Nyeri Governor, Wahome Gakuru died in a terrible road accident that immediately claimed his live, yesterday morning, along Thika-Murang’a road while heading to Nairobi for a talk show.
Nyeri County Assembly Speaker John Kaguchia has confirmed that the Governor, his driver and bodyguard suffered serious injuries after the early morning accident and were rushed to the hospital. The Governor was rushed to Thika Level 5 hospital awaiting a transfer to a Nairobi Hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
Governor Wahome’s body has been taken to Lee funeral home as the other two are admitted to hospital. He was born in 1966.
Nyeri Senator Ephraim Maina described the late Gakuru as a kind man who had the interests of Nyeri at heart.
“He was a hardworking man who had a good plan for Nyeri County. He was committed to cleaning the system and it is sad that we have lost him. “We thank God for the time we had with him,” stated Mr Maina.
Kenyans have since taken to social media to send messages of condolences to friends and family of the late, as well as condoling with the residents of Nyeri County. The former Vision 2030 director garnered 280,037 votes against Samuel Wamathai’s 85,316 to take the seat he missed in 2013.
The governor’s technocrat background had put him in good stead to deal with a range of issues in his in-tray, having taken over a government that for the better part of the past five years was almost dysfunctional owing to incessant wrangles between the executive and members of the county assembly (MCAs).
Nyeri residents looked up to Gakuru, after a harsh critic of the outgoing administration, for solutions, especially in spurring development and changing the fortunes of the ailing coffee and tea sectors in the county. Dr Gakuru was also a distinguished academician. Between 2001 and 2004 he obtained a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Arizona State University after graduating from Willamette University – Atkinson Graduate School of Management with a Master of Business Administration degree.
He also held an MBA from the University of Nairobi earned between 1991 and 1993 after graduating from the same institution with B. Com Honours – Business Administration in 1991 havng had joined theUniversity in 1988.
He was a lecturer at the School of Business at the University of Nairobi since 1994 where he taught Ph.D candidates besides running his consultancy.
