David (Daudi) Mwiraria (3 September 1938 – 13 April 2017) was the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources previously Finance Minister of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

until December 2007 when

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

held its General Elections. Running for re election on a Party of National Unity ticket, defending his seat as Member of parliament for

North Imenti Constituency North Imenti is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of nine constituencies of Meru County Meru County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, located in the former Eastern Province. The county lies between 0° 6′ North and 0° 1′ So ...

, he was defeated by Silas Muriuki, who was running on a

Mazingira Green Party of Kenya The Mazingira Green Party of Kenya is a Kenyan green party. It was formerly known as Liberal Party of Kenya (LPK). At the 1997 Kenyan General Elections LPK fielded a presidential candidate, Wangari Maathai, who later became a Nobel Peace Pri ...

ticket. Prior to going into elective politics, he had a long and distinguished career in Kenya's civil service, serving in various senior positions hence his having recently appeared as a witness before Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission as a witness to testify on the Government of Kenya's role in the

Wagalla massacre The Wagalla massacre was a massacre of ethnic Somalis by the Kenyan Army on 10 February 1984 in Wajir County, Kenya. Daniel arap Moi opened barracks near Wagalla, where he brought soldiers to 'discipline the villagers irrespective of age'. Mas ...

. Following allegations that he had been involved in the

Anglo Leasing Scandal The Anglo Leasing scandal was a government procurement facilitated corruption scandal in Kenya. Origins The scandal is alleged to have started when the Kenyan Government wanted to replace its passport printing system, in 1997, but came to light ...

, he decided to resign as Finance Minister on 1 February 2006. He maintained that he was innocent and claimed that he was stepping down to pave way for investigations. Despite there being no investigation report clearing Mwiraria, President

Mwai Kibaki Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013 and is regarded as one of Kenya's founding fathers. He had previously ser ...

appointed him Minister for Environment on 24 July 2007. He got his master's degree in

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

from the

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

1966 (then part of the

University of East Africa The University of East Africa was established on 29 June 1963"Universities: East Africa", ''A Historical Companion To Postcolonial Thought In English'' (Columbia University Press, 2005) Prem Poddar and David Johnson, eds., p. 489. and served Keny ...

). Mwiraria features prominently in audio recordings released on the internet in 2006 by

John Githongo John Githongo (born 1965) is a former Kenyan journalist who investigated bribery and fraud in his home country (Kenya) and later, under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, took on an official governmental position to fight corruption. In 2005 he lef ...

, exiled former Permanent Secretary in the Kenya Government, which indicate Mwiraria was trying to stop Githongo's inquiries into the theft of over 700 million US Dollars in a series of 18 security related contracts, colloquially called

Anglo Leasing The Anglo Leasing scandal was a government procurement facilitated corruption scandal in Kenya. Origins The scandal is alleged to have started when the Kenyan Government wanted to replace its passport printing system, in 1997, but came to light ...

. He died of bone cancer on 13 April 2017 at Karen Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

Travel ban

In December 2007, Mwiraria,

Nicholas Biwott Nicholas Kipyator Kiprono arap Biwott (1940 – 11 July 2017) was a Kenyan businessman, politician and philanthropist. Biwott served as a civil servant, Member of Parliament and government minister, during which time he held eight senior minist ...

, and Ramniklal Panacha Shah were banned from traveling to or through the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

due to the then pending corruption charges."UK travel ban for Kenyan minister"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 21 December 2007.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182433/http://www.parliament.go.ke/MPs/members_mwiraria_d.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20070809080247/http://www.marsgroupkenya.org/pages/clips/Mwiraria-Githongo.php * http://www.eck.or.ke/elections2007/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=2&menuGroup=parliamentary&userParams[]=51 1938 births 2017 deaths Meru people Makerere University alumni Government ministers of Kenya Party of National Unity (Kenya) politicians Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Ministers of Finance of Kenya {{Kenya-politician-stub