NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 1 – Former powerful Cabinet Minister Simeon Nyachae, 88, is dead, his family has confirmed.
Nyachae died on Monday morning after ailing for some time.
“Mzee has rested after a long illness,” his son Charles Nyachae told journalists outside the Lee Funeral Home where he was flanked by family members and Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi.
He passed on at the Nairobi Hospital where he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit after his health deteriorated.
“We thank God for mzee’s life and we appreciate Nairobi hospital and doctors who have been looking after the mzee,” Charles said.
Matiangi mourned with the family and described Nyachae’s death as a “sad day for all of us”.
The cause of his death was not immediately confirmed but he was diagnosed with prostate cancer several years ago.
Nyachae, who served in the governments of founding President Jomo Kenyatta, retired President, the late, Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki will be remembered for reforms in various sectors when he served in its portfolios.
At the tail end of his career, Nyachae served as the Head of the Public Service in which he is remembered for various far-reaching reforms due to his strictness.