Little known 104-year-old billionaire to have city road name after him

On Thursday last week, a low-key but very historic event took place at Alfa Hotel in downtown Nairobi where  Governor Evans Kidero honoured one of the founders of Rwathia Distributors, Gerald Gikonyo, aged 104 years.

In a country where true heroes are rarely recognised, it was heartwarming to see Kidero give Gikonyo a ceremonial key to the city that will see him now park his cars free of charge, attend all county and national governments functions and have a road named after him among other benefits.

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Gikonyo, a co-founder of Rwathia group of businesses, is the third person to receive the award after the late Cardinal Maurice Otunga of the Catholic Church, former Tanzania President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and Nobel laureate, the late Prof Wangari Maathai.

Gikonyo, who Kidero described as one of the city’s top loyal tax payers, has faithfully remitted his dues to City Hall without fail even as some prominent figures dodge the taxman.

Over the years he has accumulated wealth that runs into billions of shillings.

The remaining patriarch of the great capitalist boys from Rwathia village in Murang’a County, who founded the the legendary Rwathia Group of entrepreneurs, is little known though the group he chairs owns about 65 per cent of the buildings in downtown Nairobi.

Gikoyo is perhaps the oldest man living in the city having come to Nairobi in 1927. He started a thriving business in 1947 when he established Mwihoko General and Rwathia Supplies and remains an inspiration to many looking to overcome odds. (By John Kihara and Geoffrey Muya)