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Raila Odinga (centre) and former National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende (left) visit ailing former minister Joseph Otiende at Avenue Hospital, Kisumu County, on February 6, 2017. PHOTO | ONDARI OGEGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Former minister Joseph Otiende passes on
Kenya’s first Education Minister Joseph Otiende is dead.
Mzee Otiende, 100, died on Wednesday morning at Avenue Hospital in Kisumu.
His son Mr Maleya Chanzu, said Mr Otiende died at 4.30am.
He had been hospitalized for two months.
The veteran politician also served as Minister for Agriculture, Culture, Health and Housing between 1963 and 1969.
Raila Odinga (centre) and former National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende (left) visit ailing former minister Joseph Otiende at Avenue Hospital, Kisumu County, on February 6, 2017. PHOTO | ONDARI OGEGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
“The old man has left us. The family will give more information later,” Mr Chanzu told Nation on Wednesday morning.
He was pioneer Education Minister in independent Kenya under the late President Jommo Kenyatta.
The deceased retired from active politics in 1969 after losing his parliamentary seat.
He schooled at Maseno in 1926 where his father served as a preacher and later joined Alliance High School.
Former minister Joseph Otiende. PHOTO | COURTESY
Several leaders, among them ODM leader Raila Odinga, ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula and former Speaker Kenneth Marende, visited him in the hospital.
According to hospital officials, his body is lying at Avenue Hospital mortuary.
Nasa leader Musalia Mudavadi condoled with the family describing him as the hero of Kenya’s independent cabinet who set the pace for Kenya’s education system.
“Mzee Otiende was a diligent elder whose advisory services were enriching and sought after widely. With his passing, Kenya has lost part of its living history,” said Mr Mudavadi.