Michael Wamalwa Kijana
Encyclopedia
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
's Vice-President
Vice-President of Kenya
The Vice-President of Kenya is the second-highest executive official in the Kenyan government.-List of Vice-Presidents of Kenya:*Jaramogi Oginga Odinga *Joseph Zuzarte Murumbi *Daniel arap Moi...
.
Early life
Michael Christopher Wamalwa Kijana was born in Sosio, a village near KimililiKimilili
Kimilili is a town and area in Kenya's Bungoma District. The area is occupied mainly by the Bukusu and Sabaot communities. Its proximity to the fertile slopes of Mt Elgon, on the Kenya-Uganda border, has made it a trading center for agricultural goods and services...
in Kenya's Bungoma district
Bungoma District
Bungoma District is a district in the Western Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Bungoma. It has a population of 876,491 and an area of 2,069 km².The economy of Bungoma district is mainly agricultural, centering on the sugar cane and maize industries...
. Wamalwa was the son of an influential MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, William Wamalwa. He went on to become head boy and the best debater at his secondary school, Strathmore School
Strathmore School
Strathmore School is Kenya's first multi-racial school established in 1961 in the Lavington area of Nairobi district. It began as a residential Sixth Form College offering British-styled A-level courses and in 1963 switched from the Cambridge School Certificate Examination to the London GCE. In...
, won a national essay competition and represented Kenya at a UN student forum. In 1965, he was awarded a commonwealth scholarship to study law at King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, graduating in 1968 before going on to the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
in 1970.
He returned to Kenya that same year, and taught law at the University of Nairobi
University of Nairobi
The University of Nairobi is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: Makerere University in...
. Some of the students he taught there were to become his political allies and opponents later on. During this period, he also ran the family farms in the Kitale
Kitale
Kitale is an agricultural town in western Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherengani Hills at an elevation of around . Its urban population was estimated at 220,000 in 2007....
area, as well as holding several prominent government positions, including general manager of the Kenya Stone Mining Company and director of the Kenya-Japan Association.
Politics
Wamalwa's first foray into politics came in Kenya's 1974 parliamentary electionElection
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
. Just 30, his opponents painted him as too young and from too wealthy a background to effectively represent his constituency. His campaign was flashy: it included the use of an aircraft and extravagant public rallies. He finally won a seat in 1979, as a protege of Masinde Muliro
Masinde Muliro
Masinde Muliro was a Kenyan politician, one of the central figures in the shaping of the political landscape in Kenya. A renowned freedom fighter, he campaigned for the restoration of multi-party democracy in Kenya in his later years....
.
In the run-up to the first multy-party
Multi-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...
elections in post-independence Kenya, in 1992, Wamalwa identified with the Ford Kenya
Ford-Kenya political party
FORD–Kenya is a Kenyan political party and was part of the ruling NARC coalition that ended forty years of KANU rule in Kenya...
faction of the FORD opposition movement. He was elected MP for Saboti Constituency
Saboti Constituency
Saboti Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of three constituencies in Trans-Nzoia District. The constituency was established for the 1988 elections....
, as well as First Vice Chairman of his party. In January 1994, he became chairman of Ford Kenya
Ford-Kenya political party
FORD–Kenya is a Kenyan political party and was part of the ruling NARC coalition that ended forty years of KANU rule in Kenya...
following the death of Oginga Odinga. Wamalwa went on to contest the 1997 Kenyan elections as a leader of the opposition, but he fared badly and came only fourth in the nationwide tally of votes.
Political life
Alongside Tom MboyaTom Mboya
Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya was a prominent Kenyan politician during Jomo Kenyatta's government. He was founder of the Nairobi People's Congress Party, a key figure in the formation of the Kenya African National Union , and the Minister of Economic Planning and Development at the time of his death...
, Ronald Ngala
Ronald Ngala
Ronald Gideon Ngala was a Kenyan politician and statesman who was the leader of the Kenya African Democratic Union political party from its creation in 1960 until its dissolution in 1964.-Early Career:...
and P. L. O. Lumumba, he was a gifted Kenyan orator.
He sacrificed his riches to assist the poor and needy by paying school fees and assisting in raising standards of living for the poor. He started the Touch Africa foundation with a view toward empowering youths, the poor, and the needy to realize their dreams.
He was a member of Parliament (MP) for Saboti Constituency
Saboti Constituency
Saboti Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of three constituencies in Trans-Nzoia District. The constituency was established for the 1988 elections....
, in Trans-Nzoia District, Rift Valley Province. His home town was Kitale
Kitale
Kitale is an agricultural town in western Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherengani Hills at an elevation of around . Its urban population was estimated at 220,000 in 2007....
.
Perhaps uniquely in Kenyan history, he managed to secure votes without tribal/ethnic chauvinism.
He was thought of as an automatic successor of President Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...
.
2002 Elections
In the run-up to the 2002 elections, Wamalwa formed a political alliance with Mwai KibakiMwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...
and Charity Ngilu
Charity Ngilu
Charity Kaluki Ngilu is a Kenyan politician. She was Minister of Health from 2003 until 2007 and was appointed as Minister of Water and Irrigation in April 2008....
to come up with a winning side. Later Kalonzo Musyoka
Kalonzo Musyoka
Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as Vice President of Kenya. Musyoka served in the government under President Daniel arap Moi and was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1993 until 1998; subsequently, under President Mwai Kibaki, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs...
and Raila Odinga
Raila Odinga
Raila Amollo Odinga , also popularly known to Kenyans as Agwambo, is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Kenya in a coalition government. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Langata since 1992, was Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads,...
, having realised their side KANU
Kenya African National Union
The Kenya African National Union, better known as KANU is a political party which ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years after its independence from British colonial rule in 1963, until its electoral loss at the end of 2002...
was going to lose, jumped ship to take advantage of the situation and the people, to present a unified challenge to then-president Daniel arap Moi
Daniel arap Moi
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002.Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'...
's Kenya African National Union
Kenya African National Union
The Kenya African National Union, better known as KANU is a political party which ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years after its independence from British colonial rule in 1963, until its electoral loss at the end of 2002...
(KANU) party. The coalition was called the National Rainbow Coalition
National Rainbow Coalition
The National Rainbow Coalition was a coalition of Kenyan political parties in power from 2002 and 2005 when it fell apart in a controversy between its wings about a constitutional referendum.-Formation:...
(NARC), and it won a landslide victory in the elections, with Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...
as President. Wamalwa was appointed vice-president.
Failing health
In late 2002, during the election campaign, Mwai Kibaki was seriously injured in a car accident and was flown to London for treatment. There he was visited by Wamalwa, who also fell ill and had to be treated, supposedly for kidney problems. This was apparently the forerunner of further illness because he was taken ill again in mid 2003 and was once again treated in London. He briefly recovered, and returned to Kenya to marry Yvonne Nambia, in a sumptuous ceremony; it was said that he proposed in Shakespearean English, and arrived at church in a vintage Ford, wearing a morning coat.
Royal Free Hospital
The Royal Free Hospital is a major teaching hospital in Hampstead, London, England and part of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust....
for another check-up - leading to widespread speculation that his health was worse than doctors had been letting on.
He was never to recover. He died on the morning of 23 August 2003, and was later given a state burial at his farm in Kitale
Kitale
Kitale is an agricultural town in western Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherengani Hills at an elevation of around . Its urban population was estimated at 220,000 in 2007....
.