The family of the late Charles Mugane Njonjo has already fulfilled his last wish just hours after the official pronouncements of his death on Sunday, January 2.
According to the last wish and message to the family left by the only surviving member of Kenya's independence Cabinet, he instructed them to take his body for cremation immediately after he passes on.
The ‘Duke of Kabeteshire’ as famously referred to has already been cremated according to his wish at the Kariokor Hindu Crematorium.
Before the exercise, his body was first taken to Lee Funeral Home, where it was prepared for interment.
Njonjo’s personal doctor, David Silverstein, who also served late President Daniel Moi, declared him dead at 5am on Sunday morning.
The news was shared to his three children, Wairimu Njonjo, Nimu Njonjo and Josiah Njonjo who then made the plans for his final send-off according to his wish.
Cremation reduces the body to its essential elements through a process that exposes it to open flames, intense heat, and evaporation. This takes place in a specially designed furnace called a cremation chamber or retort.
The family is then given cremated remains that are commonly referred to as “ashes,” however, in reality, they consist primarily of bone fragments.
Before the process is undertaken, the family must first identify the body then the deceased is handled carefully until the entire exercise is done.
The former AG's wish to be cremated deviates from the norm where political figures with his level of achievements are given state funeral which usually involves a lot of activities before the body is laid to rest.
President Uhuru confirming his death, described it as a big blow not only to his immediate family, friends and relatives but to all Kenyans and indeed, the entire African continent because of his leading role in the founding of the Kenyan nation at independence.
"As a nation, we owe a debt of gratitude to Hon. Njonjo and his generation of independence era leaders for their selfless contribution to the laying of the solid foundation upon which our country continues to thrive," Uhuru stated.
He added," Kenya's progressive constitutional and legal regime owes its robustness to Hon. Njonjo's splendid work when he served as the country's first post-independence Attorney General between 1963 and 1979, and as Constitutional Affairs Minister between 1980 and 1983."
The Alliance High School alumni attended Kings College Budo in Uganda before proceeding to Fort Hare University, South Africa, for his BA in a law degree, and later Exeter University London School for a diploma course in social anthropology between 1947 and 1950.
He worked in the UK before returning to the country where he took a lot of credit for amending several laws especially those that were imposed by the colonialists.
He died at the age of 101 ending an era in Kenya's political scene.
