Kenya's former President rushed to Nairobi Hospital, again

NAIROBI, Kenya - For the third time in as many weeks, Kenya's retired President Daniel Arap Moi has been readmitted at Nairobi Hospital for yet another check-up amid deteriorating health.

Moi, 95, was discharged from the facility last week on Monday after over 10 days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where he received treatment on 'difficult' breathing.

Throughout the period, reports surfaced on social media that he had passed on, only for the family to issue a statement condemning the news.

But his stay at home did not last long given that he was rushed back to the facility on Saturday evening after complaining about chest pains.

“He was brought back but it is not clear which ward he has been taken to. His security detail is seen around and his family members have also been seen,” a source said in confidence.

Moi’s spokesman Lee Njiru, who resides in Nakuru County, 300 KM West of the capital Nairobi, said he was not aware that the former president had been hospitalized.

"I am not sure, but I will get back. I will call back," Moi's long-serving press secretary, Lee Njiru told reporters.

For the better part of the last two years, the nonagenarian, who led Kenya for 24 years, has been in and out of the hospital, including admission at an Israeli hospital.

In May this year, the former president, who is well known worldwide for his peacekeeping philosophy in East Africa, could not attend the burial of his eldest son Jonathan.

Instead, the family only let him stay in his car throughout the burial ceremony, although no official explanation was given by the state or the family.

A former Kenyan MP Timothy Bosire on Sunday said that the old man still dictates the country's well being through persistent advise to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

"I was shocked when I saw bloggers 'killing' him. I go to the facility and I could see him a cheerful man. By the way, he still pulls strings at State House since he advises the president."

Despite his peacekeeping philosophy, Moi's regime was eclipsed by numerous corruption scandals, violation of human rights, unlawful detentions and limited freedom of speech.

In 1992, he bowed to pressure from the international community and civil rights activists to pave way for pluralism in Kenya. He retired from politics in 2002.

One of his son Gideon Moi, a senator in Kenyan parliament, has declared intentions to run for Presidency. He's the chairman of his father's old KANU party.

Both President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga have visited Moi several times at his Kabarak home in Rift Valley since last year.

GAROWE ONLINE