Five important facts about the late Attorney General James Karugu
Kenya’s second independence-era Attorney General James Karugu is dead. Confirming the death, the family of the 86-year-old said Mr Karugu died on Wednesday night. The family did not give more details on the cause of Mr Karugu’s demise.
“It is true that the old man has rested,” his daughter Vicky Karugu told the Nation.
Here are facts about Kenya’s second Attorney-General.
1. Mr Karugu was appointed by President Daniel Moi as Attorney-General in April 1980, taking over from Charles Njonjo, independent Kenya’s first AG who had resigned to join politics. He eventually resigned as AG after 15 months and until his death, the 86-year-old never revealed why he resigned.
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2. Mr Karugu has been out of the limelight for the last 40 years – ever since he resigned on June 2, 1981 during the tumultuous Nyayo era. The former AG was prominent public figure in the 1970s, when he was the deputy public prosecutor.
3. He was a coffee farmer – After retirement, the man touted as the best AG in Kenya silently retreated to his coffee farm in Kiambu from his former residence in Loresho. He bought his coffee farm on a loan after his friend convinced him to buy it.
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4. He was a family man – The late Karugu was married to the late Margaret Waithera and had three children namely Victoria Nyambura, Eric Mwaura and Rose Gathira.
5. He was a baby-sitter for an Olympic champion – Mr Karugu graduated as a student of history and political science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. While studying abroad, he became a baby-sitter for Scott Hamilton who later became an Olympic champion. The AG’s father sold their four-acre farm in Chura, Kiambu, to send his son to the US to study. It was while he was at the prosecution office that Cabinet minister Tom Mboya was assassinated.
Mr Karugu reintroduced the publication of Kenya Law Reports and also banned the manufacture and sale of chang’aa. In 2015, Karugu was diagnosed with progressive dementia and his children at one point in court claimed that opportunists have been taking advantage of this to try and swindle him.