Moi’s family members at the Lee Funeral Home where his body was preserved following his death on February 4, 2020. /CFM.
NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 8 – The final rites during the burial of retired President, Daniel arap Moi at his Kabarak home will be a private affair, according to his family.
Information Secretary Judy Munyinyi told a news briefing on Friday that the memorial services at Kabarak University and Nyayo Stadium will be open to the public and media.
Media access will, however, be restricted at Parliament buildings, where the body of Kenya’s second Head of State will lie-in-state from Saturday to Monday for public viewing.
“The Lee Funeral Home which will be on the February 11, the family has communicated to as that they do not want any media access at all. The coverage will begin from Valley Road, where the media will be free to capture and relay images of the cortege as it heads to Parliament.”
“At the Kabarak Home, when the body will be lowered into the grave, the family has asked we should not be their,” she told journalists.
President Uhuru Kenyatta jetted back in the country on Friday night, and was set to lead the nation in viewing Moi’s body on Saturday.
President Uhuru Kenyatta when he visited Moi at his Kabarak home in April 2019 to condole him following the death of his elder son Jonathan. The former president died on february 4, 2020. /PSCU-FILE.
Moi’s body will lie-in-state in Parliament until Monday for public viewing, ahead of Tuesday when memorial service will be held in his honour at the Nyayo National Stadium.
Flags in the country are flying at half-mast until Wednesday when the retired president will be buried at his Sacho rural home in Kabarnet, Baringo County.
President Uhuru Kenyatta declared a national mourning until Moi is buried, during which flags will fly at half-mast. /CFM.
There was tight security around Parliament buildings, where roads were closed, with the public only allowed to walk and form queues into the National Assembly.
A program released by the state shows that President Kenyatta will view the body at 10.30am.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho says no one will be denied a chance to view Moi’s body, and has assured of elaborate security measures throughout the exercise set for Saturday in Parliament.
“There is no invitation required,” Kibicho told journalists at Nyayo Stadium, where preparations for a memorial service was underway Friday, “all members of the public are invited to come view the body.”
Parliament has announced plans to ensure seamless movement for the thousands of members of the public who will turn up to view Moi’s body.
Kenyans will witness a spectacular military procession on Saturday when Moi’s body will be escorted to Parliament for public viewing, in an elaborate military ceremony which will be replicated during his memorial service and burial in his Kabarnet home.
Military officers at Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi where Moi’s body is preserved. /CFM.
From the Lee Funeral Home, Moi’s body will be accorded full military ceremonial honours, which include, Conveyance under escort in a Gun Carriage, accompanied by Military Musical Honours, complete with a 19 Gun-salute.
In an elaborate plan announced by Head of the Public Service Joseph Kinyua, the cortege will leave the funeral home at 08:05 am on Saturday 8 and will be conveyed to Parliament Buildings with the casket being draped in the National Flag. It will be escorted by his family members.
“After President Kenyatta, it will be the turn of the Service Commanders led by the Chief of Defence Forces General Samson Mwathethe. The Family of the departed retired President will conclude the first phase of the exercise,” said Michael Sialai, Clerk of the National Assembly, in an interview with Capital FM.
He said going by the public viewing of the late Michael Kijana Wamalwa in 2003, there is an expectation Kenyans will turn out in their thousands to pay tribute to Moi.
High ranking officials of the National Government including House Speakers, Chief Justice and judges will then follow the procession to pay their respects, paving way for Members of Parliament from both Houses.
“We are confident the plans we have in place will work, because we learnt from the 2003 experience during the public viewing of the late Michael Kijana Wamalwa,” Sialai said.
Members of the public will be expected to be allowed into Parliamentary Precincts from 2pm to pay their last respects.
“Kenyans from all walks of life will be given access to come bid farewell to their beloved leader of 24 year. We are therefore asking them to use Parliament Road, where personnel from the National Police Service, National Youth Service and Parliament’s Sergeant at Arms will be at hand to direct them,” he said.
Moi will be accorded full military ceremonial honours, which include, conveyance under escort in a gun carriage, accompanied by military musical honors, complete with a 19 gun-salute.
On Tuesday the gun carriage and state funeral procession will make its way from Parliament buildings to the Nyayo Stadium, the venue of the national memorial service where thousands of Kenyans are expected to attend.
Moi died on Tuesday at the Nairobi Hospital where he had been admitted for more than three months following a long illness, associated with old age. He was 95.
Moi’s son Gideon and Raymond said “as a family, we have accepted.”
On Thursday, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi recalled the last moments he spent with his father, who encouraged him to remain strong.
Gideon, who has been busy receiving guests at Moi’s Kabarnet Gardens home in Nairobi, said the words of encouragement from his father is the best thing that happened to him.
Moi’s son Gideon with military chief Samson Mwathethe, Interior CS Fred Matiangi and Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai at the Nairobi Hospital on Tuesday February 4, 2020 when Gideon announced the death of his father. /CFM.
“When he saw I was starting to become emotional, he told me, my son, to accept life, you must accept death. But there is also life after death,” Gideon recalled, “Be strong my son when the time comes because I am going home to my father.”
Those words, he said, “are comforting me, and I am hoping that I will have such strong faith.”
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