Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) president Waithaka Kioni was laid to rest amid heavy emotion at his Kiamwangi village home in Gatundu South, Kiambu County.
Sports fans eulogized the idol as a notable transformative, visionary, people-friendly, and cheerful person who had honed his talent of getting things done at a funeral attended by key government officials and local and foreign sports administrators.
Waithaka, 70, who also served as the second vice president of Kenya's National Olympic Committee, died on April 9 while receiving treatment at St. Francis Community Hospital.
Representatives from the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) Zone V and other foreign dignitaries attended his funeral, where speaker after speaker praised him as a dedicated volleyball administration who saw Kenyan teams ascend from obscurity to worldwide prominence.
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His daughter, Jemimah Waithaka, alias Mimah, led family members in eulogizing their father as an exceptional patriarch who shaped them to become better versions of themselves and witnessed them improve in academics and other facets of life.
Francis Mutuku, a representative of Kenya's National Olympic Committee, led other mourners in eulogizing Kioni as an uniter who brought people with different ideas together and helped them merge for the good of Kenyan sports teams.
Politicians in attendance, led by regional MP Gabriel Kagombe, pledged to set aside special funds for grassroots talent development in his honour, praising him for nurturing numerous talents in Gatundu South and beyond.
Kioni was the Deputy President and Treasurer of the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) and the National Olympic Committee of Kenya's Second Deputy President until his death.
Steve, Paul, David, and Jemimah are his four children.
