Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri, Anthony Muheria, has revealed that the family of the late President Mwai Kibaki did not wish for political speeches in the funeral service held at Nyayo stadium.
Speaking to Citizen TV on Monday, May 2, Archibishop Muheria noted that due to the family's wish, Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka was not accorded the chance to speak despite serving as Kibaki's vice president.
The archbishop affirmed that they gave the fallen leader a befitting sendoff that went according to the family's wish.
"The family of the late President Mwai Kibaki had expressly stated that they did not want political speeches and we respected that. In fact, the tributes were meant to be less than they were."
"We gave a worthy send-off to the third President as a country. As a result, we had to forgo certain things that surely some people would feel were amiss but we tried our best in the circumstances to honour Kibaki," he stated.
Regarding the ambush by Allan Makanda at the state funeral service, Muheria noted that he handled the situation with compassion as the man seemed troubled and agitated.
He noted that the man ought to be handled with the care and understanding that Christian laws required him to do.
"Concerning the young man who tried to break protocol during President Kibaki’s funeral, what I did was out of instinctive reaction. He looked agitated and a bit deranged but did not look like a threat," he noted.
Despite the Archibishop's call for leaders to refrain from making political statements at the function, Deputy President William Ruto used the time to speak on handshake politics.
According to the DP, it would be unnecessary to have a handshake if the upcoming August 9 polls were peaceful. This was seen as a salvo fired at his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, and his handshake partner, Raila Odinga.
"I think a befitting send-off to all of us as we celebrate the third president is for us to go into this elections and make sure the elections will be peaceful and that it won't be necessary to have a handshake.
"I think we owe it to President Mwai Kibaki as we send him off," he stated.
Ruto's allies have criticised the decision to leave out Kalonzo from the list of speakers - claiming that he was undermined due to internal politics in the Azimio coalition.
"Kalonzo was Kibaki's Vice President for five years. He was senior to Francis Muthaura who was given a chance to pay his last respects, he was equal to Raila Odinga who was given over 20 minutes to speak, why couldn't they give him even five minutes?" Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua remarked on Monday, May 2, when attending the burial of UDA Chairman Johnstone Muthama's daughter.
