Kenya’s Jimmy Wanjigi’s father takes final bow at 93

James Maina Wanjigi, a self-made billionaire, has passed away. At the age of 93, Wanjigi passed away on June 28 while undergoing care at The Nairobi Hospital.

The long-serving Cabinet minister and former member of parliament (MP) for Kamukunji has been remembered as a father figure and a pillar of the Wanjigi family. Jimmy Wanjigi, a politician and businessman, is his son.

He is recognized for having had a major impact on Kenya’s political and economic environment during the course of his more than 25-year career in both business and politics.

Following Tom Mboya‘s murder in 1969, Wanjigi entered the political sphere and won a by-election to replace him. He went on to become an MP for 25 years.

Notably, he advocated for free elementary education in Kenya in a historic statement he delivered in Parliament in 1973. Three decades later, when President Mwai Kibaki assumed office in 2002, his vision was realized.

“Unless you have a good education that every child has access to and that can be harnessed to enable them to reach their full potential, you cannot build a sound population and a sound nation,” he said in a June 1973 speech in Parliament supporting free primary school education for all.

It’s about time someone realized that we all desire free elementary education. Let there be a minimum eight years of free primary education for every child in this nation.

He was named chairman of Kenya Airways in 1979 and Minister of Tourism and Wildlife in 1983, both during the administration of President Daniel Moi.

Wanjigi faced difficulties throughout his political career. He was kicked out of the KANU ruling party in 1990 for endorsing multi-party politics. He persisted in his opposition political career, unfazed.

The sizable Muoroto slums were part of the minister’s constituency. In his Kamukunji Constituency, Wanjigi is credited with creating and growing the largest open-air market in the East and Central Africa region, the Gikomba Market.

On October 7, 1931, Maina Wanjigi was born in Wahudura Village, Murang’a County. After clearing the common entrance exam, he continued his studies at Wahudura Primary School in 1938 and later attended Kagumo Intermediate School in Nyeri in 1943.

At Alliance High School, where he served as the medical prefect, he completed his secondary school. Wanjigi’s academic endeavors brought him to the Department of Agriculture’s soil conservation division then, in 1951, to Makerere University where he continued his agricultural studies.

He continued his studies at the Food Research Institute at Stanford University in the United States.

Wanjigi’s career was distinguished by a number of ground-breaking successes. He was appointed the first CEO of the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation and the first African director of settlement, managing the one million-acre project.

During his administration, the National Economic Council was founded and Kiharu saw the advent of small-scale coffee farming.