Karua mourns father after final visit in Kirinyaga

People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua is mourning the death of her father, Mwalimu Jackson Karua.

Karua said her father died on Sunday, shortly after she and her siblings had visited him at his Kirinyaga home. During the visit, the family sang his favourite gospel hymn. Karua said they did not know it would be the last time they would sing together. “On my way back to Nairobi, I received the news that my beloved father had breathed his last,” Karua said.

She said she was thankful that she had spent time with him before his death. “There is never really an age at which you are prepared to say goodbye to someone who has been part of your life from the very beginning,” she said.

Karua said her father had supported her from her school years, through her career as a lawyer and in public life. She described him as a teacher who valued character, education and doing what is right. “But to us, above all, he was a loving father, steady, generous, and present,” Karua said.

She said the loss would be felt by his children, grandchildren, extended family and others whose lives he had touched. “I will miss having my father to turn to, but I will carry with me everything he taught me, the love he gave me, and the belief he always had in me,” she said.

Karua thanked her father for standing with her throughout her life. “To my father, thank you for believing in me, for standing beside me, and for loving me through every chapter of my life,” Karua said.

The former presidential candidate had marked her 69th birthday days before her father’s death. She ended her tribute in Kikuyu: “Huruka thayu, baba.” “You will be deeply missed, dearly loved, and forever remembered,” she concluded.