President Sahle-Work in Nairobi to Attend Kibaki Funeral

ADDIS ABABA – President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde is in Nairobi to attend funeral of the former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Tourism, Amina Mohammed welcomed the president upon her arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Thursday.

Kibaki, who died on Friday last week, served as the third President of Kenya from 2002 to 2013.

During the final years of his presidency, Sahle-Work served as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON).

The President of Ethiopia, in her condolence message, said Kibaki’s “support to me as the first DG-UNON was critical.”

She also expressed her “heartfelt condolences to my brother President Uhuru Kenyatta, the government and the brotherly people of Kenya”.

Kenya is currently observing a mourning period with flags flying at half-mast.

Apart from Sahle-Work, several African leaders including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, are in Nairobi to pay their last respects to the late President at his State funeral in the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on Friday.

Kibaki, who died at the age of 90, will be laid to rest on Saturday at his home in Othaya, Nyeri County.

He will be remembered for spearheading free primary education, infrastructure developments in transport and energy, and increasing the availability of and access to healthcare, as per reports of Kenyan media outlets.

 

Featured Image Caption: The funeral cortège of former President Emilio Mwai Kibaki driving through Nairobi roads on Monday, [Photo State House Kenya]