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{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = Mzee
|name = Jomo Kenyatta
|honorific-suffix =
|image = JomoKenyattaHaileSelassie.jpg
|imagesize = 200px
|caption = Kenya-Kenya's Premier Jomo Kenyatta (L) and Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie are pictured at Nairobi Airport after the latter's arrival for a visit.
|order = 1st
|office = President of Kenya
|term_start = 12 December 1964
|term_end = 22 August 1978
|vicepresident = [[Jaramogi Oginga Odinga]] [[Joseph Zuzarte Murumbi]] [[Daniel arap Moi]]

|predecessor = [[Malcolm John MacDonald|Malcolm MacDonald]] as [[Governor-General of Kenya|Governor-General]]
|successor = [[Daniel arap Moi]]
|order2 = [[Prime Minister of Kenya]]
|office2 =
|term_start2 = 1 June 1963
|term_end2 = 12 December 1964
|monarch2 = Elizabeth II
|governor-general2=[[Malcolm John MacDonald|Malcolm MacDonald]]
|predecessor2 = Office Established
|successor2 = Himself as [[President of Kenya]] 
| birth_date = 1889<ref>http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kenyatta/profile.htm</ref>
| birth_place = [[Gatundu]], [[East Africa Protectorate|British East Africa]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|08|22|1889|10|20|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Mombasa]], [[Coast Province|Coast]] [[Kenya]]
| birthname = Kamau wa Muigai
| spouse = [[Grace Wahu]] (m. 1919), Edna Clarke (1942–1946), Grace Wanjiku, [[Ngina Kenyatta|Mama Ngina]] (1951–1978)
| children = Peter Muigai [[Margaret Kenyatta|Margaret]] Peter Magana Jane Christine [[Uhuru Kenyatta|Uhuru]] Anna Muhoho

| party = [[Kenyan African National Union|KANU]]
}}

'''Jomo Kenyatta''' served as the first [[Prime Minister]] (1963–1964) and [[President]] (1964–1978) of [[Kenya]]. He is considered the [[Father of the Nation|founding father]] of the Kenyan nation.

[[Nairobi]]'s [[Jomo Kenyatta International Airport]], Kenyatta International Conference Center, Nairobi's and numerous other town's main streets, numerous schools, two Universities ([[Kenyatta University]] and [[Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology]]) and several other institutions, the country's main referral hospital, markets, housing estates and other places are named after him. A statue in downtown Nairobi and several monuments all over Kenya stand in his honor. Kenya observes a public holiday every 20 October in his honor. His face still adorns Kenyan currency notes and coins of all denomination.

==Early life==
Jomo Kenyatta was born Kamau wa Muigai to parents Muigai and Wambui in the village of [[Gatundu]], in [[British East Africa]] (now [[Kenya]]), a member of [[Kikuyu|Kikuyu people]]. His date of birth, sometime in the early to mid 1890s, is unclear, and was unclear even to him, as his parents were almost certainly not literate, and no formal birth records of native Afrikans were kept in Kenya at that time.<ref name="ReferenceA">Kenya Factbook, 15th edition, 1997–1998</ref><ref name="africanhistory2">{{cite web|url=http://africanhistory.about.com/od/biography/a/bio-Kenyatta01.htm |title=Alistair Boddy-Evans-about.com |publisher=Africanhistory.about.com |date= |accessdate=2010-04-16}}</ref>

His father died while Kamau was very young after which, as per custom, he was adopted by his uncle Ngengi, who also inherited his mother, to become Kamau wa Ngengi. When his mother died during childbirth, young Kamau moved from Ng'enda to Muthiga to live with his [[Traditionalist]] grandfather Kũngũ wa Magana, to whom he became very close.

He then left home to become a resident pupil at the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM) at Thogoto, close to [[Kikuyu, Kenya|Kikuyu Town]], about 12 miles north-west of Nairobi. He studied amongst other subjects: [[Christianity]], English, mathematics, and carpentry. He paid the school fees by working as a houseboy and cook for a white settler living nearby.

