We have come to bid goodbye to the third president of Kenya. Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki was many things but he will go down in history as the third president of Kenya. The president who managed to overthrow Moi’s authoritative regime after 24 years! The president who finally gave us the democracy we had been yearning for since the colonialists left.
Unlike his predecessors, Kibaki was extremely well educated; he was a master in his field, a great economist and a laid-back person who did not seem at all infatuated with power. His National Rainbow Coalition government was the strength the people needed to fight the oppressive Moi rule. I was 14 when Kibaki was sworn in as president. I don’t remember much but I remember the feeling of optimism in the country. The sigh of relief as we unshackled decades of despotism. Kibaki Tosha!
And so it seemed as we entered his first term of office. The free primary school education initiative was introduced, the economy took off and all was well for a time. Kibaki might have been the competent technocrat we needed for an economic turnaround but his leadership style was new and foreign to many who had experienced years of cult-like leadership.
Kibaki’s leadership style was seemingly aloof, often dismissive of his naysayers and was rarely interested in being publicised. The free reign of democracy removed the irrational fear of a leader who controlled his government. As such for most of his first term, Kibaki’s government was somewhat dysfunctional.
Kibaki ruled during most of my teenage years and early twenties; the most I remember of this period was the alarmingly high rate of corruption. Ironically, most government buildings were mandated to post the sign “This is a corruption-free zone” on their walls.
Of course, Kibaki’s rule has always and will remain tainted by the dark cloud that was the 2007-08 post-election violence, when he forcibly swore himself in after a disputed election. The violent outcome of the 2007 election is probably the bloodiest part of our history since colonial rule and we the people will always hold Kibaki responsible.
However, friends, comrades and countrymen, to paraphrase Shakespeare, I come to bury Kibaki, not to praise him nor slander him. I, as a Kenyan, as a woman, will forever be appreciative of Kibaki for one thing: abolishing tax on feminine sanitary products. In 2004 Kenya was the first country in the world to abolish tax on period products.
Before you come for my neck hear me out. As a Kenyan woman who has lived abroad for a few years, my one prevalent issue with these countries was the price of pads. As a student in South Africa, we would always send our friends returning from home to buy as pads. The average price of a pack of seven pads in South Africa was thirty Rand and above. At the time, the exchange rate was close to Sh10 per rand. Meanwhile back home a double pack retailed around Sh120.
The same was true during my stay in Europe and other countries. To date, if I travel outside the country the only thing I pack in excess is pads. I know the sweetness of living in a tax-free country and the bitterness of buying pads at an excruciating price.
Seven months later, my post-partum body is still adjusting to return to normal. I had an unexpected period that lasted two whole weeks! The number of sanitary towels and hygiene products I used within this period was unimaginable.
On Friday, April 22, 2022, I bent down at Naivas to pick a double pack pad for Sh140 thinking of President Kibaki and how he thought of people like me all those years ago. That afternoon, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced Kibaki was dead.
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