Former South Nyanza County Council Chairman Elisha Akech Chieng' is dead.
Elisha succumbed to cancer at the Nairobi West Hospital on Friday aged 79, reports the Sunday Standard.
He is remembered as a charismatic political leader during the days of retired President Daniel Moi, and was once Moi's point man in the South Nyanza region, currently Migori and Homabay counties.
So powerful was he that any person from the region seeking to meet the President or get the former Head of State's attention had to go through him.
“My father was a highly respected man in this region because whoever wanted to meet the then most powerful man in Kenya (Mzee Moi) had to seek his approval.
"He used to host dignitaries and this meant he was a charismatic citizen of this country,” his son Tom Akech is quoted by the Standard.
Condoling with the family of the departed, Homabay Deputy Governor Hamilton Orata termed him as a good leader who played a major role in championing for the rights of the media.
“Chieng’ made a special appeal to President Uhuru Kenyatta when Kenya stayed in the dark for days without television.
"This tells us that he was a man who cared about information and development of the people,” he is quoted.
Others who have sent their condolences are Rangwe lawmaker Lilian Gogo and Ong'ondo Were of Kasipul.
He hailed from Lang'i village, Ndhiwa constituency in Homabay County, and was a member of the Luo Council of Elders at the time of his death.