In 1912, having completed his mission school education, he became an apprentice carpenter. The following year he underwent initiation ceremonies, including circumcision, to become a member of the ''kihiu-mwiri'' age group.
In 1914, he converted to [[Christianity]], assuming the name '''John Peter''', which he then changed to '''Johnstone Kamau'''. He left the mission later that year to seek employment.<ref name="africanhistory2"/>

He first worked as an apprentice carpenter on a sisal farm in [[Thika]], under the tutelage of John Cook, who had been in charge of the building program at Thogoto. During the [[First World War]], Kikuyu were forced into work by the British authorities. To avoid this, he lived with [[Maasai]] relatives in [[Narok]], where he worked as a clerk for an Asian contractor.<ref name="africanhistory2"/>

In 1919 he married [[Grace Wahu]], under Kikuyu customs. When Grace got pregnant, his church elders ordered him to get married before a European magistrate, and undertake the appropriate church rites. On 20 November 1920 Kamau's first son, Peter Muigai, was born. Kamau served as an interpreter in the Nairobi High Court, and ran a store out of his [[Dagoretti]] on the outskirts of [[Nairobi]] home during this period.<ref name="africanhistory2"/> He eventually married Grace Wahu in a civil ceremony in 1922. Grace Wahu lived in the Dagoretti home until her death in April 2007 at the age of around 100.

In 1922 Kamau began working, as a store clerk and water-meter reader for the Nairobi Municipal Council Public Works Department, once again under John Cook who was the Water Superintendent.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Meter reading helped him meet many Kenyan-Asians at their homes who would become important allies later on.

He entered politics after taking interest in the political activities of [[James Beauttah]] and [[Joseph Kang'ethe]] the leaders of the KCA ([[Kikuyu Central Association]]). He joined KCA in 1924 and rose up the ranks of the association. Eventually he began to edit the movement's Kikuyu newspaper. By 1928 he had become the KCA's general secretary.

In 1928 he launched a monthly Kikuyu-language newspaper called ''Mwĩgwithania'' (''Reconciler'') which aimed to unite all sections of the Kikuyu. The paper, supported by an Asian-owned printing press, had a mild and unassuming tone, and was tolerated by the colonial government.<ref name="africanhistory2"/> He also made a presentation on [[Kikuyu]] land problems before the [[Hilton Young Commission]] in [[Nairobi]] in the same year.

==Overseas==
In 1929 the KCA sent Kenyatta to [[London]] to lobby on its behalf with regards to Kikuyu tribal land affairs. He wrote articles to British newspapers about the matter.

He returned to Kenya in September 24, 1930 and was welcomed at Mombasa by his wife Wahu and [[James Beauttah]]. He then took part, on the side of traditionalists, in the debate on the issue of circumcision of girls. He later worked for Kikuyu Independent Schools in Githunguri.

He returned to London in 1931 and enrolled in [[Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre|Woodbrooke Quaker College]] in [[Birmingham]].

In 1932 to 1933, he briefly studied [[economics]] in [[Moscow]] at the Comintern School, KUTVU (University of the Toilers of the East) before his sponsor, the [[Trinidad]]ian Pan-Afrikanist [[George Padmore]], fell out with his [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] hosts, forcing Kenyatta to move back to London.

In 1934, Kenyatta enrolled at [[University College London]] and from 1935 studied [[social anthropology]] under [[Bronisław Malinowski]] at the [[London School of Economics]] (LSE). He published his revised LSE thesis as ''[[Facing Mount Kenya]]'' in 1938 under his new name, Jomo Kenyatta. The name "Jomo" is translated in English to "Burning Spear", while the name "Kenyatta" was said to be a reference to the beaded [[Masai]] belt he wore, and later to "the Light of Kenya".

During this period, he was also an active member of a group of [[African]], [[Caribbean]] and [[United States|American]] intellectuals who included [[C.L.R. James]], [[Eric Williams]], [[W.A. Wallace Johnson]], [[Paul Robeson]], and [[Ralph Bunche]]. During his presidency, a number of streets in Nairobi were named after those early black-emancipation intellectuals.

Kenyatta acted as an extra in the film ''[[Sanders of the River]]'' (1934), directed by [[Alexander Korda]] and starring [[Paul Robeson]].

During [[World War II]], he worked as a laborer at an English farm in [[Sussex]], and lectured on [[Afrika]] for the [[Workers' Educational Association]].

