Raymond Moi, Mzee Daniel Moi’s son has finally revealed the former head of state’s real age.
Speaking during a service for the second President of Kenya at his Kabarnet Gardens home in Nairobi, Raymond said that Mzee Moi died aged 105 years.
He further trashed what had been reported in the media earlier.
“We read in the magazines and newspapers that Mzee was 95 years old, but Mzee was not 95 and I think many of you have surmised that,” the Rongai MP was quoted by The Standard.
He also spoke about Moi’s friend by the name Eric Barnett, who at 103 years now, stated that he was slightly younger than the country’s second president.
“Mr Barnett today is 103 years old. He and Mzee used to play football when they were young,” he added.
“When we used to play football, we used to plead with Mzee not to break our legs, because he was much older than us,” he quoted Barnett.
Therefore, given that Moi was slightly older than Barnett by approximately two or three years, The Standard reports that the family calculated his real age to be at least 105.
It’s not clear yet whether the family will change the age to officially show that he was born in 1914 instead of the widely recognised and accepted 1924.
After the passing of the former president on Tuesday at the Nairobi Hospital, his long-time press secretary Lee Njiru put Moi’s real age at between 102 and 103 years.
“Although his ID indicated he was born 1924 that was not the correct age…Mzee Moi says he’s older than Jeremiah Nyaga and Charles Njonjo,” Njiru said.
Former Attorney General Njonjo celebrated his 100th birthday two weeks ago while the late Nyaga was reportedly born in 1920.
Moi will be laid to rest at his Kabarak farm in Nakuru on Wednesday after a memorial service on Tuesday at Nyayo Stadium.
Today (Monday) marks his last day of lying in the state at Parliament Buildings, with public body viewing also coming to an end.