Professor George Saitoti was a mathematician turned politician who served as Kenya's Vice President for 13 years under Daniel arap Moi. Born in 1945 in Maasai land, he earned a PhD in mathematics from the University of Warwick and taught at the University of Nairobi before entering politics. Moi appointed him Minister of Finance in 1983, where he oversaw structural adjustment programs during Kenya's economic crisis. He became Vice President in 1989 and held the position until 1997, then again from 1999 to 2002, making him one of Kenya's longest serving VPs. Saitoti was implicated in the Goldenberg scandal, one of Kenya's largest corruption cases, though he was never convicted. After KANU lost power in 2002, he joined Kibaki's government as Minister of Education and later Internal Security. On June 10, 2012, Saitoti died in a helicopter crash near Nairobi along with his assistant and four others. The cause of the crash remains disputed.
See Also
Sources
- Hornsby, Charles. "Kenya: A History Since Independence." I.B. Tauris, 2012.
- Wrong, Michela. "It's Our Turn to Eat." Fourth Estate, 2009.
- Nation Media Group. "The Saitoti Years." Daily Nation, June 2012.