President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has hailed departed former Kenyan leader Daniel Arap Moi as having done a good diagnostic job to the country, which explains the stability the nation has been undergoing for quite a long time.
Museveni on Tuesday joined fellow EAC heads of State to salute and pay their last respect to Moi who died at the age of 95, last week.
Moi, had been ailing for quite sometime and would be in and out of hospital.
He ruled Kenya for 24 years and as member of KANU party he took office following the death of the then president Jomo Kenyatta on the same day.
He was sworn as interim president for 90 days during which the country was to prepare for a presidential election to be held on 8 November. Moi won reelection in 1988, 1992 and 1997, defeating Mwai Kibaki in the latter two elections.
He was succeeded by Mwai Kibaki in 2002.
In a ceremony held at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi, Museveni hailed Moi’s leadership which greatly influenced the stability of Kenya and EAC as a whole.
“In Africa, leaders are like doctors. You must properly diagnose what ails your country lest it stays in perpetual trouble. Presidents Moi and Jomo Kenyatta did a good diagnostic job, explaining why Kenya has been stable.
This is exemplified in Moi’s decision in 1964 to fold his KADU party and join KANU. This was patriotic and set a base for unity for Kenya and its sustained peace and stability,” Museveni said.
Adding that president Moi was a true East African.
“He did not only work for the political and economic integration of the region but had a real emotional attachment to it. On several occasions he asked me to let him visit places in Uganda that he felt attached to.
I also remember him as a very conciliatory person. In 1987, when some troublemakers misled him to close the border with Uganda, he was open to talks. We met in Teso, Kenya, resolve the issues and worked closely.
On my own behalf and that of Ugandans, I therefore send my condolences to President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Moi family, Kenya and the region upon loss of this icon. May his soul rest in peace.”
He will be laid to rest on Wednesday at his native home in Kabarak, Nakuru County