Kinuthia Wamwangi: Champion of elderly people welfare, rights

The former Transitional Authority Chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi is emerging as a voice for the rights and welfare of elderly people, who is determined to challenge the deep-rooted discrimination, abuse and neglect of Kenya’s older persons.

From physical assault, robbery and even rape, the elderly are some of society’s most vulnerable members, and Wamwangi is on a mission to change that.

Wamwangi,75, is pushing for major reforms, including the establishment of specialised hospital wards for the aged, an institute dedicated to the study of ageism and creation of a care center for neglected elderly people.

Through his Kinuthia Wamwangi Foundation, which operates through collaborations and partnerships, he proposes the establishment of the Abraham Centre for Older Persons in Thika.

In collaboration with St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Franciscan Congregation, Wamwangi noted that the centre would provide essential care, recreational spaces, and health services for older persons while promoting inter-generational integration and societal respect for aging.

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Among the features and activities suggested for establishment at the proposed center include gym facilities, a dispensary, incorporation of inter-generational integration programmes, medical camps, Communal Interaction Spaces, boxing rings and games area, physiotherapy and Exercise Lessons.

“There are a lot of neglected, rejected and abandoned older persons in the villages. They really are just surviving,” said Wamwangi.

He added: “They have a place to sleep but in horrible conditions because they don’t have food. They don’t have medicine, they are lonely. They have given up on life. They are just waiting for their maker to come for them.”

Wamwangi’s passion to defend the welfare of the aged saw him nominated as an ambassador of older persons in Africa by HelpAge International, a global non-profit organisation that works to improve the lives of older people around the world.

“He has boldly and publicly challenged deeply-seated negative assumptions, prejudices, stereotypes and discrimination against older people in the society,” HelpAge country representative Jude Otogo said in a nomination letter.

Among the notable instances the organisations highlighted where Wamwangi spoke about injustices meted against older persons include an occasion where older women in Gusii were lynched on allegations of being witches.

In January, Wamwangi was invited to receive blessings from Senior Swami Punjya Tyagvallabh, a Hindu religious leader during the visit of the Supreme Religious leader of the Hindu Community worldwide, to BAPS Swaminarayan Temple on Prof Wangari Maathai Road. He was recognised in virtue of his advocacy works on defending the rights and welfare of the elderly.

Top on Wamwangi’s priority list is a drive to have the Ministry of Health create a policy to ensure hospitals set up geriatrics wards so that older men and women can be receive healthcare in a more dignified manner.

“Older persons sleep in the same wards with very young people. And I have myself visited hospitals where I have found an old man of 70-something years sharing a bed with a young man in his 20s,” said Wamwangi.

He said his foundation, in partnership with Zetech University, are in the process of establishing the Institute of Aging Studies.

“The Institute of Aging Studies will have several focuses including short courses for caregivers, diploma, degree and Master’s courses and even eventually PhD courses,” he said.

Wamwangi who is a decorated Kikuyu elder and earned the title njamba ya ruriri (a hero of the community) is also pushing to challenge the stereotype narrative that the elderly should not seek employment terming it as discrimination against economic empowerment.

He lauded the Inua Jamii programme where older persons get a monthly stipend of Sh2,000.

“That money is not enough, but it is very, very, very necessary and needed particularly by the people in the villages,” he added.

At 75, Wamwangi is an accomplished professional having held leadership positions in various professional bodies, including the Kenya Institute of Management, the Institute of Human Resource Management, and the Kenya Institute of Certified Secretaries. He is also an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

During his tenure as chair of the Transitional Authority, Wamwangi oversaw the transfer of functions from the national government to county governments, facilitated county governments in performing their functions, was the custodian of county assets and audited local and national government infrastructure.