President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday joined world leaders in mourning the deceased Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Kenyatta delivered an unusually long tribute that paid respect to the leader who led one of the most successful communist revolutions in 1959.
Unknown to many, Fidel Castro had a special place in President Kenyatta’s heart.
In 2011, Kenyatta’s presidential campaign lobby Team Uhuru which was headed by his personal assistant Jomo Gecaga revealed 50 little-known facts about the then Deputy Prime Minister as a celebration of his 50th birthday.
The team revealed that the world leader Kenyatta would love to meet was Castro, who had at the time resigned from his leadership position and chosen his brother Raul Castro as his successor.
By Saturday, when the elder Castro died at 90 years, the Kenyan President had not yet achieved his long-held desire to meet the revolutionary.
“Castro demonstrated to the world that sovereign equality is a paramount idea that must prevail at all times, regardless of a nation’s size, economic or military muscle, or its relationship with the hegemon of the day. He steadfastly defended Cuba and its revolution for decades, and personally survived innumerable threats to his life,” stated in his tribute to the Cuban leader.
Incidentally, Castro is one of the few ideological figures who bring together Kenyatta and his political rival Raila Odinga.
Like Kenyatta, Odinga was inspired by Castro so much so that he named his firstborn son after the Cuban leader.
It is not clear if the Kenyan president will attend the funeral of the man who helped spread the agenda of socialism.
