Former President of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi,
remains one of the foremost leaders of decolonization of Africa and a
founding father of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
(COMESA), according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN
Prof. Osinbajo, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari today at the
State Funeral for the late Arap Moi at Nyayo National Stadium in
Nairobi, Kenya, was among leaders who delivered tributes in honour of
the departed African leader.
According to him, “many of us in Africa will remember him in particular
for the pioneering work that he did especially with respect to regional
cooperation.”
“He was, as we have heard, very instrumental in the resuscitation of the
East African Community along with President Museveni and others. He
was also very instrumental in COMESA and even the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development, IGAD.
(IGAD is the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an
eight-country trade bloc in the Continent, composed of countries on the
Horn of Africa and the Nile Valley, including Kenya.)
Continuing, Vice President Osinbajo said “these are the precursors of
the African Continental Free Trade Agreement arrangements we are making
today and to which almost every African country has subscribed. And it
will define the future of trade and relations in Africa.”
Thanking God for the life of former President Moi, Prof. Osinbajo
added: “we believe that the Almighty God whom he served through his life
has already received him even now.”
Host President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, in his remarks regarded the
former President Moi as a peacebuilder, an educationist and nationalist.
He said Moi worked with his father, Jomo Kenyatta, to ensure the
socio-political and economic development of Kenya.
Other leaders who paid glowing tributes to the late former President,
included Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda,
among others.
Late Daniel Arap Moi was the second and longest-serving President of
Kenya, from 1978 to 2002. He died on the 4th of February, 2020 at the
age of 95.
Why Former Kenyan President Arap Moi Would Be Remembered- By VP Osinbajo
