George Saitoti

George Musengi Saitoti, E.G.H. (3 August 1945 – 10 June 2012) was a Kenyan politician, businessman and American- and British-trained economist, mathematician and development policy thinker.

Honourable
Professor George Musengi Saitoti
E.G.H.
6th Vice-President of Kenya
In office
1 June 1989  30 August 2002
PresidentDaniel arap Moi
Preceded byJosephat Karanja
Succeeded byMusalia Mudavadi
Minister of State for Internal Security and Provincial Administration
In office
8 January 2008  10 June 2012
PresidentMwai Kibaki
Prime MinisterRaila Odinga
Preceded byJohn Michuki
Succeeded byMohamed Yusuf Haji
Minister of Education
In office
3 January 2003  8 January 2008
PresidentMwai Kibaki
Preceded byHenry Kosgey
Succeeded bySam Ongeri
Minister of Finance
In office
1988–1993
PresidentDaniel arap Moi
Preceded byArthur Magugu
Succeeded byMusalia Mudavadi
Member of Parliament
In office
April 1988  10 June 2012
Preceded byPhilip Odupoy
Succeeded byMoses Ole Sakuda
ConstituencyKajiado North Constituency
Personal details
Born
George Musengi Saitoti

(1945-08-03)3 August 1945
Maasailand, Kenya
Died10 June 2012(2012-06-10) (aged 66)
Kibiku Forest, Ngong, Nairobi, Kenya.
Resting placeKitengela, Kajiado County.
Political party
  • KANU (1988–2002)
  • NARC (2002–2007)
  • PNU (2008-2012)
Other political
affiliations
United Democratic Front (Kenya)
SpouseMargaret Saitoti
Relations
  • Ronald Saitoti (brother)
  • Penny Musengi (niece)
ChildrenZachary Musengi
Parents
  • Zacharia Kiarie (father)
  • Zipporah Gathoni (mother)
Alma mater
OccupationPolitician
Profession
  • Businessman
  • economist
  • mathematician

As a mathematician, Saitoti served as Head of the Mathematics Department at the University of Nairobi, pioneered the founding of the African Mathematical Union and served as its vice-president from 1976 to 1979.

As an economist, Saitoti served as the Executive Chairman of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1990–91, and as President of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States in 1999–2000, at the crucial phase of re-negotiating the new development partnership agreement to replace the expired Lomé Convention between the ACP bloc and the European Union (EU). His book The Challenges of Economic and Institutional Reforms in Africa influenced practical policy directions on an array of areas during the turbulent 1980s and 1990s.

Saitoti joined politics as a nominated Member of Parliament and Minister for Finance in 1983, rising to become Kenya's longest-serving Vice-President, a proficient Minister for education, Internal Security and Provincial Administration and Foreign Affairs. Few recognise him as a "reformist", but his recommendations as the Chair of the KANU Review Committee, popularly known as the "Saitoti Committee" in 1990–91, opened KANU to internal changes and set the stage for the repeal of Section 2A and Kenya's return to pluralist democracy. Saitoti left KANU and joined the opposition, becoming a kingpin figure in the negotiations that led to the "NARC Revolution" in 2002. As Minister for Internal Security and Provincial Administration, Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs and key member of the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC), he later worked closely with the national Ministry of Defence to see through the Operation Linda Nchi against the Al-Shabaab insurgent group. In addition, rival factions had for decades invoked the infamous Goldenberg fraud to knock Saitoti out of politics, but the legal courts cleared him of the scandal in July 2006. Saitoti's dual heritage as a Maasai with Kikuyu family members predisposed him to a pan-Kenyan vision, but also denied him a strong ethnic base unlike his competitors. Saitoti was running as a candidate to succeed President Mwai Kibaki when he died in a helicopter crash in 2012.

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