[98] Many Africans and members of the African diaspora were attracted to the institution because it offered free education and the opportunity to study in an environment where they were treated with dignity, free from the institutionalised racism present in the U.S. and British Empire. [275] In June 1962, Kenyatta travelled to Mogadishu to discuss the issue with the Somalian authorities, but the two sides could not reach an agreement. He was born in 1964. Jeni Makena Gecaga nee Kenyatta is mother to Soiya Gecaga, Nana Gecaga, and Jomo Gecaga, who serves as President Uhuru Kenyatta's private secretary [9]. [201] In April 1952, he began a speaking tour in which he denounced the Mau Mau to assembled crowds, insisting that independence must be achieved through peaceful means. [299], Kenya's first cabinet included not only Kikuyu but also members of the Luo, Kamba, Kisii, and Maragoli tribal groups. [359] Kenyatta and his family were tied up with this corruption as they enriched themselves through the mass purchase of property after 1963. Kenyatta maintained himself in England by lecturing and working as a farm labourer, and he continued to produce political pamphlets publicizing the Kikuyu cause. All people should search for Mau Mau and kill it. [142] In this book, Kenyatta made clear his belief that the rights of the individual should be downgraded in favour of the interests of the group. But his reign faced dark shadows when three prominent pol. [82] Anger between the two sides had heightened, several churches expelling KCA members from their congregations, and it was widely believed that the January 1930 killing of an American missionary, Hulda Stumpf, had been due to the issue. [554] By 1964, this image had largely shifted, and many white settlers referred to him as "Good Old Mzee". (1 child) Grace Wahu (1919 - ?) Kenya's 1st President Jomo Kenyatta Arrested On This Day In 1953. The names of the Kapenguria Six were Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, Achieng' Oneko, Kung'u Karumba, and Jomo Kenyata. [21] In 1913, he underwent the Kikuyu circumcision ritual; the missionaries generally disapproved of this custom, but it was an important aspect of Kikuyu tradition, allowing Kenyatta to be recognized as an adult. [452] By 1970, he was increasingly feeble and senile,[453] and by 1975 Kenyatta hadaccording to Maloba"in effect ceased to actively govern". [72] In the summer of 1929, he left London and traveled by Berlin to Moscow before returning to London in October. [175] Kenyatta met with the new Governor of Kenya, Philip Euen Mitchell, and in March 1947 accepted a post on an African Land Settlement Board, holding the post for two years. Jomo Kenyatta was born Kamau wa Ngengi to parents Ngengi wa Muigai and Wambui in the village of Gatundu, in British East African Colony (now Kenya), a member of the Kikuyu tribe. [493] The material included in these publications was carefully selected so as to avoid mention of the radicalism he exhibited while in Britain during the 1930s. She often accompanied him in public, and some streets in Nairobi and Mombasa are named after her. [130] Appearing in the film also allowed him to meet and befriend its star, the African-American Paul Robeson. [140] Utilising a functionalist framework,[141] he promoted the idea that traditional Kikuyu society had a cohesion and integrity that was better than anything offered by European colonialism. [33] He also lived for a time in Dagoretti, where he became a retainer for a local sub-chief, Kioi; in 1919 he assisted Kioi in putting the latter's case in a land dispute before a Nairobi court. [239] In October 1961 she bore him another son, Uhuru, and later on another daughter, Nyokabi, and a further son, Muhoho. [262] He reiterated that he had never supported violence or the illegal oathing system used by the Mau Mau,[263] and denied having ever been a Marxist, stating: "I shall always remain an African Nationalist to the end". [145] The book was published under the name "Jomo Kenyatta", the first time that he had done so; the term Jomo was close to a Kikuyu word describing the removal of a sword from its scabbard. (1951-1978) children: Anna Nyokabi, Christine Wambui, Jane Wambui, Margaret Kenyatta, Uhuru Kenyatta Presidents Black Leaders Died on: August 22, 1978 [154] He settled into rural Sussex life,[155] and became a regular at the village pub, where he gained the nickname "Jumbo". [164], Kenyatta and other senior IASB members began planning the fifth Pan-African Congress, held in Manchester in October 1945. [230] In one incident, one of his rivals made an unsuccessful attempt to stab Kenyatta at breakfast. [115] The book was published under Armstrong's name, although Kenyatta claimed he should have been listed as co-author. He adopted the name of Jomo Kenyatta taking his first name from the Kikuyu word for "burning spear" and his last name from the masai word for the bead belt that he often wore.[2]. In 1947, he was elected President of the Kenya African Union, through which he lobbied for independence from British colonial rule, attracting widespread indigenous support but animosity from white settlers. Explore Kenya on AnswersAfrica.com, find out all about your favorite celebrities and indepth biographies of notable people including trending stories, quick facts, and updates. [348] Left-wing critics highlighted that the image of "African socialism" portrayed in the document provided for no major shift away from the colonial economy. [84] The meeting ended without compromise, and John Arthurthe head of the Church of Scotland in Kenyalater expelled Kenyatta from the church, citing what he deemed dishonesty during the debate. "[541] His opinions were "most valued" both by conservative African politicians and by Western leaders. [92] That month, he enrolled in the Woodbrooke Quaker College in Birmingham, where he remained until the spring of 1932, attaining a certificate in English writing. Jomo