Sky Eclat
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- Oct 17, 2012
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41 years ago in 1978 A.D, arguably one of the most well respected African leaders of the era, President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, suffered a heart attack and died at the State House in Mombasa. Referred to by the Swahili title of ‘Mzee’, literally translating as ‘grand old man’ but generally interpreted as ‘Father of the Nation’, Kenyatta was revered both in life and thereafter as the founder of modern post-colonial Kenya. Having feared his death for the past ten years, his inner circle had long planned his state funeral by liaising with contacts in Britain to make his funeral a mirror of that enjoyed by Winston Churchill in a bid to demonstrate that Kenya was a modern state like any other. His funeral was attended by Prince Charles along with a variety of fellow African leaders such as Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Hastings Banda of Malawi, Idi Amin of Uganda and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
Born at some point in the 1890s, Kenyatta hailed from the Kikuyu people and was originally known by the name of Kamau. His childhood was spent raised in accordance with their traditional customs and beliefs. Like his kinsmen he spent his childhood tending to livestock in the fields before having his earlobes pierced at the age of ten to mark his transition from childhood. Not long thereafter Kenyatta’s father Muigai died and his mother, Wambui, remarried, had another son, and then died shortly afterwards. Having been all but orphaned, Kenyatta thereafter lived with his grandfather who was a traditional healer. In 1909 however he left the quiet traditional life behind and enrolled in a mission school run by the Church of Scotland. It was here that he attained his education and learned to speak in English. Though he was also introduced to Christianity, Kenyatta was only ever a Christian in a broad sense of the term and later in life still had much time for ancestor worship and veneration, expressing moreover how he in fact despised missionaries for perceiving all things African as ‘evil’, a sentiment which may have had its roots in his growing disagreements with them during the last months of his time with them. Thereafter he moved on to Nairobi where he briefly worked for a British engineering firm before moving to live amongst the Maasai to avoid having to serve in British forces in the Great War as his brother Kongo had. Whilst living amongst the Maasai he adopted their customs and began wearing a beaded belt known in Kikuyu as a ‘kinyata’ from which he derived his later chosen name of ‘Kenyatta’.
Over the next few years which followed he worked in a number of different insignificant positions in and around Nairobi until he acquired a good job as a stores clerk in which he earned a handsome wage that not only gave him financial independence but even allowed him to lend money to Europeans. Whilst Kenyatta was enjoying his new cultured lifestyle however, the political landscape in Kenya was steadily unravelling as anti-imperialist sentiment spread in the aftermath of the First World War. Though he initially had little interest in politics, little by little he was irresistibly drawn into its sphere and by the late 1920s he had become a member of the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA) voicing the concerns of his people to the colonial administration. In 1929 Kenyatta sailed for Britain on behalf of the KCA despite the protests of the British governor in Kenya. During his time in London he made links with members of anti-imperialist organisations, with members of the British labour party and a number of communists who no doubt convinced him to take a journey that summer first to Berlin and then to Stalin’s Moscow. After his time in Russia his criticism of British imperialism, which before had been mixed with praise, became much more overt. In the years which followed he made a number of visits to Britain, Germany and Russia, each time acquiring more knowledge and more contacts, including on one occasion, Mohandas Gandhi. Though he spent a great deal of time in the Soviet Union, reportedly going on a guided tour of Siberia on one occasion, he never joined the Communist party and at heart he remained true to his own values. With the rise of totalitarian terror in both Germany and Russia however he soon returned to Britain where he continued to lambast the British Empire’s treatment of indigenous Africans while also conducting academic studies on his own Kikuyu people.
Having spent the duration of the Second World War in rural Sussex, where he became a regular at the local pub, he returned to Kenya in 1946, leaving his English wife Edna Clarke and their son Peter Magana for fear of the colony’s racial laws separating them. Upon his return began to actively campaign on behalf of his people. A flamboyant and charismatic individual, Kenyatta soon attracted large crowds to his public speeches and was referred to in the press as the “Saviour”, “Great Elder” and “Hero of Our Race”. Calling for the safety of all racial groups, to rally the Kenyan Indians behind him he drew on the willing support of Jawaharlal Nehru of newly independent India. The white settler minority however were not entirely convinced and were considering going the same way as their brethren in Rhodesia. By the early 1950s he had become a national figure calling for a gradual and peaceful break with the Empire. These efforts were side-lined however by the events of the bloody Mau Mau Uprising. Though Kenyatta denounced the Mau Mau he was arrested and trialled by the colonial authorities all the same, was found guilty of involvement with them and sentenced to seven years hard labour.
