(~1889 - 22 August 1978) was the leader of Kenya from independence in 1963 to his death in 1978, serving first as Prime Minister (1963-64) and then as President (1964-78). [94] Over time, he became Padmore's protg. [451] The funeral took place at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, six days after Kenyatta's death. [196] He also insisted that in an independent Kenya, all racial groups would be safeguarded. [525] Of these children, it was Margaret who was Kenyatta's closest confidante. 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]. [88] Kenyatta would not return to Kenya for fifteen years. [445] With the organised opposition eliminated, from 1969, Kenya was once again a de facto one-party state. He thought public exposure to Kenyatta prior to elections would make the populace less likely to vote for a man Renison regarded as a violent extremist. This book signaled another name change, to Jomo (Burning Spear) Kenyatta. ", Kenyatta in the Labour Monthly, November 1933[87], In May 1931, Kenyatta and Parmenas Mockerie sailed for Britain, intent on representing the KCA at a Joint Committee of Parliament on the future of East Africa. "[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". [215] The trial lasted five months: Rawson Macharia, the main prosecution witness, turned out to have perjured himself; the judge had only recently been awarded an unusually large pension and maintained secret contact with the then colonial Governor Evelyn Baring. African exuberance and love of display found perfect expression in Kenyatta's flair alongside the dignity and respect due to 'His Excellency, the President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta'. He returned to Kenya in 1946 and became a school principal. [412] He argued that centralised control of the government was needed to deal with the growth in demands for local services and to assist quicker economic development. Jomo Kenyatta Family name: . [489] He also faced a contradiction between his internal debates on Kikuyu ethics and belief in tribal identity with his need to create a non-tribalised Kenyan nationalism. COMPANY is now part of the GardaWorld family of companies, all services are now . [442] In 1966, it passed the Public Security (Detained and Restricted Persons) Regulations, allowing the authorities to arrest and detain anyone "for the preservation of public security" without putting them on trial. The remnants of the British military in Kenya also started playing an active role in planning Jomo's funeral, led by Col J.R. Anderson - the most senior British military official and who acted as adviser to the Ministry of Defence - then under Dr Mungai. Kenyatta was born to Kikuyu farmers in Kiambu, British East Africa. The violence continued sporadically until 1996, with an estimated 1500 killed and 300,000 displaced in the Rift Valley. Authorities will suspend operations at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) Terminal 2 on Feb. 24 and 26 amid the visit and later departure of US First Lady Jill Biden. She is the best known due to her role as First Lady, was Ngina Kenyatta (ne Muhoho), also known as Mama Ngina. His father, then uncle, then mother died when he was young . [23] Accordingly, he was baptized as Johnstone Kamau in August 1914. [85] In 1931, Kenyatta took his son out of the church school at Thogota and enrolled him in a KCA-approved, independent school. [181] He was increasingly frustrated, andwithout the intellectual companionship he experienced in Britainfelt lonely. [77] 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. [65] His landlord subsequently impounded his belongings due to unpaid debt. photo: [President Uhuru Kenyatta] [5] Kenyatta's father was named Muigai, and his mother Wambui. Backed by several other senior KANU figures and trade unionists, he became head of the new Kenya Peoples Union (KPU). [351] The 1965 session paper promised an "Africanization" of the Kenyan economy,[352] with the government increasingly pushing for "black capitalism". [30] Kenyatta lived with the family of an aunt who had married a Maasai chief,[31] adopting Maasai customs and wearing Maasai jewellery, including a beaded belt known as kinyata in the Kikuyu language. [559], Providing a similar leftist critique, the Marxist writer Ngg wa Thiong'o stated that "here was a black Moses who had been called by history to lead his people to the promised land of no exploitation, no oppression, but who failed to rise to the occasion". [370] The government sold or leased lands in the former White Highlands to these companies, which in turn subdivided them among individual shareholders. [284] At Kenyatta's prompting, KANU conceded to some of KADU's demands; he was aware that he could amend the constitution when in office. We're 100% free for everything!' FamilyTree Now.com FamilyTree Now. [6][7], Kenyatta married his third wife, Grace Wanjiku, in 1946. [270] In January 1962 he was elected unopposed as KANU's representative for the Fort Hall constituency in the legislative council after its sitting member, Kariuki Njiiri, resigned. [325] The Kikuyuwho made up around 20 percent of populationstill held most of the country's important government and administrative positions. