President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto are among dignitaries who attended Bob Collymore’s memorial service at the All Saints Cathedral Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) in Nairobi on Thursday.
Until his death on Monday morning, Collymore was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Safaricom.
After his brief speech, DP Ruto invited former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair to address the mourners.
“Before I invite his Excellency the President to make his remarks, let me on behalf of the other leaders here request with a lot of humility the former Prime Minister of the UK to come and make some remarks. Your Excellency, Tony Blair,” said DP Ruto.
From the look of things, Blair was unprepared to address the mourners, but Ruto told him not to worry.
“Sorry for the ambush, it was instructions from the President,” he said.
Blair said he got the news of Collymore’s passing on early in the week as he was preparing to come to Kenya.
He said that the former Safaricom CEO was a great leader because he stood up for what he believed in.
“He was an effective man. He got things done. He knew his challenges and he went out to meet them,” said Blair.
He was UK Premier between May 02, 1997 to June 27, 2007.