Kajiado’s doyenne, Loice Mpayei, has passed on at 96 years in hospital, three days after developing a medical complication, the family disclosed on Thursday night.
In 2019, Mpayei was among the many people recognized by Governor Joseph Ole Lenku during that year’s Mashujaa Day for being the first Maasai woman to go to school when she was a young girl in the 1940s.
Mpayei, during a previous interview, said that when she joined Std 1, girls in Maasailand were not allowed to proceed to Std 5.
“After I did Std 4, I escaped from home to go to Ngong from Loitokitok on foot, which took me five days. In Ngong, I looked for a family to shelter me as I proceeded to Std 5,” said Mpayei.
Commonly known as Mama Balozi, Mpayei played a major role during the Mamau days in Kajiado when she housed Dedan Kimathi while he was on his way to Tanzania in the 1950s.
Mpayei was involved in Kanu politics during the Mzee Jomo Kenyatta regime.
She was recognized by Lenku during the 2019 Mashujaa Day for being the first Maasai girl in East Africa to step into a classroom.
In Std 6, she was the only girl in a class of 44 students.
Her son Patrick Balozi, told the Star on the phone that his mother developed health complications on Monday morning, two days after attending his daughter’s wedding last Saturday.
“My mother was in good health on Saturday when she attended her granddaughter’s wedding. She was also happy when I checked on her on Monday morning, only to later a health complication,” said Balozi.
Balozi said when he went to check on her that Monday, she was unwell and he was forced to take her to Loitokitok subcounty hospital, where she was referred to Kajiado County Referral Hospital.
“Her situation became worse and when I went to check on her on Thursday morning, she had left us,” said Balozi.
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