Jeremiah J.M. Nyagah (24 November 1920 – 10 April 2008) was a Kenyan politician who served in several capacities.

Early life and education

He acquired his early primary and intermediate education in

Embu Embu may refer to: Places ; in Brazil * Embu das Artes * Embu-Guaçu ; in Kenya * Embu, Kenya * Embu County Other * Embu people of Kenya *Embu language Embu, also known as Kîembu, is a Bantu language of Kenya. It is spoken by the Embu peopl ...

and

Kagumo High School Kagumo High School is a boys national high school located between Kirichu and Kiganjo townships on the Nyeri-Nanyuki road in Kenya. The school was founded in 1933 as a primary institution in Gatitu, with the goal of developing trainable artisans f ...

(Nyeri) before proceeding to Alliance High School, Kikuyu in 1937 for four years leading to admission to Makerere College, Uganda in 1940 for a 3-year Diploma. After Makerere, Nyagah came back to Kenya to begin a teaching career in January 1944. Between 1944 and March 1958, Nyagah taught in schools and colleges and also administered the supervision of education in the Central Province in Kiambu District. During this period, he had a 2-year break when he joined the University of Oxford Department of Education for further training (1952–54) Nyagah was also an Honorary Doctor of Letters holder from Egerton University.

Political life

He was elected a member of the pre-independence Legislative Council (Legco) to represent the present-day

Mbeere The Mbeere or Ambeere people are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting the former Mbeere District in the now-defunct Eastern Province of Kenya. According to the 2019 Kenya National census, there are 195,250 Ambeere who inhabit an area of 2,093 km� ...

, Kirinyaga and Nyeri districts in 1958. He went on to serve as a member of parliament for several decades in independent Kenya.

Legco

He was elected to the Legco in a by-election, caused by the creation of a new constituency, following negotiations with the British colonial government to increase the number of African representation. He had previously lost out to

Bernard Mate Bernard Mate (1922 – 6 January 1994) was a Kenyan politician and one of the first group of Africans to be elected to the Kenya Legislative Council (LegCo), the then legislative arm of government in the British Colony of Kenya, representing ...

in the 1957 general elections contesting the Central province seat. After Kenya's independence he became the member of parliament for

Gachoka Constituency Mbeere South is an electoral constituency in Embu County, Kenya. It used to be known as Gachoka Constituency, one of two constituencies of the former Mbeere District Mbeere District was a former administrative district in the Eastern Province of ...

until his retirement in 1993.

Parliament

Jeremiah Nyagah served in Kenya's parliament from 1958 to 1992 when he retired. He was a Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Power and Works in 1963. He also served as the longest serving cabinet minister from 1966 to 1992Daily Nation, 13 April 2003: He was elected to LegCo. (Parliament) in 1958 and served Kenya in that capacity up to January 1992 when he opted to retire from parliamentary politics. During his tenure in Parliament, he served for 8 years a backbencher (three of which was the 1st elected African Deputy Speaker). During his service of 35 years in Kenya's Parliament, he served in a number of national, regional and international bodies of socio-economic nature.

Cabinet positions

He served in several key full cabinet ministerial posts among them: Education, Information and Broadcasting, Agriculture, Environment and Health Between 1966 and 1992.

Other interests

He also served the church and youth organisations very devotedly especially as

the Kenya Scouts Association The Kenya Scouts Association is the national Scouting association of Kenya. Scouting was founded in British East Africa in 1910 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1964. It has 323,929 members (as of 2010). ...

Chief Commissioner for 3 decades and later as their Chief Scout. Jeremiah Nyagah was awarded the '' Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting, in 1982. Other voluntary organisations he served in include Heart-to-Heart Foundation as a chairman of the board and the Kenya Fund for the Disabled. He also served international organisations like FAO, UNESCO, and UNEP.

Death

Nyagah died on 10 April 2008 of pneumonia at Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi.Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, 10 April 2008
Jeremiah Nyagah dies

Personal life

His eldest son Hon

Joseph Nyagah Joseph William Nthiga Nyagah (6 January 1948 – 11 December 2020) was a Kenyan politician and Minister of Cooperative Development and Marketing in Kenya's grand coalition government. Biography Nyagah was a member of the then governing Kenya Afri ...

now deceased was a former cabinet Minister in the ministry of cooperatives as a nominated MP by the ODM party, as well as being a member of its senior-most decision making organ 'the ODM pentagon'. His eldest daughter Doctor Mary Khimulu is currently an ambassador to UNESCO.. His wife Eunice Wambeere Nyagah died on 29 October 2006. His second son Hon.

Norman Nyagah Norman Nyagah (born September 15, 1950) is son of Jeremiah Nyagah and brother to former presidential candidate Joseph Nyagah. He is a former member of Kenyan parliament. He was also the chief whip in parliament and he has represented Gachoka Co ...

was a member of parliament for Kamukunji Constituency from 1992-2007 and was also a Govt

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

. His other son Nahashon Nyagah, has served as a Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyagah, Jeremiah 1920 births 2008 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Government ministers of Kenya Ministers of Agriculture of Kenya Members of the Legislative Council of Kenya People from Nyeri County People from Embu County Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award Kenyan expatriates in Uganda Kenyan expatriates in the United Kingdom