President Uhuru Kenyatta has mourned world renowned Kiswahili scholar and poet Prof Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Nabhany who passed away on Thursday morning.
Kenyatta eulogised the late Nabhany as a great scholar who contributed immensely to research on Kiswahili language in the country and abroad.
“We will always appreciate the late Nabhany’s writing and teaching of the Kiswahili language, poetry and culture which gained recognition globally,” President Kenyatta stated.
The President added that the death of the distinguished scholar leaves a huge vacuum that will be hard to fill.
“At this moment of sorrow and grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the late Nabhany’s family, relatives and friends. It is my prayer that the Almighty God will give you all the strength to bear the loss,” Kenyatta stated.
The distinguished scholar was self-taught but managed to teach Kiswahili in international universities including in Europe.
“I didn’t have an opportunity during my childhood to attend formal education but I managed to educate myself privately in Mombasa,” he stated in a past interview.
Prof Nabhany was set to be buried on Thursday evening at his Matondoni Cemetery in Lamu County.
