James Nyamweya Lawrence University Canton, New York, which awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Political Science in 1975. President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta also decorated him with two of the highest honours, Elder of the Golden Heart and Member of the Burning Spear, for his distinguished service to the country. After return of the multiparty politics in Kenya, Nyamweya joined hands with President Mwai Kibaki, then Minister for Health in Daniel arap Moi's cabinet, to form Democratic Party (DP). He was later to serve as National Vice-Chairman with Mwai Kibaki as Chairman. Nyamweya demonstrated his extraordinary qualities as a tactful politician
Mwai Kibaki and chairman of the Economic Planning Commission in 1963, he was promoted to Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1966. In 1969, he became Minister of Finance and Economic Planning where he served until 1982. In 1974, Kibaki, facing serious competition for his Donholm Constituency seat from a Mrs. Jael Mbogo, whom he had only narrowly and controversially beaten for the seat in the 1969 elections, moved his political base from Nairobi to his rural home, Othaya, where he was subsequently elected as Member of Parliament. The same year "Time" magazine rated him among the top 100 people in the