Kenyatta Family name: . The second thing is that nobody is regarded as a slave, everyone is free to do what he or she likes without being hindered. [42] Kenyatta lived in the Kilimani neighbourhood of Nairobi,[43] although he financed the construction of a second home at Dagoretti; he referred to this latter hut as the Kinyata Stores for he used it to hold general provisions for the neighborhood. Peter Mugai was born. We're 100% free for everything!' FamilyTree Now.com FamilyTree Now. "[535], Within Kenya, Kenyatta came to be regarded as the "Father of the Nation",[536] and was given the unofficial title of Mzee, a Swahili term meaning "grand old man". How did Jomo Kenyatta help lead Kenya to independence? He returned to Kenya in 1946 and became a school principal. Kenyatta did manage to testify on behalf of Kikuyu land claims in 1932 at hearings of the Carter Land Commission. [440], Kenyatta's government resorted to un-democratic measures to restrict the opposition. [131], In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia (Abyssinia), incensing Kenyatta and other Africans in London; he became the honorary secretary of the International African Friends of Abyssinia, a group established by Padmore and C. L. R. However, a row has erupted in Kenya over an "Estate Duty Tax" which was amended two times during the reigns of Jomo Kenyatta and his successor Daniel Moi. The family has invested in various sectors, including banking with shares in local banks, the oil industry, insurance, hotel and tourism, media, manufacturing, and airline. Before his death in 1979, Peter Muigai served as an Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs. University College London and the London School of Economics: 19331939, Presidency of the Kenya African Union: 19461952, Domestic influence and posthumous assessment, Last edited on 23 February 2023, at 15:12, Communist University of the Toilers of the East, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, supported the abolition of this traditional practice, International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers, International African Friends of Abyssinia, Indian National Congress of Great Britain, Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation, a legal change revoked their right to do so, United States Agency for International Development, "Kenyatta Family Seeks Approval To For Its Dream City Outside Nairobi", Africa: Rivista Trimestrale di Studi e Documentazione dell'Istituto Italiano Perl'Africa e l'Oriente, "Funeral Planning: British Involvement in the Funeral of President Jomo Kenyatta", A 1964 newsreel from British Pathe of Kenyatta's swearing in as President of Kenya, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jomo_Kenyatta&oldid=1141137892, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 15:12. [194] A Luo anti-colonial activist, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, was the first to publicly call for Kenyatta's release, an issue that gained growing support among Kenya's anti-colonialists. [162] He became frustrated by the distance between him and Kenya, telling Edna that he felt "like a general separated by 5000 miles from his troops". [315] Kenyatta also wanted to contain parliamentary opposition and at Kenyatta's prompting, in November 1964 KADU officially dissolved and its representatives joined KANU. In Nairobi, Kenyatta was introduced to the East . [557] The criticisms that leftists like Odinga made of Kenyatta's leadership were similar to those that the intellectual Frantz Fanon had made of post-colonial leaders throughout Africa. [15] While there, Kenyatta stayed at the small boarding school, where he learnt stories from the Bible,[16] and was taught to read and write in English. His date of birth, sometime in the early to mid 1890s, is unclear. Former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta addresses a congregation at the St. Teresa's Catholic Church in Mpeketoni, Lamu County, on Saturday, February 4, 2023. [387] By Kenyatta's death, the majority of Kenyans had access to significantly better healthcare than they had had in the colonial period. "[149] Bodil Folke Frederiksen, a scholar of development studies, referred to it as "probably the most well-known and influential African scholarly work of its time",[150] while for fellow scholar Simon Gikandi, it was "one of the major texts in what has come to be known as the invention of tradition in colonial Africa". Beth Mugo has been a nominated senator under the Jubilee Alliance (Ruling Alliance in Kenya) since 2013 and has been known to strongly support her cousin (President Uhuru Kenyatta). [255] KANU then declared that it would refuse to take part in any government unless Kenyatta was freed. In 1938, he published an anthropological study of Kikuyu life before working as a farm labourer in Sussex during the Second World War. [328] He appears to have had no further involvement with the communist movement after 1934. Estate Duty Act. [483] He pursued, according to Maloba, "a conservatism that worked in concert with imperial powers and was distinctly hostile to radical politics". [229] By 1957, the inmates had formed into two rival cliques, with Kenyatta and Itote on one side and the other KAU membersnow calling themselves the "National Democratic Party"on the other. [75] These communist links concerned many of Kenyatta's liberal patrons. [305] Like many indigenous Africans in Kenya, Kenyatta bore a sense of resentment towards this community, despite the role that many Indians had played in securing the country's independence. [112] In these, he took a more radical position than he had in the past, calling for complete self-rule in Kenya. [2] They lived in a homestead near River Thiririka, where they raised crops and bred sheep and goats. He studied the Bible, English, mathematics, and carpentry and paid his fees by working as a houseboy and cook for a European settler. [5], Edna, who died in 1995 at the