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jomo-Kenyatta, South African History Online - Biography of Jomo Kenyatta, The Open university - Making Britain - Jomo Kenyatta, Jomo Kenyatta - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). [89] In Britain, he spent the summer attending an Independent Labour Party summer school and Fabian Society gatherings. Kenyatta joined the following year. Born into the dominant Kikuyu culture, Kenyatta became its most famous interpreter of Kikuyu traditions through his book Facing Mount Kenya. [96] Before the end of the year, the duo relocated to Moscow, where Kenyatta studied at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East. [355] During the 1970s, this expanded to cover the trade in soap, cement, and textiles. [323] For instance, a May 1966 amendment gave the president the ability to order the detention of individuals without trial if he thought the security of the state was threatened. [353] In 1965, the government established the Kenya National Trading Corporation to ensure indigenous control over the trade in essential commodities,[354] while the Trade Licensing Act of 1967 prohibited non-citizens from involvement in the rice, sugar, and maize trade. [375] Kenyatta's government was eager to control the country's trade unions, fearing their ability to disrupt the economy. ", Kenyatta was an African nationalist,[475] and was committed to the belief that European colonial rule in Africa must end. His annual memorial is marked this week, but was turned into a family only affair last year. [537] From 1963 until his death, a cult of personality surrounded him in the country,[538] one which deliberately interlinked Kenyan nationalism with Kenyatta's own personality. [165] They were assisted by Kwame Nkrumah, a Gold Coast (Ghanaian) who arrived in Britain earlier that year. [389] This put a severe strain on social services; Kenyatta's government promoted family planning projects to stem the birth-rate, but these had little success. In August 1914 he was baptized with the name Johnstone Kamau. [178] Under Kenyatta's leadership, additional funds were raised for the construction of school buildings and the number of boys in attendance rose from 250 to 900. [398] Britain remained one of Kenya's foremost sources of foreign trade; British aid to Kenya was among the highest in Africa. The Kenyatta family is the family of Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya and a prominent leader in that country's independence. Founding President has to look good when his family checks on him inside Parliament grounds. [358] Kenyatta was not sympathetic to those leaving: "Kenya's identity as an African country is not going to be altered by the whims and malaises of groups of uncommitted individuals. "[309] He had flown Edna and Peter over for the ceremony, and in Kenya they were welcomed into Kenyatta's family by his other wives. Jomo married Edna, Grace Kenyatta in 1942, at age 48. [342] There was growing black resentment towards the Asian domination of the small business sector,[350] with Kenyatta's government putting pressure on Asian-owned businesses, intending to replace them with African-owned counterparts. Desiring a one-party state, he transferred regional powers to his central government, suppressed political dissent, and prohibited KANU's only rivalOginga Odinga's leftist Kenya People's Unionfrom competing in elections. [422] Soon after the KPU's creation, the Kenyan Parliament amended the constitution to ensure that the defectorswho had originally been elected on the KANU ticketcould not automatically retain their seats and would have to stand for re-election. better than most African leaders, the aged President of Kenya faces growing and. [387] By Kenyatta's death, the majority of Kenyans had access to significantly better healthcare than they had had in the colonial period. His government comprised members of various ethnic groups in order to calm ethnic tensions. [122] Kenyatta liked to dress elaborately; throughout most of his adult life, he wore finger rings and while studying at university in London took to wearing a fez and cloak and carrying a silver-topped black cane. [381] In June 1963, Kenyatta ordered the Ominda Commission to determine a framework for meeting Kenya's educational needs. Little is known about Kenyatta's other wives and children. [250], By this point, it was widely accepted that Kenyan independence was inevitable, the British Empire having been dismantled throughout much of Asia and Macmillan having made his "Wind of Change" speech. He suggested that the British supported Kenyatta in this, seeing him as a bulwark against growing worker and peasant militancy who would ensure continued neo-colonial dominance. [11] Wambui bore her new husband a son, whom they also named Muigai. [183] Whatever Kenyatta's views on these developments, he had little ability to control them. [256] KANU campaigned on the issue of Kenyatta's detainment in the February 1961 election, where it gained a majority of votes. According to Ruth, the entire family paid a heavy price when the elder Kenyatta placed Jaramogi under house arrest. Jomo married Grace, Wahu Kenyatta in 1942, at age 48. She often accompanied him in public, and some streets in Nairobi and Mombasa are named after her. In 1925 the EAA disbanded as a result of government pressures, and its members re-formed as the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA). Kenyatta's family tree is fascinating to behold. He upgraded the economic status of the country after independence. What was Jomo Kenyattas domestic policy? He was not only older at 63 than all of . The trio discussed the possibility of merging their three nations (plus Zanzibar) into