The family of Karen Hospital Founder Dan Gikonyo is mourning the death of his mother.
The late Mama Loise Wamaitha Kibuka, 98, passed away on Sunday, May 3, at a Nairobi hospital.
She was the mother of the revered Karen Hospital founder and also served as the Maendeleo ya Wanawake leader in the 1950s.
In his condolence message, President Uhuru Kenyatta described the late Mama Wamaitha as a woman of faith who was the pillar of her family and a source of inspiration to her community.
“Mama Wamaitha was a known and highly respected community leader and a wise counsellor who was a source of encouragement and inspiration to many.
“She was a loving woman of God who highly cherished education as the foundation of success as can be seen through her children,” the president eulogised.
He also disclosed that in her role as Maendeleo ya Wanawake leader, Wamaitha championed for the social and economic empowerment of indigenous Kenyans.
“Her service to the country as a leader of Maendeleo ya Wanawake in Nyeri before our independence will be remembered for generations to come. We will also never forget her role in the growth of the Presbyterian Church both as an elder and a prominent member of the Women's Guild,” the president wrote.
The head of state assured Mama Wamaitha's family of his support and prayed to God to grant them solace and fortitude at this difficult period of mourning their beloved matriarch.
Dr Gikonyo and his wife Betty Gikonyo, in early 2020, played a pivotal role in saving Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju's life after he got involved in an accident.
Tuju, who held a press conference on Thursday, March 12, 2020, disclosed that his lungs had collapsed and doctors at the Karen Hospital had to make the life and death decision to unplug him from the life support machine so that he could go for specialised treatment in London.
“I lost about one week of my life that I have no recollection of what happened," he told journalists. I want to thank you for the great work you did to save my life.
"Dr Dan Gikonyo left his family for two weeks to join the team in London which was beyond the call of duty. He has only done that once before when President Mwai Kibaki had an accident, so that was a great privilege and I thank my brother," stated Tuju.
