A tearful opposition leader Raila Odinga on Friday paid tributes to Kibra MP Ken Okoth, terming him as a gentleman who related well with everybody.
In an interview, Raila revealed that he sponsored Mr Okoth's education while he served as MP of Lang'ata constituency, in which Kibra was part of it.
The veteran opposition leader said he treated Mr Okoth as one of his sons and was keen to have him pursue education because he was 'intelligent and came from poor background'.
"I sponsored Ken Okoth's education as a young man and Ken is like my son. He has shown a lot of dedication and was a very intelligent person. He worked very hard from a poor background.
"In the passing on of Ken Okoth, we have lost a true patriot. He is a man who was dedicated to serve the poor people of Kibra. He related well with everybody at different levels in our society," said Mr Odinga.
The 41-year-old legislator died at Nairobi Hospital on Friday after two years of battling with cancer. He arrived from France almost three weeks ago.
In a previous interview, Okoth spoke passionately about his difficult upbringing at Kisumu Ndogo in Kibra before he manages to get proper education.
“I loved books. I hated that poverty was blocking me from books. I hated how being poor demeans you,” he said in a media interview in 2012.
Still, he shone. It is reported that he scored 613 marks out of the possible 700 in KCPE and got an admission to Starehe Boys Center and later proceeded to St Lawrence University, USA where he studied German and European Studies. He got his masters in International Relations at Georgetown University.
The youthful legislator was first MP for Kibra constituency, which had been partitioned from the larger Lang'ata constituency which had Mr Odinga as MP.