| | Dr Wanjiru Kihoro's brave battle from the coma which she has been fighting since 24 January 2003 came to an end at 10pm on Thursday, 12 October 2006 at Kenyatta National Hospital. Dr Kihoro went into a coma following the Busia plane crash in which three people were killed. A distinguished economist, Dr Wanjiru Kihoro graduated from Columbia University and went on to earn an MA in Development Studies and a PhD at Leeds University. Over the years she gained the respect and admiration of many for her dedication to matters of gender, equality, justice and democracy.
A long time London resident, Dr Kihoro was one of the founders of the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners in Kenya formed in 1982. The Committee fought to highlight the plight of university lecturers, students and other so-called 'dissidents' incarcerated in various Kenyan maximum security prisons. Largely as a result of the Committee's pressure, most of the prisoners were adopted by Amnesty International and other international human rights organisations as prisoners of conscience. |
