Jomo Kenyatta (c.  1897 – 22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country’s first indigenous head of government and played a significant role in the transformation of Kenya from a colony of the British Empire into an independent republic. Ideologically an African nationalist and conservative, he led the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party from 1961 until his death.

Early Life

Kenyatta was born as Kamau, son of Ngengi, at Ichaweri, southwest of Mount Kenya in the East African highlands. His father was a leader of a small Kikuyu agricultural settlement. About age 10 Kamau became seriously ill with jigger infections in his feet and one leg, and he underwent successful surgery at a newly established Church of Scotland mission. This was his initial contact with Europeans. Fascinated with what he had seen during his recuperation, Kamau ran away from home to become a resident pupil at the mission. He studied the Bible, English, mathematics, and carpentry and paid his fees by working as a houseboy and cook for a European settler. In August 1914 he was baptized with the name Johnstone Kamau. He was one of the earliest of the Kikuyu to leave the confines of his own culture. And, like many others, Kamau soon left the mission life for the urban attractions of Nairobi.

Return To Kenya

Kenyatta returned to Kenya in September 1946 to take up leadership of the newly formed Kenya African Union, of which he was elected president in June 1947. From the Kenya African Teachers College, which he directed as an alternative to government educational institutions, Kenyatta organized a mass nationalist party. But he had to produce tangible results in return for the allegiance of his followers, and the colonial government in Kenya was still dominated by unyielding settler interests. The “dangerous explosion” among the Kikuyu that he had predicted in 1930 erupted as the Mau Mau rebellion of 1952, which was directed against the presence of European settlers in Kenya and their ownership of land. On October 21, 1952, Kenyatta was arrested on charges of having directed the Mau Mau movement. Despite government efforts to portray Kenyatta’s trial as a criminal case, it received worldwide publicity as a political proceeding. In April 1953 Kenyatta was sentenced to seven-year imprisonment for “managing the Mau Mau terrorist organization.” He denied the charge then and afterwards, maintaining that the Kenya African Union’s political activities were not directly associated with Mau Mau violence.

The assassination of Tom Mboya

1969 saw the assassination of Tom Mboya, a Luo ally of Kenyatta’s, who some believed was being groomed as his successor. His murder, on 5 July, sent shock waves through the nation and led to tension and violence between the Luo and Kikuyu. Kenyatta’s position was, however, unaffected, and he was re-elected for a second presidential term at the end of the year.

By 1974, riding on a decade of high economic growth based on exports of cash crops and financial aid from the West, Kenyatta won a third presidential term (he was, however, the only candidate). But the cracks were starting to appear. Kenyatta’s family and political friends had gained considerable wealth at the expense of the average Kenyan. And the Kikuyu were openly acting as elite, especially a small clique was known as the Kiambu Mafia who had greatly benefited from land redistribution in the early days of Kenyatta’s presidency.

Since 1967, Kenyatta’s vice president had been Daniel Arap Moi, a Kalenjin (the collective name for several small ethnic groups who were mainly settled in the Rift Valley). When Kenyatta suffered his second heart attack in 1977 (his first was in 1966) the Kiambu Mafia became worried: according to the constitution when the president died the vice-president would automatically take over. They, however, wanted the presidency to remain in Kikuyu hands. It is to Kenyatta’s merit that he safeguarded Moi’s position when a constitutional drafting group attempted to have this rule changed.

Kenyatta’s Legacy

Jomo Kenyatta died in his sleep on 22 August 1978. Daniel Arap Moi took office as Kenya’s second president and pledged to continue Kenyatta’s good work – under a system he called Nyoyo, a Swahili word for ‘footsteps’.

Kenyatta’s legacy, corruption notwithstanding, was a country which had been stable both politically and economically. Kenyatta had also maintained a friendly relationship with the West, despite his treatment by the British as a suspected Mau Mau leader.

Along with his written testament to the culture and traditions of the Kikuyu, Facing Mount Kenya, Kenyatta published, in 1968, a memoir of reminiscences and speeches ” Suffering Without Bitterness.