Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi, Kenya’s longest-serving President, will receive top military and civilian honours in an elaborate state funeral at his Kabarak home.
According to the plan, there will be a public viewing of the body from Saturday to Monday.
Head of the Public Service Joseph Kinyua will lead the arrangements for the funeral likely to be attended by continental and world leaders.
“The family wants to appreciate the speed with which our beloved military and the government moved in to secure Mzee’s situation,” they said in a statement signed by Raymond Moi.
This gesture has given the assurance that all is well in the days ahead until his excellency is interred when the time comes, the family added.
This was a clear signal that the family would want Mzee interred at his home in Nakuru county, and not at the Parliament Square where Kenya’s founding President Jomo Kenyatta was buried or at Heroes Corner near Carnivore.
Kenyatta, who died while in office on August 22, 1978, was laid to rest in a mausoleum which is under 24-hour military guard.Jomo was accorded the first state funeral on August 31, 1978. His body lay in state for 10 days, with the national mourning period lasting 30 days.
A state funeral is a public ceremony observing strict rules of protocol held to honour heads of state or other people of national significance.Kenya has only accorded four individuals state burials since it’s Independence in 1963.
They include Kenyatta, former Vice President Kijana Wamalwa, former first lady Lucy Kibaki and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai.
Lucy, the wife of Kenya’s second President Mwai Kibaki, was buried on May 7, 2016 at her home in Othaya.
As a retired Commander-in-Chief, Moi will receive the military three-volley salute.