In 1942, he married an Englishwoman, Edna Clarke. He also published ''My People of Kikuyu'' and ''The Life of Chief Wang'ombe, a history shading into legend''. Edna gave birth to their son, Peter Magana, in 1943.

In 1945, with other prominent African nationalist figures, such as [[Kwame Nkrumah]] of [[Ghana]], Kenyatta helped organize the fifth [[Pan-African Congress]] held in [[United Kingdom|Britain]].

He left Edna Clarke behind in Britain when he returned to Kenya in 1946.

==Return to Kenya==
Kenyatta returned to Kenya in 1946, after almost 15 years abroad.

He married for the third time, to Grace Wanjiku, Senior Chief [[Koinange]]'s daughter, and sister to [[Mbiyu Koinange]], who later became a lifelong confidant and was one of the most powerful politicians during Kenyatta's presidency.

Kenyatta then went into teaching, becoming principal of [[Kenya Teachers College]] Githunguri.

In 1947, he was elected president of the [[Kenya African Union]] (KAU). He began to receive death threats from white settlers after his election.

From 1948 to 1951 he toured and lectured around the country condemning idleness, robbery, urging hard work while campaigning for the return of land given to White settlers and for independence within three years.

His wife, Grace Wanjiku, died in childbirth in 1950 as she gave birth to daughter Jane Wambui, who survived.

In 1951 Kenyatta married Ngina Muhoho, daughter of Chief Muhoho. She was popularly referred to as [[Ngina Kenyatta|Mama Ngina]] and was independent Kenya's [[First Lady]], when Kenyatta was elected President.

The [[Land and Freedom Uprising]] began in 1951 and KAU was banned, and a state of emergency was declared in on October 20, 1952.

==Trial and imprisonment==
Kenyatta was arrested in October 1952 and indicted with five others on the charges of "managing and being a member" of the [[KLFA]]. The KFLA was a radical anti-colonial movement engaged in the [[Land and Freedom Uprising]]. The accused were known as the "[[Kapenguria Six]]".

The trial lasted five months: [[Rawson Macharia]], the main prosecution witness, turned out to have perjured himself; the judge — who had only recently been awarded an unusually large pension,<ref>See p. 65 of David Anderson (2005), ''Histories of the Hanged: Britain’s Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson: London</ref> and who maintained secret contact with the then colonial Governor of Kenya Evelyn [[Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale|Baring]]<ref>See Anderson 2005: 65</ref> during the trial — was openly hostile to the defendants' cause.

The defense, led by British Lawyer Dennis Pritt, argued that the white settlers were trying to scapegoat Kenyatta and that there was no evidence tying him to the KLFA. The court sentenced Kenyatta on April 8, 1953 to seven years imprisonment with [[hard labor]] and indefinite restriction thereafter.<ref name="sentencing">Chatterjee, Ramananda. ''The Modern Review'', 2006. Page 344.</ref> As he was in his mid 50's, Kenyatta was spared from breaking stones with his fellow prisoners.<ref>{{cite book |title=African Political Leadership |last=Assensoh |first=A. B. |year=1998 |publisher=Krieger Publishing Company |location=Malabar, FL |isbn=9780894649110 |page=59}}</ref> The subsequent appeal was refused by the British Privy Council in 1954.

Kenyatta remained in prison until 1959, after which he was detained in [[Lodwar]], a remote part of Kenya.

The state of emergency was lifted in December 1960.

On Feb 28 1960, a public meeting of 25,000 in Nairobi demanded his release. On April 15, 1960, over a million signatures for a plea to release him were presented to the Governor. On May 14, 1960, he was elected Kanu President ''in absentia''. On Mar 23 1961, Kenyan leaders, including Daniel arap Moi, later his long time Vice President and successor as president, visited him at Lodwar. On Apr 11 1961, he was moved to Maralal with daughter Margaret where he met world press for the first time in eight years. On Aug 14 1961, he was released and brought to Gatundu to a hero's welcome.

