The leadership of Kenya’s Parliament has been petitioned to mobilise MPs and by extension, government to accord Grace Onyango a state funeral.
Kiambu Town MP John Waithaka on Tuesday asked national assembly speaker Moses Wetang’ula to mobilise members of Parliament and government to step in towards the funeral.
The MP gave a statement after he rose under standing order 259 of the house to pay tribute to the late Grace Onyango who died on March 8 while receiving treatment at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu.
“On my behalf, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to her family and the people of Kisumu county and the women’s fraternity who are reeling in the loss of a remarkable public servant and leader,” Waithaka said.
“Through you, honourable speaker, I beseech the leadership of the house to mobilise members of this house and by extension the government to step in and assist the bereaved family to accord our departed colleague a decent send-off by extending necessary assistance towards the funeral expenses,” the MP said.
The speaker led the house in observing a minute silence in honour of the late former MP before allowing interested MPs to give their tribute during the Tuesday afternoon session.
Wetang’ula while giving his tribute said the late MP had the distinction of being the first woman ever to be elected to the house of Parliament.
Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa (Kikuyu) remembered her as a good lady who was able to win in a male-dominated field, having also served as a Speaker of Parliament and a Mayor in Kisumu.
Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss remembered her as a woman who cleared the way for other women to join Parliament.
The late Grace Onyango was born on June 26 in 1924 in the then Nyanza province.
She attended Ng’iya Girls High school and later joined Vihiga teachers training college. Upon completing her studies, she taught at Ng’iya Girls and at Vihiga teachers college as a trainer.
She was a woman of many firsts.
She was the first woman to climb up the ranks of the political system paving way for women in leadership in Kenya.
She was the first female mayor of Kisumu a position she assumed after the death of the incumbent Mathews Ondiek in 1965.
She was also the first female to sit in the speaker’s chair as a temporary deputy speaker.
Onyango was also the first woman to serve as the first secretary general of the Luo Union East Africa and the first woman assistant commissioner of the girl guide association.
She was also one of the founding trustees of the national fund for the disabled of Kenya in 1980.
Grace Onyango vied for the Kisumu Town Parliamentary seat in a male-dominated race and won. She went on to serve diligently for three consecutive terms until 1983.
On Tuesday in his tribute, the Kiambu Town MP described her as an astute legislator whose contributions to parliament and its committees and in the plenary were invaluable.
” She served as temporary deputy speaker and member of various committees amongst them the Select Committee that investigated the murder of JM Karuiki in 1975 and in the house business committee,” he said.
“In her death, we celebrate the life of a human rights defender, who advocated for the rights of women, and children and who laid the foundation for the participation of women in elective politics in this country,” he said.
He urged MPs to fully embrace and support every possible initiative to create a more inclusive society that will give women an equal platform in elective politics in honour of the contributions of the late Grace Onyango to the country.
He said parliament was mourning the passing of mama Grace at a time when it had just received a proposal from president William Ruto to amend the Constitution in the composition of the house as provided in articles 97 and 98 of the Constitution in order to attain the two-thirds gender principle and entrenchment of the national affirmative action fund.
