Former First Lady Lucy Kibaki to be laid to rest today

Former First Lady Lucy Kibaki will be buried at Othaya, Nyeri County today, Saturday.

The convoy transporting the body of Mama Lucy will leave Lee Funeral Home at 6 am for a brief stop-over at the former President Mwai Kibakis’ Muthaiga home in Nairobi before heading to Othaya.

The funeral service will be held at the Othaya Approved School.

Several schools in the area including Othaya Boys Secondary have been identified as landing areas for helicopters as well as parking spaces for vehicles that will transport the over 20,000 people expected to attend the ceremony.

Mama Lucy passed away at Bupa Cromwell Hospital in London last Tuesday.

Lucy Muthoni Kibaki was born in 1934 in Mukurwe-Ini to the Reverend John Kagai and Rose Nyachomba.

She was the wife of Kenya’s third President Mwai Kibaki; she served as First Lady of Kenya from 2002 to 2013.

Lucy Kibaki was educated at Alliance Girls High School then trained as a teacher, and rose up to the post of Principal in Kiambu Teachers Training College (KTTC) before retiring.

She met Kibaki in 1960, after he had quit his teaching job in neighbouring Uganda’s Makerere University, and married him in 1962.

In 2002, Kenyans overwhelmingly voted in Mwai Kibaki as President. A stranger to many in the public sphere, Mama Lucy Kibaki started making headlines for her no holds barred approach.

Lucy Kibaki was passionate about the fight against HIV/AIDS. The former First Lady even chaired the Organization of the 40 African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS during her term.

She also served as the Patron of Kenya Girl Guides Association of Kenya and big crusader against Female Genital Mutilation.

Mama Lucy Kibaki goes down in history as the first Kenyan First Lady to have a health facility named after her.

Kenya’s Government on March 1st, 2013 officially opened the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi, which was set up as part of the government’s efforts to provide accessible health services to citizens.