Veteran Politician Simeon Nyachae died on the morning of Monday, February 1, just days away from his 89th birthday. Nyachae was born on February 6, 1932.
The former DC began his education journey in 1941 at Nyanchwa Seventh Day Adventist School prior to enrolling at Kereri Intermediate School in 1947.
In 1949, he joined Kisii Government African School, but withdrew in 1951 to work as a clerk at his father Senior Chief Musa Nyandusi's camp.
The former Presidential aspirant was later enrolled at the Torquay Academy and Churchill College in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The renowned politician will be remembered for his various roles in government and the immense contribution to national development both in Cabinet and as a legislator traversing through the Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Mzee Daniel Moi and Mwai Kibaki eras.
After returning to Kenya in 1960, Nyachae was appointed District Officer for Kangundo by Mzee Kenyatta, a post he held briefly before returning to the Churchill College for a diploma in Public Administration.
In 1964 Nyachae was recalled from the UK and appointed as District Commissioner for Nyandarua where he served till 1970 when he was elevated to Provincial Commissioner for Central Province.
Nyachae became a powerful figure in Mzee's administration. Kenyatta relied on Nyachae to provide him with political intelligence, tame political competition, and ensure that the government largess was equitably distributed as to add prestige and strength to Mzee's rule.
Nyachae was towards the end of Kenyatta's rule appointed Chief Secretary in the Civil Service, a position he held into the President Moi regime.
The former Nyaribari Chache Member of Parliament quit public service and entered the country's political scene in the 1992 general election where he was elected to the August House. He served as MP from 1992 up until his retirement from politics in 2007.
In the course of his political career, Nyachae became Cabinet Minister for Agriculture between 1998 and 1999 when he was appointed Finance Minister, a job he held for only one year. He was transferred to the Ministry of Industrialisation.
Between 2006 and 2007, Nyachae served as Cabinet Minister for Roads and Public Works.
In 2002, Nyachae was among the presidential candidates, but his bid was punctured by the decision by most opposition parties, including Raila Odinga's LDP, to form a coalition with Mwai Kibaki's National Alliance of Kenya.
Though he lost the elections, his Party Forum for Restoration and Democracy (FORD) People went into parliament with 14 MPs.
Nyachae is known to be among the wealthiest individuals in the country with investments, cutting across the banking, agriculture, transport, manufacturing and real estate industries across major towns in the country including Narok, Kisii, Kericho, Sotik, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nyeri and Nairobi.
Some of his most notable investments include the Kabansora Mills in Nairobi, and shares in newly formed NCBA according to a report by Business Daily on November 27, 2019. He was among the shareholders of Transnational Bank that has since been acquired.
Family
Nyachae married five wives; Martha Mwango, Druscilla Kerubo, Esther Nyaboke, Sylvia Nyachae, and Grace Wamuyu. His children include Charles Nyachae, Kenneth Bitange Nyachae, Mary Nyachae, and Grace Rosemary Nyachae.
