Former Head of the Public Service, DR. Richard Leakey, has died at the age of 78 years old.
President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed Leakey’s death and paid tribute to him as a valued servant.
“I received the sad news of Dr Richard Erskine Frere Leakey, Kenya’s previous Head of Public Service, passing away this afternoon, Sunday 2nd January 2022,” President Kenyatta announced in a broadcast from State House.
Dr. Leakey, a world-renowned Kenyan paleoanthropologist and conservationist, has distinguished himself in a number of public service jobs, including Director of the National Museums of Kenya and Chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service Board of Directors.
Besides his distinguished career in the public service, Dr Leakey is celebrated for his prominent role in Kenya’s vibrant civil society where he founded and successfully ran a number of institutions among them the conservation organization WildlifeDirect.
“On behalf of the people of Kenya, my family and on my own behalf, I send heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the family, friends and associates of Dr. Richard Leakey during this difficult period of mourning,” the president said.
