(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 05, 1998 Kenyan newly reelected President Daniel arap Moi is sworn in for a final five-year term in a ceremony in Nairobi's Uhuru (freedom) park. - Daniel arap Moi, a former schoolteacher who became Kenya's longest-serving president and presided over years of repression and economic turmoil fueled by runaway corruption, has died. Moi's death was announced by President Uhuru Kenya in a statement on the state broadcaster on February 4, 2020. He was 95. (Photo by ALEXANDER JOE / AFP)
President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed sadness and conveyed South Africa’s condolences following the death of former Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi.
The former head of state died at the age of 95 at his family home in Kenya on Wednesday.
Ramaphosa said: “Kenya and all of Africa have lost a pioneering leader who shaped the development of his country and of the continent…”
He said as the longest-serving Kenyan head of state, Moi inspired new generations of Kenyan leaders and citizens to aspire to achieve the success Kenyans enjoy.
“His legacy also lives on in the values and vision of the African Union whose predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, benefited immensely from his leadership and vision of a better, self-sufficient Africa,” Ramaphosa said.
He added that it was under Moi’s leadership that diplomatic relations were established between Kenya and democratic South Africa in 1994, which laid the foundation for the strong bilateral relations which the countries still enjoyed today.
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