Former Attorney General Charles Njonjo is dead

Kenya’s first post-Independence Attorney General Charles Mugane Njonjo is dead.

In a message of condolence, President Uhuru Kenyatta said Njonjo aged 101 years passed away peacefully at 5 am on Sunday.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have this morning, Sunday 2nd January 2022, received the sad and heartbreaking news of the passing away of Hon. Charles Mugane Njonjo,” said President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Njonjo was the only surviving member of Kenya’s independence Cabinet.

“The passing away of Hon. Njonjo is a big blow not only to his immediate family, friends and relatives but to all Kenyans and indeed, the entire African continent because of his leading role in the founding of the Kenyan nation at independence,” he said.

The Head of State said the country owes a debt of gratitude to Njonjo and his generation of independence era leaders for their selfless contribution to the laying of the solid foundation upon which our country continues to thrive.

“Kenya’s progressive constitutional and legal regime owes its robustness to Hon. Njonjo’s splendid work when he served as the country’s first post-independence Attorney General,” he added.

He served as Kenya’s Attorney General between 1963 and 1979 and later as Constitutional Affairs Minister between 1980 and 1983.

The President described Njonjo as not only a national hero but an icon of Kenya’s progress through the years.