1. John Michuki was born at Muguru village in Fort Hall District.
48 Facts About John Michuki
1. 2.
John Michuki served Kenya in various capacities, including Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Chairman of the Kenya Commercial Bank, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister.
3.
John Michuki was serving his 4th five-year term as a Member of Parliament for Kangema Constituency.
4.
John Michuki had a reputation as a "ruthless" and efficient manager, and was widely acknowledged as among the best performing ministers in President Kibaki's Government.
5.
John Michuki was serving as the Minister for Environment and National Resources at the time of his death.
6.
John Michuki was born in December 1932 at Muguru village, Iyego Location, Kangema Division in modern-day Murang'a County.
7.
John Michuki was born to a large polygamous family of Chief Michuki wa Kagwi who had 47 wives.
8.
John Michuki was the first-born son of Mariana Wanjiku, the 45th wife of Chief John Michuki Kagwi.
9.
John Michuki suffered the fate of large polygamous families, where sons of older wives tend to disinherit those of younger wives.
10.
John Michuki's mother enrolled him at Muguru primary School in 1941, a year after his father's demise.
11.
In 1943 young John Michuki dropped out of school a result of financial problems to cater for his fees.
12.
John Michuki travelled to Nairobi where he worked briefly in tailoring-related works where he fixed buttons and made button holes for the uniforms of the Pioneer Corp Unit, during the Second World War.
13.
In 1947 John Michuki was admitted to Nyeri High School for his Secondary education, proceeding to Mang'u High School for his Advance Level education.
14.
In 1961, John Michuki secured a government scholarship to study at Worcester College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics, Finance and Public Administration.
15.
John Michuki began his long career as civil servant in 1957 when he was recruited as a clerk within the Provincial Administration immediately after graduating from Mang'u High School.
16.
When Kenya re-gained independence in 1963, John Michuki joined Kenneth Matiba and Duncan Ndegwa in the youthful team of senior civil servants in Jomo Kenyatta's first Independent Government.
17.
John Michuki's achievements enabled him to quickly rise up the ranks from an Under Secretary in the Treasury in 1963 to Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Treasury in 1964 and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance in 1965.
18.
When President Daniel arap Moi succeeded President Jomo Kenyatta as president upon the latter's death in 1978, John Michuki became one of the Kikuyu civil servants who left public service to embark on business and political careers.
19.
John Michuki tried his hand in politics when he vied for the Kangema parliamentary seat during the 1979 general election, the first in the Moi era.
20.
John Michuki made an impressive political come-back in the aftermath of the abortive Coup d'etat by elements of the Kenya Air Force that nearly toppled Daniel Moi from power on 1 August 1982 and the political shake-up that followed the "Njonjo Commission of Inquiry" which set the stage for the dramatic fall of the then powerful former Attorney-General and Minister for Constitution Affairs, Charles Njonjo, and many of his allies in 1983.
21.
John Michuki captured the chairmanship of the then powerful single party, the Kenya African National Union in 1983, and dislodged Kamotho from the Kangema seat in the 1983 snap election.
22.
However, John Michuki lost his parliamentary seat and the cabinet post after the controversial 'Mlolongo' election in 1988.
23.
In 1991, John Michuki aligned himself to the politics of the original Forum for the Restoration of Democracy that emerged from the Saba saba protest politics.
24.
John Michuki was again forced to choose his political path when the original FORD split into two rival factions: the right-leaning Ford-Asili under Kenneth Matiba and its rival Ford-Kenya led by the left-leaning Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
25.
John Michuki was at the center of the coalition-making politics ahead of the historic 2002 elections.
26.
John Michuki first joined a group of parliamentarians led by the then leader of Opposition, Mwai Kibaki, which formed the National Alliance Party of Kenya, as a merger of smaller opposition parties that endorsed Kibaki as flag-bearer.
27.
John Michuki became a central figure and a key Kibaki ally in the NARC politics, retaining his Kangema parliamentary seat.
28.
In recognition of his efforts to reform public transport, John Michuki won the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights' Waziri award.
29.
The defeat of the government sponsored constitution in the 2005 referendum culminated to the cabinet reshuffle which saw John Michuki appointed as the Minister of influential ministry Internal Security and Provincial Administration.
30.
John Michuki was appointed as Minister for Roads and Public Works in the Cabinet named by President Kibaki on 8 January 2008 following the controversial December 2007 presidential election.
31.
Minister of Environment John Michuki was appointed as Minister for the Environment and Mineral Resources in the Grand Coalition Cabinet named on 13 April 2008.
32.
John Michuki was appointed by president Kibaki as an Acting Minister of Finance on 11 July 2008 to stand in for Amos Kimunya.
33.
John Michuki was honoured with a UNEP Award for his clean-up of the Nairobi River and the city.
34.
John Michuki is the force behind the enactment of a new mining act to regulate environmental degradation and mining.
35.
John Michuki took key leadership role in addressing Africa's position towards the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and served as the co-chair of International Environmental Governance.
36.
John Michuki is alleged to have ordered the raid on the Standard Media Group in February 2006.
37.
John Michuki was in some instance reported in the media to be opposed to the draft constitution 'dismissing it as a foreign document'.
38.
However, John Michuki, who had remained mute for the better part of the campaigns, finally broke silence endorsing the draft constitution saying he did not want to "act as a stumbling block to the passage of a new constitution which has eluded Kenyans for over twenty years".
39.
John Michuki cited his long friendship with President Mwai Kibaki, who was heading the pro-constitution campaigns.
40.
Amid the opposition from Rift Valley Province MPs, John Michuki insisted that all occupants of the Mau Forest would be evicted and only some of the squatters would be compensated.
41.
John Michuki said it was within his duty as the Environment Minister to protect forests.
42.
John Michuki has received a fair share of condemnation after he endorsed Uhuru Kenyatta as the Kikuyu, Embu and Meru flag bearer ahead of the 2012 elections.
43.
John Michuki's proposition was condemned as "Project Uhuru II" by among Martha Karua who was a presidential hopeful for 2012 and comes from the same tribe as Uhuru.
44.
John Michuki was married to Josephine Watiri John Michuki, and had six children.
45.
John Michuki was the managing director of Fairview Investments Ltd and Kangema Farmers Ltd, both involved in coffee farms, tea farms and real estate, among other things.
46.
John Michuki was an uncle to Queen Jane, a famous musician.
47.
John Michuki died at the age of 79 on 21 February 2012, reportedly of a heart attack.
48.
John Michuki is widely remembered due to the Michuki laws he brought while being the transport minister.