Plan to honour JM Kariuki

• National Museums of Kenya will put up the mausoleum

A mausoleum for former MP JM Kariuki who died 37 years ago will be built at his grave to commemorate his achievements, Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced on Thursday.

At the same time, Mr Odinga has reached out to Muslims, saying, he was the right person to work with them.

This is the first time Mr Kariuki is being honoured by the State since he was assassinated at the height of his political career on March 2, 1975.

On Thursday, Mr Odinga visited the family of the former Nyandarua North MP at their Kanyamwe village farm in Gilgil District where he made the announcement.

He said the mausoleum would be put up by the National Museums of Kenya, which would also manage it.

Mr Odinga also directed Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere to ensure 24-hour security at the home of the slain politician.

The area, the PM observed, had remained insecure owing to its remote location. The home where Mr Kariuki lived with his family, will also be rehabilitated.

The house, initially owned by a Malaysian governor who built it after the Second World War, is dilapidated.

“It should be seen as a house of a hero,” Mr Odinga, who first made several stopovers in Nyandarua County as he campaigned for his presidential bid, told the residents.

He said he was looking forward to the arrest of JM’s killers.

The PM was accompanied by Cabinet ministers Henry Kosgey, Anyang’ Nyong’o, Musa Sirma and assistant minister Margaret Wanjiru.

Veteran politician Mark Mwithaga, who was the vice-chairman of JM Kariuki Probe Committee in Parliament that investigated the death of the outspoken MP, was also present.

Mr Odinga on Thursday opened Ol Kalou District Hospital, which JM built.

The hospital has never been opened by a government official, which means it has never appeared in the government records despite being the only one in Nyandarua County.

JM had built it with the help of the Russian Government in the early 1970s. But after he fell out with the government of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the hospital was neglected. It was renamed JM Kariuki Memorial Hospital yesterday.

Earlier, Mr Odinga visited the widow of Mau Mau hero Dedan Kimathi at her home in Njabini, Kinangop.

On Wednesday night, the PM hosted the Muslim faithful to a dinner to break the day’s fast at the Inter-Continental in Nairobi, where he asked them to support his presidential bid.

“The Kenyan plane is on the brink of take-off. It has already left its hangar, has already taxied and is now on the runaway. Now it only needs a pilot. This is where I’m asking you to work with me,” Mr Odinga said.