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Prominent Kenyans who died in 2019

By Amina Wako January 1st, 2020 2 min read

Jonathan Moi
Jonathan Kipkemboi Moi was the eldest son of former President Daniel arap Moi but he made a name for himself as a rally driver in the 80s and 90s.
Jonathan died from pancreatic cancer on April 20, barely three weeks after being diagnosed with the disease that blocked an artery in his lungs.

Joe Kadenge
The legendary footballer breathed his last on the morning of July 7, 2019 after a lengthy battle with a stroke. The legend, who was popularly known from KBC commentators’ slogan “Kadenge na mpira”, passed on aged 84. Kadenge represented the national team Harambee Stars for 14 years.

Ken Okoth
The former MP for Kibra succumbed to stage four colorectal cancer on July 26, 2019. According to his brother Imran Okoth, said the legislator was rushed to Nairobi Hospital at 5pm on July 25 and moved to ICU at 8am the following day after multiple organ failure.

John De’matthew
On the night of August 18, 2019, the Kikuyu benga musician was killed in a fatal car crash after he rammed into a truck with his car on Thika Superhighway. The 52-year-old was heading home after attending a fundraiser for fellow musician Peter Kagia’s ailing child, a close family member said.

Joyce Laboso
Just days after returning home from United Kingdom where she had sought treatment for cancer the Bomet Governor passed on, on July 29, 2019. Joyce Laboso died at Nairobi Hospital at the age of 58. Laboso was first diagnosed with cancer in 1991, but she had been in remission until a few years ago when her health deteriorated.

Charles Rubia
The first native African mayor of Nairobi died on December 23, 2019 at his home in Karen at the age of 96 years. Rubia was detained with the late Kenneth Matiba during the quest for multiparty democracy in the 1990s. A year later, Rubia was released from detention and has been in poor health since.

Bonus:

They might not be Kenyan citizens but they had strong Kenyan connections:

Tob Cohen
After missing for close to two months, the Dutch businessman’s body was found in a septic tank at his home in Kitisuru, Spring Valley, Nairobi on September 13, 2019. His death attracted major media attention after his Kenyan wife was arrested as the major suspect in his murder.

Bob Collymore
On the first day of July 2019, Kenyans woke up to the news of the death of the second CEO of mobile giant Safaricom. Collymore began receiving treatment for leukemia in 2017, but his condition worsened in weeks to his death. Collymore died at the age of 61 at his home in Nairobi after a long battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). He left behind one Kenyan wife and four children.