Kenyan Vice President Dies in London Hospital

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 24, 2003

Kenyan Vice President Dies in London Hospital

Kenyan Vice President Michael Wamalwa died Saturday morning in London while undergoing treatment at the Royal Free Hospital. He was 59.

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Kenyan Vice President Michael Wamalwa died Saturday morning in London while undergoing treatment at the Royal Free Hospital. He was 59.

In a televised address to the nation on Saturday, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said Kenya had lost a patriot and gentleman who had served his country with dedication to enhance the democratic space in the nation.

President Kibaki declared two weeks of national mourning to Wamalwa, the nation's eighth vice president.

During the two weeks, Kenyan flags will fly half-mast and there will be no official public functions.

The president also said he had lost a friend and comrade whom he looked up to for advice while they served in the opposition and now in management of the country's affairs.

Wamalwa had been repeatedly admitted to the hospital in London over the last six months, suffering from various ailments including gout and kidney problems.

According to the Director of Kenya's Presidential Press Service,Isaiya Kabira, Wamalwa "went into a coma" Friday night.

Wamalwa established himself as an opposition leader in 1994 but his ambitions to become president fell short in 1997 presidential race.

However, he helped Kibaki and their National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) party group to victory in a landslide elections last December, ending 39 years of rule by former president Daniel arap Moi's Kenya African National Union.

The death of Wamalwa coincides a national debate on whether thecountry should create a position of an executive prime minister alongside the vice president.

Observers here said Wamalwa's death is likely to add fuel to the already heated debate in the National Constitutional Conference being held at Bomas in Nairobi.

Result of the on-going debate will be crucial for the unity of the eight-month NARC regime and future of the country which is keen to develop national economy and fight corruption.

Wamalwa was born in 1944 in Kitale, Trans-Nzoia District, Rift Valley Province.

The eloquent former lawyer is the son of William Wamalwa, Kenyan senator both in the colonial and post-colonial era.

He received education at the Kings College, Cambridge University between 1965 and 1968 graduated with a Bachelor of LawsDegree.

In 1969 he did his master's degree in law at the London School of Economics before lecturing in law at the University of Nairobi in early 1970s.

Wamalwa is survived by his wife, Yvonne Nambia, 34, whom he married on May 10, and several children.

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