Kenneth Stanley Njindo Matiba
Honorific suffixHon
OfficeLeader of Opposition
Term start1992
Term end1997
PresidentDaniel arap Moi
Office 1Member of Parliament for Kiharu
Term start 11992
Term end 11997
President 1Daniel arap Moi
Office 2Minister of Transport and Communications
Term start 21983
Term end 2December 1988
President 2Daniel arap Moi
Office 3Minister of Health
Term start 31983
Term end 31988
President 3Daniel arap Moi
Office 4Minister of Culture and Social Services
Term start 41983
Term end 41988
President 4Daniel arap Moi
Office 5Member of Parliament for Mbiri
Term start 51979
Term end 51990
President 5Daniel arap Moi
Office 6Chairman of the Kenya Football Federation
Term start 61974
Term end 61978
President 6Jomo Kenyatta
Office 7Permanent Secretary for Commerce
Term start 71964
Term end 71968
President 7Jomo Kenyatta
Birth date1 June 1932[1]
Birth placeMurang'a, Kenya
Death date15 April 2018 (aged 85)
PartySaba Saba Asili
SpouseEdith Matiba
Alma materMakerere University (BA in Sociology, Geography and History.)[2]

Kenneth Stanley Njindo Matiba (1 June 1932 – 15 April 2018) was a Kenyan politician and an activist for democracy who came in at second place in the 1992 presidential election. In November 2007, he announced that he would stand as a presidential candidate in the December 2007 election,[3] where he was placed seventh, with 8,046 votes.

Early career

Matiba became a senior civil servant at age 31. Before Kenya attained its independence in December 1963, he became the first indigenous African Permanent Secretary for Education (in May of that year).[4] Matiba was mentored by Carey Francis, headmaster of Alliance High School, who lobbied for his promotion to permanent secretary. In 1964, Matiba was appointed Permanent Secretary for Commerce under Minister Mwai Kibaki.[4]

Matiba continued to succeed during the post-colonial period, helped by his connection to the Kiambu family of Musa Gitau, one of the first Africans to become a minister in the Kenyan Presbyterian Church (Matiba is Gitau's son-in-law). Gitau also influenced Jomo Kenyatta, having taught him at the PCEA Center, Thogoto, Kikuyu. In the patron-client reward system established by Kenyatta after independence, such connections were important to success in the public and private sectors. Matiba later left his civil-service career for one in the hospitality industry, establishing the Alliance Group of Hostels based on the South Coast. He also invested in exclusive private schools, including Hillcrest Preparatory (founded by Frank Thompson) and Hillcrest Secondary School.

Matiba was chairman of the Kenya Football Federation from 1974 to 1978, and was elected to the Kenyan Parliament in the 1983 general elections from the Mbiri Constituency (later renamed Kiharu) in the Muranga District.[5] He served as Minister of Transport and Communications under the KANU administration led by President Daniel arap Moi, resigning in December 1988.

Political activism

At Moi's behest, Matiba was held without trial at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in 1990 with Charles Rubia, a member of the Kenyan Cabinet who also called for multiparty democracy.[6] While in prison Matiba was refused medication and suffered a stroke, which affected half his body and incapacitated him for some time. Later, a multiparty system was instituted and Matiba was released.

He was part of the opposition alliance forming the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD). During the December 1992 election, Matiba was the candidate representing FORD-Asili, a party he helped found in splintering from the original FORD. President Moi won the election on the KANU ticket; Matiba placed second, winning the Kiharu Constituency parliamentary seat in the concurrent parliamentary elections.[5] He boycotted the December 1997 election (citing a lack of democracy), burning his voter's card.[7] Matiba had a long-standing rivalry with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. Before the December 2002 election Matiba was leader of the minor Saba Saba Asili party, which declined to join the NARC coalition;[8] however, he did not run for the presidency or a parliamentary seat.

In his later years, Matiba was dogged by ill-health stemming from his 1990 imprisonment. His business holdings also suffered, with his hotel chain being briefly taken into administration (although he regained control) and Hillcrest School sold by administrators (a case he legally contested). Matiba regained control of the school, which he later sold to a consortium led by Fanisi.

He founded The People newspaper. It began as a weekly in 1992, becoming a daily in 1998. However, it was a drain on Matiba's finances.[9]

As of 2008, he remained chairman of Saba Saba Asili and re-registered as a voter.[10]

Personal life

In 2000 Matiba released his autobiography, Aiming High.[4] As of 2010 he lived in Riara Ridge, Rironi (near Limuru), with his wife, Edith.[11] Their son, Raymond Matiba, is a former chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board and the grangson is Richard "Astar" Njau.[12]

Matiba died on 15 April 2018 at the Karen Hospital after a long illness.[13]

References

  1. ^ New African. IC Magazines Limited. 2002. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  2. ^ Walloga, Laban (5 June 2013). "Detention saved Matiba from the sword of Kanu killers, says Edith". Nation Media Group. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. ^ The Standard, 16 November 2007: Matiba set to contest presidency
  4. ^ Daily Nation, 13 April 2003: "The Influential Young Turks of the 60s". Archived 9 January 2004 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  5. ^ Center for Multiparty Democracy: Politics and Parliamentarians in Kenya 1944–2007
  6. ^ Amnesty USA, 7 February 1991: Medical Concern: Kenneth Matiba[dead link]
  7. ^ The Standard, 26 November 2006:Anxiety over return of Kenneth Matiba
  8. ^ The Standard, 26 November 2006: Why former Kiharu MP will never forgive Kibaki
  9. ^ KENYA Press, Media, TV, Radio, Newspapers
  10. ^ Daily Nation, 29 September 2007: Anxiety grips Murang'a as Matiba gets new voter's card[dead link]
  11. ^ The Standard, 27 February 2010: He will be remembered as one of the pioneer fighters of multipartysm in Kenya and was tortured by former president Daniel Moi. Raila, visits Matiba ahead of Kigumo tour Archived 24 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Financial Post: Kenya eyes a trillion shilling market Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Otinga, Rene (15 April 2018). "Veteran politician Kenneth Matiba is dead". TUKO.co.ke. Retrieved 15 April 2018.