Former Cabinet Minister Soita Shitanda is dead

Former Cabinet Minister Soita Shitanda has died at the age of 56 at a Nairobi hospital after a long illness.

According to family members, the former Malava MP had been ailing for a while before being admitted at the hospital two weeks ago where he passed on Tuesday afternoon.

He was serving as the chairman Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC). Shitanda previously served as Housing Minister in the NARC and the grand coalition governments.

He was a Ford Kenya member and had vied for the Kakamega Gubernatorial seat in 2013, but lost to Wycliffe Oparanya after serving as Malava MP for three terms.

Shitanda represented Malava constituency since 1997, after he ousted the then Minister for Health Joshua Angatia in the General Election, vying on a Ford Kenya ticket.

He was re-elected to Parliament in 2002 on the NARC ticket and served as an Assistant Minister in the Office of the President, before he was appointed Minister for Housing in a Cabinet reshuffle in 2005.

Shitanda was again re-elected to Parliament in 2007 and re-appointed Minister for Housing.