Moi explains absence at Mutula's burial

By PETER LEFTIE
Posted  Thursday, May 9  2013 at  16:02

Former President Moi has explained why he skipped the burial of his former lawyer Mutula Kilonzo at his Mbooni ancestral home Thursday.

Through his press secretary Lee Njiru, Mr Moi said he had sent his son, Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, to represent him at the ceremony as he was attending to other commitments.

“When Mzee visited Senator Mutula’s widow Nduku and the children at their Gigiri home on Wednesday last week, he asked Nduku for permission to be away and promised to send Gideon to represent him because he would be held up due to other commitments and he was granted permission to be away.

"They had tea together and prayed together. What is important is that the family understands why the retired president could not make it to the burial of his dear friend,” Mr Njiru told Nation.

During the burial ceremony, Mr Moi in a speech read by Gideon Moi said he settled on Mr Mutula as his lawyer because he was brilliant.

The former president, who is credited with plucking the late Makueni Senator from obscurity and propelling him to national prominence when he appointed him as his lawyer in the 80s, was also conspicuously missing at Mr Kilonzo’s requiem mass held at the Nairobi Baptist Church on Wednesday.