Kenyan leaders joined the rest of the world on Friday in mourning the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela who died on Thursday evening.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, ex-president Mwai Kibaki and ex-Prime Minister Raila Odinga led the rest of Kenyans in sending condolences, terming Mandela as "an outstanding African statesman and icon."
In his condolence, Kenyatta said Mandela was an exceptional transformational leader who was gifted with unique, admirable abilities and strong values.
He said the late Mandela believed in the noble principles of equity, justice, cohesiveness and inclusiveness in governance, adding that he had faith and confidence in the ability of his people to realize the dream of a free, united and prosperous South Africa.
"On behalf of the government and people of the Republic of Kenya and on my own behalf, I wish to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the late Mandela and to the people of the Republic of South Africa," Kenyatta said.
Mandela, who led the decades-long struggle against apartheid in South Africa, was jailed for 27 years for his activism. Released in 1990, Mandela became South Africa's first post-apartheid president in 1994.
He was widely credited for shepherding the country's peaceful transition to a more equitable and democratic system.
"Nelson Mandela was one of those rare human beings that we are persistently looking for and we only come across once in a century or a generation, and only if we are lucky," said Odinga.
The former Kenyan PM said Mandela was persistence, courage, humility, hope and tolerance rolled up in one person.
"We are lucky to have lived in his time and to have witnessed him rise to become a legend while he still lived. In Mandela's death, the world has lost a great symbol for what humanity can achieve with good intentions and persistence," Odinga said.
Despite being sentenced to life in prison, Mandela preached passionately and without evident bitterness about reconciliation and the need to build a new South African state.
In his message, former President Mwai Kibaki said late Mandela has towered over racism, redefined the meaning of freedom and inspired new standards of African dignity and brotherhood.
"He was the paragon of hope of a greater and more equal world. Mandela may be physically separated from us but his exceptional spirit and indiscriminate love for humanity has transformed the world and secured a place of honor for the ideals he unfailingly stood for," Kibaki said.
He said Mandela has bowed out of the scene but left Africa and her prospects on the world stage much brighter than ever before.
But Kenyatta said he has dispatched messages of my heartfelt sympathy to President Jacob Zuma, and to Graca Machel.
"We share the pain of this irreplaceable loss and mourn with our South African brothers and sisters. Our prayers are with them at this moment of national grief," he said.
The Kenyan leader said Mandela lived and worked for a world in which people should live together in peace and tranquility regardless of color, race or religion.
"His strong belief in Africa and its people epitomized the best of the Pan-Africanism spirit. His courage to confront apartheid transcended across the world and propelled the fight against colonialism and discrimination," he said.
"As a free man, President Mandela led the fight to free Africa not only from political bondage but equally important from the scourge of disease, poverty, poor governance and illiteracy -- ills of modern life."
