Nairobi
By Seliphar Musungu
Former Cabinet Minister Simeon Nyachae has died aged 88.
According to his eldest son Charles Nyachae, his father died while receiving treatment at the Nairobi Hospital.
“Our father rested an hour ago and we thank God for the days he gave him on this earth,” said Mr. Charles.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i said it was a very sad day for the country for losing such a person.
He was born on February 6, 1932 in Nyaribari, Kisii County to a powerful colonial chief: Musa Nyandusi.
Nyachae went to Nyanchwa Seventh-day Adventist School in 1941 and joined Kereri Intermediate School six years later.
In 1949, he was admitted to Kisii Government African School where he completed his A levels.
He then joined South Devon Technical College & Churchill College, Cambridge for his higher education.
In 1954, he was employed at his father’s chief’s camp as a district clerk and six years later posted as a District Officer in Kangundo Division and in 1963, he was appointed District Commissioner and he would later move up the ranks to Provincial Commissioner, a position he served in from 1965 to 1979.
Nyachae was then appointed as Head of Civil Service & Secretary to the Cabinet in 1979 and served in this capacity until 1987.
His political career began after that but in 1988, the Kanu Governing Council barred him from vying as MP.
It was not until 1992 that he was voted in as MP for Nyaribari Chache Constituency and it was in the same year that he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock & Marketing.
Seven years later, he was appointed as Finance Minister but quit Government a year later after being demoted to the Industry Ministry.
In 2002, he unsuccessfully vied for the Presidency under a Ford-Kenya party ticket.
In 2016, he was flown to South Africa after he reportedly suffered a stroke.
He had been admitted to the Nairobi Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit but was flown out for specialized treatment.
Nyachae served as Nyaribari Chache MP from 1992 until his appointment to the Cabinet as Agriculture Minister before he was moved to the Finance docket.
The fiery politician would later announce his resignation from the Cabinet in 1999 after a fall out with the late former President Daniel Moi.
Reuters reports that Nyachae rejected his new portfolio as Industrial Development Minister saying he had stepped on toes of ‘untouchables’ in the Moi government where corruption was said to be rampant.
Ends