By the time he was released in 1961 the British Empire was evidently taking its leave of Africa and independence was inevitable. He became president of KANU, also forged links with the last British governor, Malcolm MacDonald, and also worked to persuade the white settlers to support him and remain in an independent Kenya and thereby prevent an exodus that would damage the economy and deter prospects of future Western investment. By the early 1960s the writing was on the wall that Kenyatta was set to become the country’s leader, having the support not only of the nationalist movement but also now of the British establishment who believed he would continue to serve their interests in the region. In 1963 he became Prime Minister, inheriting the bureaucratic infrastructure left to him by his colonial predecessors to maintain his grip on power just as they had. Though he initially pursued a pan-African agenda, meeting with Nyerere and Obote in 1963 to discuss an East African Federation of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, in truth Kenyatta remained a nationalist, and at heart he was still an advocate of the Kikuyu. As such despite his calls for reconciliation between all ethnic groups, he favoured his Kikuyu kinsmen above all others and forgave all misdeeds committed by the white minority whilst, rather similarly to Idi Amin – albeit not as severely- treating the Indians with disdain. Beyond Kenya’s borders, Kenyatta remained on good terms with the British and the West as a whole, portraying himself as a shield against the spread of Communism.
In 1964 Kenya officially became a republic and Kenyatta became its President. Consolidating power around himself and his inner circle, a cult of personality swiftly arose around him with people drawing attention to the fact that ‘Kenya’ was in his name and referring to him as ‘The Father of the Nation.’ Like many other post-colonial leaders he displayed a colourful personality in public, appearing before his followers clad in cloaks and rings whilst conducting himself with almost Victorian etiquette amongst company. Under his leadership Kenya became a one-party state on the basis that strong centralised leadership was required to push faster economic development. Though Kenyatta was never nearly as dictatorial as some of his fellow leaders such as Hastings Banda or Idi Amin, he did retain an iron grip on power and ensured that few could even dare to challenge his rule and was not unknown to crack down on political opposition with brute force. When a man by the name of Josiah Mwangi Kariuki became openly critical of the regime, Kenyatta had him kidnapped, tortured and murdered. This, combined with the state of the economy, led to the erosion of widespread support for the Father of the Nation and people did not attend his public appearances with the same enthusiasm as before. By then he himself was becoming increasingly old and senile and in 1966 he suffered a mild stroke and he spent the last decade of his reign being preoccupied with his ailing health.
Kenyatta remains a controversial figure to the current day in Kenya with some still hailing him as the Father of the Nation and others pointing more accusatively to his autocratic policies and his authoritarianism.
Born at some point in the 1890s, Kenyatta hailed from the Kikuyu people and was originally known by the name of Kamau. His childhood was spent raised in accordance with their traditional customs and beliefs. Like his kinsmen he spent his childhood tending to livestock in the fields before having his earlobes pierced at the age of ten to mark his transition from childhood. Not long thereafter Kenyatta’s father Muigai died and his mother, Wambui, remarried, had another son, and then died shortly afterwards. Having been all but orphaned, Kenyatta thereafter lived with his grandfather who was a traditional healer. In 1909 however he left the quiet traditional life behind and enrolled in a mission school run by the Church of Scotland. It was here that he attained his education and learned to speak in English. Though he was also introduced to Christianity, Kenyatta was only ever a Christian in a broad sense of the term and later in life still had much time for ancestor worship and veneration, expressing moreover how he in fact despised missionaries for perceiving all things African as ‘evil’, a sentiment which may have had its roots in his growing disagreements with them during the last months of his time with them. Thereafter he moved on to Nairobi where he briefly worked for a British engineering firm before moving to live amongst the Maasai to avoid having to serve in British forces in the Great War as his brother Kongo had. Whilst living amongst the Maasai he adopted their customs and began wearing a beaded belt known in Kikuyu as a ‘kinyata’ from which he derived his later chosen name of ‘Kenyatta’.
