Maasai community mourns 4 key leaders [Full list]

Authors:

juma chrispinus

July 9, 2017 10:23 AM

Here is all you need to know about the veteran Maasai land leaders who perished mysteriously.

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In less than five years, the Maa Community has been in tears mourning their fallen heroes.

The leaders have been iconic in the social, economic and political transformation of the Maasai people in Kenya.

Here is a list

Joseph Nkaissery

Born on 28 November 1949 in Kajiado County
Prior to being a politician, he served in the KDF since 1973. He later became the major-general in the Kenya Army.
In 1987, he was appointed the military assistant to the Chief of General Staff. He also served as a commandant of the Armed Forces Training College.
He retired in December 2002 after 29 years of military service.
Nkaissery was elected to the National Assembly in 2002 and also served as an Assistant Minister for Internal Security in the cabinet of President Mwai Kibaki from 2008 to 2013.
He was the Assistant Minister when Kenya launched the Operation Linda Nchi in 2011 by KDF.
On 2 December 2014, Nkaissery was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta for the post of Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security.
He replaced Joseph Ole Lenku, who has “technically failed” to suppress Al-Shabaab
He was in ODM, but moved after being appointed CS.
On 8 July 2017, Nkaissery was pronounced dead in the morning, a few hours after he was admitted to Karen Hospital in Nairobi for a medical check-up.

John Keen

Mr Keen was a vocal defender of the Maasai Community and served as the Kajiado North Member of Parliament for over ten years.
He passed on Sunday, December 25 at 3:00am at the Aga Khan Hospital while undergoing treatment.
Born to a German father, Keen was among the biggest land owners in the country and sensitized the Maa Community on the importance of defending their land.
In September this year, Mr Keen was admitted at a Nairobi Hospital after suffering health complications.
He was also a defender of wildlife conservation. In 2015, he donated a 300-acre piece of land to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which he named after his daughter, Silole.

William ole Ntimama

He was born in February 1928
He announced to retire from politics on September 14, 2013.
Ole Ntimama announced that he had joined the Jubilee Party headed by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 12 August 2016 where he led a delegation to state house.
Later on he welcomed President Uhuru Kenya to what has now been seen as a farewell meeting.
During the event held on 14 August 2016, he led a declaration by the Maasai community to rejoin the Jubilee Coalition.

Prof George Saitoti

Born in 1945
Entered politics as finance minister in 1983
Served as an executive director of the World Bank and IMF from 1990-2001
Several stints as Kenya's vice-president 1988 and 2002
Briefly stepped down in 1996 over corruption allegations
Had announced his intention to run for presidency in 2013
He perished together with his assistant Orwa Ojode in a deadly plane crash in Ngong Forest, in the outskirts of Nairobi
He was a professor of Mathematics