Hosea Mundui Kiplagat who served in President Moi’s government has died at the age of 76 at his home in Karen.
The politician who was also Mzee Moi’s nephew worked closely with the late president and always featured in many of his speeches.
The former Co-operative Bank chairman died while being rushed to the hospital on Saturday, 5.
Reports indicate he was last seen on Friday evening in a jovial mood having a drink with a friend at a members' club in Lavington.
Kiplagat was Moi’s ear at the height of the Nyayo regime.
He would tell Moi what other leaders were saying about the late president's leadership and government. And away from politics, he helped Moi in making business and investment decisions.
His ability to work as a mobiliser at the grassroots level in Rift Valley earned him a place in Moi’s heart thereby expanding the ex-president's political career and fame.
Kiplagat’s first job was as a prison warden but transitioned faster into a business which also attracted president Mzee Moi.
In 2003, Kiplagat public appearance began to fade away after Kenya's second President retired.
In 2018, Kiplagat was engaged in a battle to save his properties including his Karen home which had been put up for auction by Graham Investment. The former powerful politician had guaranteed his two firms, Eldoret Concrete Poles Limited and Timber Treatment Limited, finances which he did not honor.
However, through his lawyer Muga Apondi, he convinced Justice David Majanja to issue the order on August 3 stopping the auction of his properties.
Kiplagat lived on the multimillion-shilling property in Nairobi’s Karen located along Quarry Lane off Bogani Road whose value was Ksh55 million in 2020.
