Kenyan opposition leader and former Justice Minister Martha Karua has announced the death of her father, Mwalimu Jackson Karua.
Karua said she had visited her father in Kirinyaga earlier on Sunday alongside her siblings, where they spent time with him and sang his favourite gospel hymn.
She said she was on her way back to Nairobi when she received news that her father had died.
“My siblings and I spent time with him and sang his favourite gospel hymn, never knowing it would be our last song together,” Karua said.
Describing her father as one of her strongest supporters, Karua said he believed in her from her school days through her legal career and public life.
“My father believed in me long before I had achieved anything worth celebrating,” she said. Karua described Mwalimu Jackson Karua as a principled teacher who valued character, education and doing what was right.
She said his death was a profound loss to his children, grandchildren and the wider family, as well as to the many people whose lives he touched. “I will miss his voice, his counsel, his encouragement, and the quiet reassurance of knowing that he was there,” Karua said.
She concluded her tribute by thanking her father for his love, support and belief in her. “I am deeply grateful to have been your daughter,” she said.
Karua signed off her message with the words, “Huruka thayu, baba,” saying her father would be deeply missed, dearly loved and forever remembered.