Former President Moi’s longtime physician Dr David Silverstein dies

Veteran cardiologist Dr David Silverstein, who served as former President Daniel arap Moi’s personal physician for decades and pioneered cardiac care in Kenya, has died, his family has confirmed.

Renowned cardiologist Dr David Silverstein, the longtime personal physician of Kenya’s second President Daniel arap Moi, has died.

His death was confirmed by his family on Sunday, bringing to an end a medical career spanning more than five decades in Kenya and closely associated with the development of modern cardiology in the country.

Silverstein was widely regarded as one of the pioneers of cardiology in Kenya. After arriving in the country in the 1970s, he worked at Kenyatta National Hospital and helped establish the first cardiac catheterisation laboratory, commonly known as a cath lab.

The laboratory allowed doctors to use specialised imaging and catheters to diagnose and treat heart conditions, providing capabilities that were then relatively new in the region.

Within a few years, Silverstein rose from running the laboratory to heading the cardiology unit at KNH while also teaching at the University of Nairobi Medical School.

His contribution earned him a reputation as one of the figures who helped lay the foundations for specialist cardiac medicine in Kenya.

Moi’s doctor and confidant

Silverstein was perhaps best known publicly for his extraordinarily long relationship with Moi.

He first treated Moi in 1977, when Moi was Kenya's vice president, after being asked to see him at Kenyatta National Hospital. Their doctor-patient relationship would develop into a friendship lasting more than four decades.

When Moi became president in 1978, Silverstein continued treating him and was later appointed his personal physician.

During Moi's presidency, Silverstein said he checked on the Head of State weekly and accompanied him on numerous overseas trips. He continued treating him after his retirement and remained his physician until Moi died on February 4, 2020.

Speaking during Moi's burial at Kabarak in February 2020, Silverstein described a relationship built on trust that extended well beyond medicine.

Their conversations, he recalled, ranged from advances in medicine and international politics to religion and the Old Testament. Silverstein, a prominent member of Kenya's Jewish community, also spoke of the mutual respect between their different religious traditions.

He was also the personal physician of former Attorney General Charles Njonjo. In an interview published by NTV in August 2026, Silverstein reflected on his more than 50-year career in Kenya and his proximity to some of the country's defining political and historical moments.

From Chicago to Kenya

Silverstein graduated from the University of Chicago Medical School in 1967 at the age of 22 before undertaking his internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship at the University of Washington.

He also served in the US military at an Air Force base in Taiwan before eventually moving to Kenya.

What was initially expected to be a relatively short stay became a lifetime commitment to Kenyan medicine.

He arrived when specialist cardiac services were still developing and became involved in training generations of Kenyan doctors in addition to treating patients.

In 1977, he was appointed Kenya's chief cardiothoracic physician, according to a profile published by his alma mater.

He later practised as a consultant cardiologist and physician at The Nairobi Hospital and remained active in Kenya's medical community for decades. As recently as March 2026, Silverstein was among senior Nairobi Hospital consultants who publicly raised concerns about governance and management problems at the institution.

His death leaves behind a legacy extending beyond his association with one of Kenya's longest-serving presidents: the specialist cardiac infrastructure he helped establish and generations of doctors he helped train.