Ronald Ngala, independence hero who championed federalism, immortalized with a statue » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 11 – President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday unveiled the statue of Kenyan independence hero, pan-Africanist and former Cabinet Minister, the late Ronald Gideon Ngala on Ronald Ngala Street in downtown Nairobi.

The Head of State was accompanied by Sports and Culture Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua among other senior government officials.

Also present was the family of the late political supremo who hailed from the coast, celebrated for ‘majimboism’, a precursor of modern-day devolution, led by his son and former long-serving Cabinet Minister Noah Katana Ngala.

The National Museum of Kenya said the life-size bronze sculpture will be a permanent reminder of the achievements and contributions of the late coast region kingpin.

“The sculpture is envisaged as a dynamic statue showing a recognizable likeness to Ronald Ngala and conveying through stance a heroic presence. It is anticipated to be an imposing, powerful, and engaging pose of Ronald Ngala with his right hand lifted up,” the tender in the process of procuring the services of an artist, read in part.

Ngala died in 1972 at the Kenyatta National Hospital after being in a coma for several days following a road accident which occurred along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.

He co-founded the now-defunct Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) political party in 1960 which he later merged with the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) in 1965.

Before his death at the age of 49, Ngala was a minister in President Jomo Kenyatta’s Cabinet and MP for Kilifi South Constituency.