President William Ruto is leading Kenyans as they mourn Prof Bethwell Ogot who has died at the age of 95, APA can report on Thursday.
”With his passing, the curtain has fallen on a long and illustrious life of selfless service, inspired leadership and committed professionalism” Rut wrote on his Facebook page.
He described Prof Ogot as a historian with peerless rigour and brought the discipline to life and deployed it to articulate a devoutly patriotic and proudly African intellectual agenda, which went a long way to correct impacts of Euro-centric ideologies on the collective academic psyche.
”He was a driven yet compassionate leader in his field of scholarship. However, his leadership extended well beyond academic and administrative roles in the university, yet always, his commitment, compassion, patriotism, rigour and integrity always shone like a lighthouse” Ruto said.
Prof Ogot was described by Kenyans as a gentle giant who contributed to shaping Kenyan national discourses.
He had specialised in African history and was once the Chancellor of Moi University.
Prof Ogot was educated at Makerere University College, and the University of St Andrews. he was also a student at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
He was a student activist during his country’s negotiations for independence from Britain in 1960.
WN/as/APA