David Mwiraria served as the Minister of Finance from January 2003 to February 2006.
Born in Imenti North, Meru, Mwiraria died on April 13, 2017, aged 78 years, after battling cancer and acute respiratory failure.
Despite his death, his name remains active in Kenya’s politics and governance, given his role as President Mwai Kibaki’s first Finance Minister, which has earned him both accolades and criticism.
Following the historic December 2002 elections, Mwiraria was picked to head the crucial finance docket in a government that had campaigned on economic transformation and anti-corruption.
Political career
Mwiraria began his political journey in 1992 after defeating Jackson Harvester Angaine, a former Minister of Lands, in the Imenti North parliamentary election.
He served as the member of parliament for Imenti North from 1992 to 2007.
In 2007, Mwiraria was defeated by Silas Muriuki, who ran on the Mazingira Green Party of Kenya ticket. He was a close ally of the then-president, Mwai Kibaki, under their party, the Party of National Unity.
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When President Kibaki took office in 2002, he appointed him as the Minister of Finance in January 2003. He later resigned in February 2006 after being accused of the Anglo-Leasing scandal. He was the later appointed as the minister of Environment and Natural Resources from 24 July 2007 to December 2007 by president Mwai Kibaki.
Life as a minister under President Mwai Kibaki
President Mwai Kibaki took office in 2002. During this period, the country’s economy was in turmoil, and his one goal was to revive the economy. He appointed David Mwiraria as the Minister of Finance, who created a huge budget. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, seeing this, sent their officials to intervene, as they worried about where the country would obtain the money to finance its budget. Mwiraria kicked them out of the office.
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He championed the common slogan, “Tulipe Ushuru Tujitegeme,” which later enabled Kenya to finance its own budget. At this time, he was the MP for Imenti North.
In December 2007, he was banned from visiting the United Kingdom, along with Nicholas Biwott and Ramniklal Panacha, due to pending corruption charges.
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