Kenyatta’s death caused by neglect, says ex press chief

• Njiru paints a disturbing picture of Mzee Kenyatta as too sick to govern in a close-typed five-page statement released to the press on Saturday.
• He says there was no resident physician or cardiologist at his side at the time of Kenyatta's death.
• his is probably the first time Mr Njiru is issuing a statement without Mr Moi’s authority.

Founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta died of neglect by corrupt aides, it was claimed on Saturday.

He was given poor medical attention in spite of his obviously failing health.

The sensational claims came from a man who has worked at the heart of the presidency for more than 30 years — Mr Lee Njiru, best known as former President Moi’s press secretary.

In a close-typed five-page statement released to the press on Saturday, Mr Njiru painted a disturbing picture of Mzee Kenyatta as too sick to govern.

He was unable to remember simple things or even sign his own name and on many occasions he collapsed at public functions.

Mr Njiru recounted how Mzee fainted in a toilet in Msambweni the day before he died and how his speech had become slurred and incoherent.

Mr Njiru was for two years the information officer assigned to Mzee and for 30 years has been press secretary to Mzee’s successor, Mr Moi.

His recollection of events is in sharp contrast to the information given to the public at the time of Mzee’s death on August 22, 1978.

Then, the public was informed that Mzee passed away peacefully in his sleep at State House, Mombasa. There was no mention of failing health and growing inability to govern.

Poor care

But in his book, Walking in Kenyatta Struggles, Mr Duncan Ndegwa, one-time Secretary to the Cabinet and later Governor of the Central Bank, revealed that Mzee had been ill for a time.

There was no suggestion of poor care for the ailing president in the book.

As Mzee’s official information officer, Lee Njiru was privy to the daily life of the founding president in his sunset years.

On Saturday, he said there was no resident physician or cardiologist at his side at the time of his death.

Kenya