Doctor at Heart book by Dan Gikonyo

Doctor at Heart is not just about Dr Gikonyo’s life journey, but it also delves into pertinent social, economic and political issues at the local and global levels. The author criss-crosses generations and in so doing presents their respective opportunities and challenges, while at the same time advancing theories and worldviews that the reader will find very engaging. The book also brings out the authors’ multiple skills, each of which he pursues with a passion.

His authentic search for solutions to the challenges of life, aptly depict him as a Doctor at heart. Notably, Dr. Gikonyo emphasises some of the elements of transformation that he envisages for Kenya through a never-before-published interview of Mwai Kibaki, a transcript of which is included in the book.

Dr Dan Gikonyo is a renowned cardiologist with a reputable private practice to his credit. Born at the dawn of the Mau Mau struggle for independence, he witnessed first-hand the atrocities meted against the African communities by colonial authorities. The social injustices did not go away after independence; but escalated particularly during the Moi government. Dr Gikonyo came face to with such injustice when he entered public service. As part of his contribution towards achievement of Kenya’s Second Liberation, he provided medical services to crusaders for multiparty democracy, undeterred by the possible repercussions from the paranoid regime.

He would later come into the public limelight when he became President Mwai Kibaki’s personal physician. Dr Gikonyo has also been involved in philanthropy. He and his wife, Dr Betty Gikonyo, founded the Heart-to-Heart Foundation, a charity that finances surgical operations for needy children with heart conditions. The initiative of the Gikonyos to establish a private hospital in Kenya – The Karen Hospital – the first facility of its kind to be started and run by indigenous Kenyans, made him a household name in Kenya and beyond. The facility received Congressional citation at its inauguration in 2006.