Profile of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta
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Alexa Internet
has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the
Wayback Machine
after an embargo period.
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20131229150513/http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke:80/presidents/kenyatta/profile.htm
Mzee
Jomo Kenyatta
Profile
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MZEE
JOMO KENYATTA 1ST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA
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Jomo Kenyatta was
born Kamau Wa Ngengi at Ng'enda village, Gatundu Division, Kiambu in 1889. He
was the son of Muigai and Wambui.In 1896 his father died and Wambui was inherited
by Muigai's younger brother Ngengi.That is the union through which James Muigai,
Kamau's half-brother was born. Kamau's mother later returned to her parents
where she died. Kamau moved from Ng'enda for Muthiga to live with his grandfather
Kingu wa Magana who was a fortune teller and medicine man. He took interest
in Agikuyu culture and customs and used to assist his grandfather in the practice
of medicine.
In 1909,Kamau joined Church of Scotland Mission, Thogoto, where he obtained
elementary education and carpentry training. In 1912 he finished elementary
school and became an apprentice carpenter. In 1913 he was circumcised at Nyogara
stream near Thogoto Mission to become member of Kihiu Mwigi/Mebengi age group.
In 1914,he was
baptized a Christian and given the name John Peter which he changed to Johnstone.
He later changed his name to Jomo and during his later years was known as Jomo
Kenyatta. During World War 1,when the British government was forcefully conscripting
Africans into the army, Kenyatta took refuge in Narok where he worked as a clerk
to an Asian trader. After the war, he served as a storekeeper to a European
firm and this time, he began wearing his beaded belt Kinyatta.
He married Grace
Wahu in 1920, with whom they had two children, Peter Muigai and Margaret Wambui.
He worked in the Nairobi City Council water department between 1921-26 on a
salary of about Kenya shillings 250.00 per month. Though he owned a shamba (farm)
and a house at Dagoretti, he preferred to live closer to town at Kilimani in
a hut and cycled home during weekends. He took interest in the political activities
of the Kikuyu Central Association leaders James Beauttah and Joseph Kang'ethe.
By 1926, he was the secretary of KCA. He was also chosen to represent the Kikuyu
land problems before the Hilton Young Commission in Nairobi. This marked the
beginning of his career in politics.
In 1928, he published
a Gikuyu weekly newspaper, Muigwithania that dealt with the Kikuyu culture and
new farming methods. The Kikuyu Central Association sent him to England in 1929
to influence British opinion on tribal land. After touring some parts of Europe,
including Russia in 1930, he returned to Kenya to fight cases of female circumcision
together with the Scottish Mission. He supported the idea of independent schools.
In 1931, he again
went to England to present a written petition to parliament. It is during this
time that he met India's Mahatma Gandhi in November 1932. After giving evidence
before the Morris Carter Commission, he proceeded to Moscow to study Economics
at the invitation of George Padmore, a radical West Indian. He was forced to
return to Britain by 1933 when Padmore fell out with the Russians and he continued
with political campaigns in the UK.
During the gold rush, land in Kakamega reserve was being distributed to settlers,
something which angered Kenyatta causing him to speak about Britain's injustice.
It is for this reason that the British dubbed him a communist. He taught Gikuyu
at the University College, London and also wrote a book on the Kikuyu language
in 1937. Under Professor Malinowski, he studied Anthropology at the famous London
School of Economics (LSE). In 1938, he published a book entitled "Facing
Mount Kenya".
During the World
War II, Kenyatta served on a farm in the United Kingdom .He owned his own farm
in the UK. He married Edna Clarke, mother of his son, Peter Magana in 1942.
Along with other African leaders, including Nkrumah of Ghana, he took part in
the 5 th Pan-African Congress in 1945 at Manchester.
When he returned
to Kenya in 1946, he married Wanjiku, Senior Chief Koinange's daughter, who
was the mother of his child, Jane Wambui. During his travels in the countryside
at Kiambu, Murang'a and Nyeri, he always spoke to the local people on political
matters. His last wife was Mama Ngina, the mother of Christine Uhuru, Anna Nyokabi
and Muhoho. In 1947, he took over the leadership of KAU from James Gichuru.
On October 20,
1952, Sir Evelyn, Baring, newly appointed Governor of Kenya, declared a state
of emergency in the country. Jomo Kenyatta and other prominent leaders were
arrested. He was tried at Kapenguria on April 8, 1953 for managing Mau Mau.
He was sentenced to 7 years in imprison with hard labor and to indefinite restriction
thereafter. On April 14, 1959, Jomo Kenyatta completed his sentence at Lokitaung
but remained in restriction at Lodwar. Later, he was moved to Maralal, where
he remained until August 1961. On August 14, 1961, he was allowed to return
to his Gatundu home. On August 21, 1961, nine years after his arrest, he was
freed from all restrictions.
On October 28,
1961, Kenyatta became the President of the Kenya African National Union and
a month later he headed a KANU delegation to London for talks to prepare the
way for the Lancaster House Conference.
On June 1, 1963,
Mzee Kenyatta became the first Prime Minister of self-governing Kenya. At midnight
on December 12, 1963, at Uhuru Stadium, amid world leaders and multitudes of
people, a new nation was born and a year later, on December 12, 1964, Kenya
became a republic with Kenyatta as the President.
Mzee Kenyatta is
acclaimed from all quarters of the world as a true son of Africa, a visionary
leader. During his tenure, Kenya enjoyed political stability, and economic progress.
In 1974, he declared free primary education up to primary grade 4.He is also
remembered for urging Kenyans to preserve their culture and heritage.
He died on 22nd
August 1978 at 3.30 A.M. in Mombasa at the age of 89 years, while on a working
holiday.
Today, the late Kenyatta is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest men of
the 20th century who played a key role in the independence of Kenya and other
African nations. His name is always mentioned alongside the likes of Kwame Nkrumah
and Julius Nyerere.
(Internet sources
have been used)