Dr Kibata Githeko became an eye surgeon because he had what he called a personal vendetta against diabetic eye disease as his father struggled with blindness in his sunset years till his death.
It is this vendetta with diabetic blindness that would pave path for his career and achieved much success.
Kibata narrated to a forum a few months ago that his father had always been diabetic as long as he could remember.
When the old man turned 58, he went blind and at 59, his kidney developed complications.
“My father struggled with diabetes so much that in our house, there were two sets of cooking pots, one for the family and the other for his special meals,” he said.
His father’s struggle got to the extent that he lost his independence. Kibata was touched and vowed to do something about it.
“My mother died before my father and so we took over caring for him. I prayed that God gives me what it takes to ensure that no one struggles with diabetic blindness as my father did,” he said.
He studied medicine and specialised in dealing with cataract, retina and vitreous as well as vitreoretinal diseases.
After years of research and practice, he established City Eye hospital and became a renown eye care specialist, highly sought after.
The hospital has three clinics, one along Ngong’ road, at Upper Hill Medical centre and in Nyeri.
The retina surgeon and father of three—Wamuyu, Mithamo and Muriithi—succumbed to cancer on September 18, aged 54.
Kibata made a name as an accomplished surgeon and health businessman, but what he was most proud of, was his faith and family.
His clinic did not operate on Saturdays. This he explained was to ensure him and his staff spent the weekend with their families resting and also attending to their personal errands, including their faith obligations.
“I faced so much opposition from my patients and also business partners who argued that Saturday is the most convenient for patients and made business sense. But I stood my ground,” he said.
A devout believer, Kibata always insisted on ethical conduct in doing business, narrating how he refused to pay bribes to government officials when seeking regulatory permits for his clinics.
The first instance of ethical dilemma was when he wanted to erect structures for his Ngong’ road clinic.
Then city council officials demanded Sh400,000 to give him occupation certificate but he declined.
He explained that he wanted to preserve his conviction that God would work it out for them.
“We waited for six months refusing to yield to the demand despite pressure from partners and investors who had put in Sh20 million for us to import the containers from Turkey," he said.
"In December that year, the man who asking for the Sh400,000 went on leave and his replacement found our documents on his table and signed without asking questions because they were in order.”
“Many people never understood why we would not pay up and occupy the beautiful facilities yet we were serving patients in tents,” Kibata added.
Later when he built a fully kitted theatre, he again encountered the same man as he sought an occupation certificate to use the facility.
“This time, the man asked for Sh1 million bribe. We declined and persevered for a year before we got eventual approvals.”
Kibata’s last official ophthalmic function was as a panel speaker at the first in-person African Ophthalmology Council Congress in Kigali, Rwanda from July 27 to 29 this year.
Perhaps the personal tribute by Wanjiku Mathenge, the president of Africa Ophthalmology Council, shone the clearest light on the personality of Kibata.
Mathenge said she had known the eye surgeon for long, especially in their professional lines and always kept close touch with his treatment journey.
She says her last communication with Kibata was on August 29.
Demonstrating his resilient faith even in the face of challenges, Mathenge says, “he shared a verse, Psalm 91: 15-16. It starts with 'He shall call upon Me and I will answer him….'.”
“When God called upon Dr Kibata here on earth, he answered and served him in a way that made God proud of him. And when God called him home, Dr Kibata faced his final days leading up to September 17, 2024, with the same dignity and grace that characterised his entire existence,” she said.