age of 86, was Kenyatta's second wife. [497] The academics Bruce J. Berman and John M. Lonsdale argued that Marxist frameworks for analysing society influenced some of his beliefs, such as his view that British colonialism had to be destroyed rather than simply reformed. [59] Its purpose was to help unify the Kikuyu and raise funds for the KCA. Conversely, his rule was criticised as dictatorial, authoritarian, and neocolonial, of favouring Kikuyu over other ethnic groups, and of facilitating the growth of widespread corruption. Kenyatta Junior and Fiona Achola Ngobi are long time lovers. [473], "Kenyatta possessed the common touch and great leadership qualities. [271], Kenyatta traveled elsewhere in Africa, visiting Tanganyika in October 1961 and Ethiopia in November at the invitation of their governments. Education and healthcare were expanded, while UK-funded land redistribution favoured KANU loyalists and exacerbated ethnic tensions. [3] One biographer, Jules Archer, suggested he was likely born in 1890,[4] although a fuller analysis by Jeremy Murray-Brown suggested a birth circa 1897 or 1898. [392] In December he attended a meeting with Tanzanian and Ugandan representatives to form the East African Economic Community, reflecting Kenyatta's cautious approach toward regional integration. He upgraded the economic status of the country after independence. [533] In Facing Mount Kenya, he challenged the missionaries' dismissive attitude toward ancestor veneration, which he instead preferred to call "ancestor communion". [414] Opposition to Kenyatta's government grew, particularly following the assassination of Pio Pinto in February 1965. [291] An election was scheduled for May, with self-government in June, followed by full independence in December. [379] The growth in the public sector contributed to the significant expansion of the indigenous middle class in Kenyatta's Kenya. [106] The British authorities were highly suspicious of Kenyatta's time in the Soviet Union, suspecting that he was a Marxist-Leninist, and following his return the MI5 intelligence service intercepted and read all his mail. [328] The police and military structures were left largely intact. [216] The prosecution failed to produce any strong evidence that Kenyatta or the other accused had any involvement in managing the Mau Mau. [213] Together, Kenyatta, Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, Achieng Oneko and Kung'u Karumbathe "Kapenguria Six"were put on trial. [73] Kenyatta was strongly influenced by his time in the Soviet Union. This book signaled another name change, to Jomo (Burning Spear) Kenyatta. During the 1930s Kenyatta briefly joined the Communist Party, met other black nationalists and writers, and organized protests against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. This is the first of a four-part series. Discover lesser-known facts about celebrities that matter to you and find out how you. During the 1930s, he studied at Moscow's Communist University of the Toilers of the East, University College London, and the London School of Economics. [344] In 1964, Kenyatta impounded a secret shipment of Chinese armaments that passed through Kenyan territory on its way to Uganda. Jomo Kenyatta, original name Kamau Ngengi, (born c. 1894, Ichaweri, British East Africa [now in Kenya]died August 22, 1978, Mombasa, Kenya), African statesman and nationalist, the first prime minister (196364) and then the first president (196478) of independent Kenya. [261] In April 1961, the government flew Kenyatta to Maralal, where he maintained his innocence of the charges but told reporters that he bore no grudges. [10] Kenyatta then took the name of Kamau wa Ngengi ("Kamau, son of Ngengi"). [194] As KAU leader, he was at pains to oppose all illegal activity, including workers' strikes. [242], This indefinite detention was widely interpreted internationally as a reflection of the cruelties of British imperialism. "[479] This approach was similar to the Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda's ideology of "African humanism". Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. The first family welcomed a new member after President Uhuru Kenyatta 's first son, Jomo Kenyatta and wife Fiona Achola welcomed a baby girl on Sunday. Ideologically an African nationalist and conservative, he led the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party from 1961 until his death. [393], Facing the pressures of the Cold War,[394] Kenyatta officially pursued a policy of "positive non-alignment". [296] In November 1963, Kenyatta's government introduced a law making it a criminal offence to disrespect the Prime Minister, exile being the punishment. Among those lobbying for Kenyatta's release from indefinite detention were Tanganyika's Julius Nyerere and Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah. [91] In November, he met the Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi while in London. [4] He lives in London after retiring from BBC after working as a producer. [129] Several other Africans in London criticized him for doing so, arguing that the film degraded black people. photo: [President Uhuru Kenyatta] [418] In its manifesto, the KPU stated that it would pursue "truly socialist policies" like the nationalisation of public utilities; it claimed Kenyatta's government "want[ed] to build a capitalist system in the image of Western capitalism but are too embarrassed or dishonest to call it that. [322] Over the course of 1965 and 1966, several constitutional amendments enhanced the president's power. H omo Kenyatta pron. [246] Kwame Nkrumahwhom Kenyatta had known since the 1940s and who was now President of a newly independent Ghanapersonally raised the issue with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and other UK officials,[247] with the Ghanaian government offering Kenyatta asylum in the event of his release. 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