George Kinuthia
Saitoti,
E.G.H. (3 August 1945[
4][5] – 10 June
2012) was a
Kenyan politician, businessman and American- and British-trained economist, mathematician and development policy thinker.
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[9] 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",[citation needed] 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.[10] 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. As one of Kenya's most experienced, unassuming and shrewd politicians, Saitoti was billed[by whom?] as a front-runner in the race to succeed
President Mwai Kibaki.
- published: 09 Jan 2016
- views: 31993