MICHANGO YA WANAVIJIJI NCHINI KENYA YA HARAMBEE KUPELEKA VIJANA NJE, WANAVIJIJI KUKOSA ROHO YA CHOYO KUTOA MICHANGO
CITATION ON
DR. JULIUS GIKONYO KIANO
B.A. (Antioch), M.A. (Stanford) 'Ph.D. (California, Berkeley),
, " I
Dr. Julius Gikonyo Kiano is a perfect blend of an intellectual and a professional politician. Julius Cikonyo Kiano was born in June, 1926 in Garhiga Village,
Kanyenyaini Location, Murang'a District (then Fort Hall District) of Central Province.
His parents Jonathan Kiano and Damaris Wanjiru Kiano, like many African rural families at the time were not rich. Jonathan was 'an informal trader having worked for missionaries' in Nairobi and converting to Christianity.'
But he appreciated the value of education for his children. So
Julius wentto school at the early age of eight. He quickly
distinguished himself as a brilliant student and it has
been that intellectual brilliance that has carried him through.
Julius Gikonyo Kiano went to African Gcvernment School of Kagumo in 1939. He was admitted 'to the prestigious Alliance High School in -1942.In Alliance he performed very' weli and passed. 'He was admitted to Makerere University College; though He was 'reluctant as he had already made up his mind that he must study for a degree and not a diploma which was the highest qualification Makerere could offer.
However, he eventually went to Makerere on the advice of Mr. Mbiyu Koinange and Mr. James Gichuru (former Cabinet
Ministers) whom he met at Githunguri Teachers Training
College where he taught for two months.
At Alliance he continued his scouting hobby which he
had started at Kagumo and became secretary to the
school troop. More pertinent he became the School Librarian in his final year, 1945 and editor of the Saturda evening paper which was a hand written weekly by the students.
This role of editor opened up a new aspect in his life: political interest. It is at this time that Mr. Eliud Mathu, Dr. Kiano's teacher at Alliance was appointed to
represent Africans at the Legislative Council (Legco)
alongside Rev. Leonard Beecher.
As the editor of the student paper Julius questioned the validity of a white man's representation of African interests in the LEGCO.
He was nearly kicked out of Alliance.
In Makerere, he constantly yearned for a university
degree and read biographies of eminent African Americans who had made it in academia and public life like Dr. Aggrey and Booker T. Washington. He also read Crisis, a magazine published by the National Association the Advancement of Coloured People in America,(NAACP) -Which carried addresses of Black colleges in
the U.S.A. He applied and was admitted at Pioneer Business Institute in Philadelphia. But he had no money.
It was then that for the first time a
Harambee was organized in this country for purely educational purposes. The Kenya African Traders and Partners
Association (KAFTA) led by Mr. Mwaura Ngoima and
Mr. Charles Rubia, and others raised the money.
From that time, Dr. Gikonyo Kiano became a staunch believer in
Harambee, especially for educational purposes and has tirelessly worked throughout his life to open up opportunities for further education for
Kenyan young people. His commitment to the promotion
of education is a lifelong undertaking because as he says:- "I was a product of the early events of
Harambee".
Julius joined Pioneer Institute in 1948, and then shortly thereafter, Stores College in West Virginia. The following year he got a scholarship to Antioch College, Ohio, where he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Political Science in 1952.
Before he left Kenya for the U.s.A., Dr. Gikonyo Kiano had heard a word of advice from a senior Kenyan scholar - Mr. Mbiyu Koinange, the first Kenyan to get an M.A.
At Antioch, the student work programme led him into ,the UN system where he worked in the Trusteeship Commission dealing with colonies all over the world.
( The Head of Department at the UN. was none other than Dr. Ralph Bunche who went on to become the Under Secretary of the United Nations and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Kiano together with others would later
establish a school in honour of Dr. Bundle.
Thanks to his academic excellence, Julius won university
1 st class honours fellowship to Stanford University, California for
a Master's degree in political science and public administration.
From Stanford he went to the prestigious University of Caiifornia at Berkeley where he 'taught' as " he worked on his Ph.D., which he obtained in 1956. Thus he became the first Kenyan to get a Ph.D. His doctoral
"thesis was critical of the idea of a Central and Eastern
federation which he argued was a delaying tactic for the
independence of the African countries concerned and a
tool for the continued European domination of the region.
I .This showed that Dr. Kiano was already politically alert.
:.Indeed, he spent much of his spare time explaining to
-groups in the U.s. that the Mau Mau uprising which had
broken out in Kenya was not a tribal uprising, when he had encounter with the British Counsul-General in California:' '.
On his return horne, though armed with a Ph.D., he was
Not employed at the then Royal Technical College, the
predecessor or this University until his cousin Mr. Muchohi Cikonyo who was a politician personally confronted the Governor Sir Evalyn Baring, This made him the first African lecturer in what was to become the University of Nairobi.
Even after employment, the
problem of where his children would go to school in a
racially segregated Kenya came up. 'It was then that Dr.
Kiano and other uncategorised staff on the ColIege' got
together to establish Hospital Hill Primary School. Today,
the school is one of the best schools in Nairobi.
Julius taught economics and constitutional law, However,
, he soon plunged into the politics of the liberation of this
country when in 1958 he was elected to the Legislative'
Council defeating his former teacher Mr. Eliud Mathu.
His campaign' platform was simple: ';The British must
go, it is time for total independence".
As a Member of Parliament, he travelled a lot. In one of
those visits abroad he met Senator J.F. Kennedy,
Chairman of the Senate Sub-Committee on Africa And
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Idea of helping young Africans go to the _U.S.A'. President was enthusiastic about it. The seed of the "airlifts" had been sown. Dr. Kiano advised Mr. Tom Mboya to take up the issue with Kennedy. It worked.
Dr. Kiano also met Dr. Martin Luther King and broached
the idea. Dr. Martin Luther King gave Dr. Kiano six scholarships right away for Kenyan youths.
From 1960 to 1979, Dr.Julius Gikonyo Kiano was steadily
elected to Parliament and held many ministerial portfolios.
He was instrumental in bringing UNCTAD IV to Kenya in 1974 and he also signed the first expanded
Lome Convention in 1975 on behalf of Kenya as the
Minister of Commerce and Industry.
In 1993, Dr. Kiano was a founder member of the Kenya United States Association whose main objective is to promote educational opportunities for Kenyans apart from, of course, also promoting business linkages.
He is the current Chairman of the Association. He is the local
Chairman of an ad-hoc committee which is looking into a formal institutional framework between Kenyan Universities (both public and private) and the New York University System.
Dr. Kiano has occasionally given lively lectures to students in this University. He is currently a member of this University's Council, and until about two weeks ago, he was the Chairman of Kenya Broadcasting
Corporation.
The above shows that Dr. Kiano has made outstanding
contribution to the development of this nation and we
are proud to honour him with the degree of Doctor of
Letters (honoris causa).