a single East African Federation, agreeing that this would be accomplished by the end of the year. [108] Between 1931 and 1937 he wrote several articles for the Negro Worker and joined the newspaper's editorial board in 1933. [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. Kenyatta did manage to testify on behalf of Kikuyu land claims in 1932 at hearings of the Carter Land Commission. In these, his criticism of British imperialism was far stronger than it had been in Mugwithania. Kenyatta Junior and Fiona Achola Ngobi are long time lovers. The commission decided to offer compensation for some appropriated territories but maintained the white highlands policy, which restricted the Kikuyu to overcrowded reserves. We want to be friendly with whites. Before his death in 1979, Peter Muigai served as an Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs. [50] In either 1925 or early 1926, Beauttah moved to Uganda, but remained in contact with Kenyatta. James. She appealed to the national and county government to provide free education to their suffering grandchildren and employment as well. [506] One of Kenyatta's fellow LSE students, Elspeth Huxley, referred to him as "a showman to his finger tips; jovial, a good companion, shrewd, fluent, quick, devious, subtle, [and] flesh-pot loving". His parents died while he was young, and he then moved to Muthiga to live with his grandfather where he enrolled in the Church of Scotland 's Thogoto mission school, converted to Christianity, and was baptized as Johnstone. (1 child) Grace Wahu (1919 - ?) [455] This clique faced opposition from KANU back-benchers spearheaded by Josiah Mwangi Kariuki. Jomo Kenyatta was the first President and the founding father of the African nation. She bore Kenyatta four children: Wambui (born 1953), Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 1961), Anna Nyokabi Muthama Kenyatta (born May 1963) Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965). [112] In these, he took a more radical position than he had in the past, calling for complete self-rule in Kenya. [179] It was also beset with problems, including a decline in standards and teachers' strikes over non-payment of wages. [240] Despite his reservations about any immediate East African Federation, in June 1967 Kenyatta signed the Treaty for East African Co-operation. [383] By the time of Kenyatta's death, Kenya's first universitiesthe University of Nairobi and Kenyatta Universityhad been established. His son Uhuru Kenyatta, who he fathered late in life, served as the fourth President of Kenya from 20132022. [332], Kenyatta's government believed it necessary to cultivate a united Kenyan national culture. Get info on Jomo Kenyatta Hill - Flint, Michigan - (810) 336-8411. [2] Muigai was sufficiently wealthy that he could afford to keep several wives, each living in a separate nymba (woman's hut). [74] Back in England, he wrote three articles on the Kenyan situation for the Communist Party of Great Britain's newspapers, the Daily Worker and Sunday Worker. A 2014 New World Wealth report which revealed the wealthiest families in Kenya ranked the Kenyatta family among centimillionaires with fortunes worth between $100 million (KSh 11 billion and $ 1 billion (KSh 110.5 . [117] Enabled by a grant from the International African Institute,[118] he also took a social anthropology course under Bronisaw Malinowski at the London School of Economics (LSE). [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. His niece, Beth Mugo, married to a retired ambassador, was an MP and also served as Minister for Public Health. [57] Kenyatta had two children from his first marriage with Grace Wahu: son Peter Muigai Kenyatta (born 1920), who later became a deputy minister; and daughter Margaret Kenyatta (born 1928). [215] The government followed the verdict with a wider crackdown, banning KAU in June 1953,[221] and closing down most of the independent schools in the country, including Kenyatta's. [363] Other businesses they were involved with included ruby mining in Tsavo National Park, the casino business, the charcoal tradewhich was causing significant deforestationand the ivory trade. [221] It appropriated his land at Gatundu and demolished his house. The Africans were dispossessed, leaseholds of land were restricted to white settlers, and native reservations were established. ; and Sofia Wanjiru Muigai less. "[60] This did not prevent Grigg from writing to the authorities in London requesting permission to shut the magazine down. [280], In 1962 he returned to London to attend one of the Lancaster House conferences. [395], Although many white Kenyans accepted Kenyatta's rule, he remained opposed by white far-right activists; while in London at the July 1964 Commonwealth Conference, he was assaulted by Martin Webster, a British neo-Nazi. Besides the Kenyatta family, whose patriarch was Kenya's founding president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the Moi family is ranked among centimillionaires. [169] He subsequently authored an IASB pamphlet, Kenya: The Land of Conflict, in which he blended political calls for independence with romanticised descriptions of an idealised pre-colonial African past. [115] The book was published under Armstrong's name, although Kenyatta claimed he should have been listed as co-author. [235] By the late 1950s, the imprisoned Kenyatta had become a symbol of African nationalism across the continent. 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