Jomo Kenyatta
22 August 1978 - 31 August 1978
“Our children may learn about heroes of the past. Our task is to make ourselves architects of the future” - Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta was a well-known Kenyan politician and anti-colonial activist who served as the country's Prime Minister and President. Kenyatta was a Pan-Africanist and African nationalist who was instrumental in transforming Kenya from a colonial state to an independent republic. He was a powerful figure who led the Kenya African National Union and was frequently referred to as mzee, which translates as "Father of the nation."
Image is taken from Britannica
Early Life
Jomo Kenyatta was born Kamau in Gatundu, a town in the Kiambu district, in the 1890s (his exact birth date is unknown). His mother was Wambui, and his father was Moigoi, a farmer and breeder of livestock. Kamau's father died when he was a child, and he was adopted by his uncle Ngengi, who also married his mother, according to Kikuyu tradition. When Kamau was ten years old, he contracted jigger infections in one of his legs and feet, for which he underwent surgery at a Church of Scotland mission. This encounter with Europeans captivated him and eventually led him to flee his home and enroll in a mission school in 1909, which he paid for by working for a nearby white settler. In 1912, Kamau graduated from the mission school and began working as an apprentice to a carpenter. Kamau was baptized in August 1914, and prior to his baptism, he was asked to choose a Christian name he would be identified with. He changed his name to Johnstone.
‘Our children may learn about heroes of the past. Our task is to make ourselves architects of the future’ - Jomo Kenyatta
Nairobi and the KCA
Kamau met Grace Wahu, his first wife, in 1919 and was urged to marry her by his church elders after it was evident that Grace fell pregnant with their first child (The ceremony would only take place in 1922). Kamau briefly worked as an interpreter at the Nairobi High Court and he ran a store from his home. In 1922, he changed his name to Jomo Kenyatta and started working for the Nairobi Municipal Council Public Works Department as a water-meter reader and store clerk.
A year earlier, Harry Thuku led the East Africa Association (EAA) through Kenya's first African political protest movement against a white-dominated government. Kenyatta joined the EAA in 1922, but it was soon disbanded in 1925 due to government pressure. Its members would reassemble under the name of the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA), which was founded by Joseph Kangethe and James Beauttah. Kenyatta served as the journal's editor from 1924 to 1929 and was appointed general secretary in 1928. Additionally, in May of that year, Kenyatta launched Mwigithania (He who brings together), a monthly Kikuyu-language newspaper. The newspaper sought support from all segments of the Kikuyu community.
Overseas
In February 1929, Kenyatta left for London as a representative of the KCA in discussions with the Colonial Office, however, the Secretary of State for the Colonies would not meet with him. Kenyatta returned to Kenya and returned to London in 1931. Whilst in Britain, Kenyatta befriended George Padmore, an Afro-Caribbean Pan- Africanist who worked for the Soviet-run Comintern. The two of them left for the Soviet Union in August 1932 and Kenyatta attended the Moscow State University. He studied economics at the university, which was funded by Padmore. He stayed for two years and then traveled around Europe briefly before returning to London, where he met with Pan-Africanists and protested Italy's 1936 invasion of Abyssinia. Kenyatta was a member of the Communist Party and associated with black nationalists during the 1930s.
In 1934, Kenyatta returned to University College London to resume his studies and work on Arthur Barlow's English-Kikuyu dictionary. In 1935, he enrolled at the London School of Economics to study social anthropology under anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski's tutelage. Additionally, Malinowski would assist Kenyatta with his thesis on Kikuyu culture and tradition. In 1938, he published his thesis, Facing Mount Kenya.
Return to Kenya
Kenyatta returned to Kenya in September 1946 to assume leadership of the newly formed Kenya African Union (KAU) and was elected president in 1947. Over the next few years, he traveled throughout Kenya, giving lectures to promote the country's independence.
Kenyatta foresaw a "dangerous explosion" among the Kikuyu in 1952, as part of the Mau Mau rebellion against European settlers in Kenya. He was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison in April 1953 on charges of directing the rebellion. While he was imprisoned, nationalists Oginga Odinga and Tom Mboya founded the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and elected Kenyatta president, despite the fact that he remained in the government's custody although he served his sentence.
Kenyatta was released in 1962 and attended the 1963 London Conference, where he negotiated Kenya's independence terms. KANU won pre-independence elections in May 1963, and on the 12th of December that year, Kenya declared its first independence, with Kenyatta serving as Prime Minister. A year later, he would become Kenya's first president.
Presidency
By 1964, Kenya had effectively devolved into a one-party state. Kenyatta averted ethnic conflict by appointing representatives from a variety of ethnic groups to the government. He defied other African socialist leaders' advice to nationalize property, preferring a Western capitalist approach.
Kenyatta served as President until his assassination on 22 August 1978.
References
Bilow, A. (2008) Jomo Kenyatta (c. 1894-1978) •, Blackpast.org. Available at: https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/kenyatta-jomo-c-1894-1978/ (Accessed: 8 April 2021).
Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan independence leader, is freed from prison (2021). Available at: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kenyatta-freed (Accessed: 8 April 2021).
Jomo Kenyatta | president of Kenya (2021). Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jomo-Kenyatta (Accessed: 8 April 2021).
Jomo Kenyatta | South African History Online (2021). Available at: https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/jomo-kenyatta (Accessed: 8 April 2021).
TOP 10 QUOTES BY JOMO KENYATTA | A-Z Quotes (2021). Available at: https://www.azquotes.com/author/65479-Jomo_Kenyatta (Accessed: 8 April 2021).
Bilow, A. (2008) Jomo Kenyatta (c. 1894-1978) •, Blackpast.org. Available at: https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/kenyatta-jomo-c-1894-1978/ (Accessed: 8 April 2021).
