In an interview with Citizen TV, Norman disclosed that his brother waited until he and his wife prayed for him before he took his last breath.
“Joe did me the greatest favour that a brother can do and that is he waited for me to come and hold his hand together with my wife,” he stated.
“We held him, we chatted with him. I’m sure even when you are comatose, you are able to comprehend and hear what you are being told. We then prayed with him and as soon as we finished praying, the world closed on Joe.”
The family further revealed that Nyagah succumbed to Covid-19. Norman disclosed that his brother’s lungs had 95 percent damage.
“He would do occasional dialysis and he seemed to have been improving until the day before yesterday when about 8 doctors that were looking after him found that his lungs had been destroyed beyond measure.”
Nyagah served in former president Daniel Moi’s cabinet before quitting both the government and the KANU party in the run-up to the 2002 general election.
Together with Raila Odinga, William Ruto, Najib Balala, and Musalia Mudavadi, Joe was part of the Orange Democratic Movement’s ‘Pentagon’ in the lead up to the 2007 general election.
Though ODM lost the national election, he retained his parliamentary seat.
In the 2017 elections, he emerged third behind Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga garnering 38,029 of the votes. He would then retire to his rural home in Embu.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has since mourned the 72-year-old as an influential, approachable servant leader whose wisdom will be missed by many.
“Joe was a great person. A friendly leader, highly experienced in public service and a very influential politician. What stood out the most in my many years of interaction with him was his brilliance and clarity of mind when articulating matters of public interest,” the President recalled.
Source: KENYAGIST.COM