Over the next few years which followed he worked in a number of different insignificant positions in and around Nairobi until he acquired a good job as a stores clerk in which he earned a handsome wage that not only gave him financial independence but even allowed him to lend money to Europeans. Whilst Kenyatta was enjoying his new cultured lifestyle however, the political landscape in Kenya was steadily unravelling as anti-imperialist sentiment spread in the aftermath of the First World War. Though he initially had little interest in politics, little by little he was irresistibly drawn into its sphere and by the late 1920s he had become a member of the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA) voicing the concerns of his people to the colonial administration. In 1929 Kenyatta sailed for Britain on behalf of the KCA despite the protests of the British governor in Kenya. During his time in London he made links with members of anti-imperialist organisations, with members of the British labour party and a number of communists who no doubt convinced him to take a journey that summer first to Berlin and then to Stalin’s Moscow. After his time in Russia his criticism of British imperialism, which before had been mixed with praise, became much more overt. In the years which followed he made a number of visits to Britain, Germany and Russia, each time acquiring more knowledge and more contacts, including on one occasion, Mohandas Gandhi. Though he spent a great deal of time in the Soviet Union, reportedly going on a guided tour of Siberia on one occasion, he never joined the Communist party and at heart he remained true to his own values. With the rise of totalitarian terror in both Germany and Russia however he soon returned to Britain where he continued to lambast the British Empire’s treatment of indigenous Africans while also conducting academic studies on his own Kikuyu people.
Having spent the duration of the Second World War in rural Sussex, where he became a regular at the local pub, he returned to Kenya in 1946, leaving his English wife Edna Clarke and their son Peter Magana for fear of the colony’s racial laws separating them. Upon his return began to actively campaign on behalf of his people. A flamboyant and charismatic individual, Kenyatta soon attracted large crowds to his public speeches and was referred to in the press as the “Saviour”, “Great Elder” and “Hero of Our Race”. Calling for the safety of all racial groups, to rally the Kenyan Indians behind him he drew on the willing support of Jawaharlal Nehru of newly independent India. The white settler minority however were not entirely convinced and were considering going the same way as their brethren in Rhodesia. By the early 1950s he had become a national figure calling for a gradual and peaceful break with the Empire. These efforts were side-lined however by the events of the bloody Mau Mau Uprising. Though Kenyatta denounced the Mau Mau he was arrested and trialled by the colonial authorities all the same, was found guilty of involvement with them and sentenced to seven years hard labour.
By the time he was released in 1961 the British Empire was evidently taking its leave of Africa and independence was inevitable. He became president of KANU, also forged links with the last British governor, Malcolm MacDonald, and also worked to persuade the white settlers to support him and remain in an independent Kenya and thereby prevent an exodus that would damage the economy and deter prospects of future Western investment. By the early 1960s the writing was on the wall that Kenyatta was set to become the country’s leader, having the support not only of the nationalist movement but also now of the British establishment who believed he would continue to serve their interests in the region. In 1963 he became Prime Minister, inheriting the bureaucratic infrastructure left to him by his colonial predecessors to maintain his grip on power just as they had. Though he initially pursued a pan-African agenda, meeting with Nyerere and Obote in 1963 to discuss an East African Federation of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, in truth Kenyatta remained a nationalist, and at heart he was still an advocate of the Kikuyu. As such despite his calls for reconciliation between all ethnic groups, he favoured his Kikuyu kinsmen above all others and forgave all misdeeds committed by the white minority whilst, rather similarly to Idi Amin – albeit not as severely- treating the Indians with disdain. Beyond Kenya’s borders, Kenyatta remained on good terms with the British and the West as a whole, portraying himself as a shield against the spread of Communism.
In 1964 Kenya officially became a republic and Kenyatta became its President. Consolidating power around himself and his inner circle, a cult of personality swiftly arose around him with people drawing attention to the fact that ‘Kenya’ was in his name and referring to him as ‘The Father of the Nation.’ Like many other post-colonial leaders he displayed a colourful personality in public, appearing before his followers clad in cloaks and rings whilst conducting himself with almost Victorian etiquette amongst company. Under his leadership Kenya became a one-party state on the basis that strong centralised leadership was required to push faster economic development. Though Kenyatta was never nearly as dictatorial as some of his fellow leaders such as Hastings Banda or Idi Amin, he did retain an iron grip on power and ensured that few could even dare to challenge his rule and was not unknown to crack down on political opposition with brute force. When a man by the name of Josiah Mwangi Kariuki became openly critical of the regime, Kenyatta had him kidnapped, tortured and murdered. This, combined with the state of the economy, led to the erosion of widespread support for the Father of the Nation and people did not attend his public appearances with the same enthusiasm as before. By then he himself was becoming increasingly old and senile and in 1966 he suffered a mild stroke and he spent the last decade of his reign being preoccupied with his ailing health.
Kenyatta remains a controversial figure to the current day in Kenya with some still hailing him as the Father of the Nation and others pointing more accusatively to his autocratic policies and his authoritarianism.
