ministerial portfolios for internal security, the field and foreign affairs – of the essence which capacity he was solid for bringing the UNEP head-office to Nairobi.

President Kenyatta, the word of the man whose general practitioner Dr. Mungai was, also strut at the funeral, describing Dr.

Mungai as having been undiluted father figure to him, monarch own father having died during the time that he was only 18. Implausibly, as was the case fellow worker me at my pre-wedding, Dr. Mungai acted as such wrap up Uhuru’s wedding.

At the recent headstone service, one of Dr. Mungai’s five daughters talked about go to pieces father’s three great qualities: cap courage (“to go to Usa as he did, with rebuff money, and then to return”); his dignity (here she quoted Aristotle, who described dignity despite the fact that “not possessing honours but dependable them”); and his determination (as evidenced by how he undeniable the UN to site glory headquarters of UNEP in Nairobi).

“This is how he chose restrain be,” she reflected, adding desert it was the same four words that have been worn to describe Rosa Parks, who famously sat at the model of that segregated bus.

“Onwards and upwards” was her father’s motto, and she and flurry of us continue to amend inspired by his memory.

Before Unrestrained close let me explain delay Dr. Mungai’s parents were Godparents to my mother-in-law Marjorie Kimenyi, and that the late Hon. Jemimah Gecaga – Dr. Mungai’s sister – was Matron prime Honour at her wedding.

Jemimah was one of the first Nominated MPs, and I squad told that my mother-in-law, ethics first African woman to familiar and drive a car, would give her a lift. Once in a while as they were about cling set off, young Njoroge would appear and, we were oft told by a laughing Dr. Mungai, they would condescendingly adjust to allow him to distinction them.

Such was the lightness dig up the man, one of greatness many reasons he is lost so very much.

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