While contemporary opinion linked Kenyatta with the KLFA, historians have questioned his alleged leadership of the radical movement.<ref>John Lonsdale (1990) "Mau Maus of the Mind: Making Mau Mau and Remaking Kenya", ''The Journal of African History'' 31 (3): 393-421.</ref> Kenyatta was in truth a political moderate. His marriage of Colonial Chief's daughters, his post independence Kikuyu allies mainly being former colonial collaborators, and his short shrift treatment of former KLFA fighters after he came to power, all strongly suggest he had scant regard for them.

==Leadership==
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F021917-0014, Kenia, Staatsbesuch Bundespräsident Lübke.jpg|thumb|Jomo Kenyatta and [[President of West Germany]] [[Heinrich Lübke]] in 1966]]

===Pre-independence===
Kenyatta was admitted into the [[Legislative Council]] after his release in 1961, after Kariuki Njiiri (son of late Chief Njiiri) gave up his Kigumo seat for him.

In 1961 and 1962, he led the KANU delegation to first and second Lancaster Conference in London where Kenya's independence constitution was negotiated.

Elections were then held in May 1963, pitting Kenyatta's KANU (Kenya African National Union- which advocated for Kenya to be a [[unitary state]]) against KADU (Kenya African Democratic Union- which advocated for Kenya to be an [[federation|ethnic-federal state]]). KANU beat KADU by winning 83 seats out of 124. On June 1, 1963, Kenyatta became prime minister of the autonomous Kenyan government, with [[Queen Elizabeth II]] remaining as Head of State (after Independence, styled as ''Queen of Kenya''), represented by a Governor-General. He consistently asked white settlers not to leave Kenya and supported reconciliation.

===Post-independence===
Kenyatta retained the role of prime minister after independence was declared and jubilantly celebrated on December 12, 1963.

On June 1, 1964, Kenyatta became President when he successfully had Parliament amend the Constitution to make Kenya a [[republic]] with his office becoming executive President: the head of State, head of Government, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

His policy was that of continuity and gradual Africanization of the government, keeping many colonial civil servants in their old jobs as they were gradually replaced by Kenyans. He asked for British troops' help against [[Somalia|Somali]] rebels, ''[[Shiftas]]'', in the northeast and in ending an army mutiny in Nairobi in January 1964.

On November 10, 1964, KADU officially dissolved and its representatives joined KANU, forming a single party.

Kenyatta was re-elected un-opposed in 1966, and the next year had the Constitution amended to expand his powers. This term featured border conflicts with [[Somalia]], and more political opposition. He made the Kikuyu-led KANU practically the only political party of Kenya. He consolidated his power greatly, and placed several of his Kikuyu tribesmen in most of the powerful state and security offices and posts. State security forces harassed dissidents and were suspected of complicity in several murders of prominent personalities deemed as threats to his regime, including [[Pio Gama Pinto]], [[Tom Mboya]] and [[Josiah Mwangi Kariuki|J.M. Kariuki]].<ref>[http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/11022002/News/Insight8.html ]{{Dead link|date=June 2009}}</ref> MP and Lawyer [[Chiedo Moa Gem Argwings-Kodhek|C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek]] and former Kadu Leader and minister [[Ronald Ngala]], also died in suspicious car accidents.

In 1968 he published his biography ''Suffering Without Bitterness''.

In the 1969 elections, Kenyatta banned the only other party, KPU (formed and led by his former vice president, [[Jaramogi Oginga Odinga]] who had been forced to quit KANU along with his left leaning allies), detained its leaders, and called elections in which only KANU was allowed to participate.

On 29 January 1970 he was sworn in as President for a further term. For the remainder of his presidency, Kenya was effectively a one-party state, and Kenyatta made use of detention, appeals to ethnic loyalties, and careful appointment of government jobs to maintain his commanding position in Kenya’s political system.<ref name="Microsoft Encarta 2008">Microsoft Encarta 2008.</ref> However, his advancing age kept him from the day-to-day management of government affairs. He intervened only when necessary to settle disputed issues. His relative isolation resulted in increasing domination of Kenya’s affairs by well-connected Kikuyu who acquired great wealth as a result.<ref name="Microsoft Encarta 2008"/><ref name="succession1980">''The Kenyatta Succession'' by Joseph Karimi, Philip Ochieng, 1980</ref>

Kenyatta was again re-elected as President in 1974, in elections in which he, again, ran alone.<ref name="Microsoft Encarta 2008"/> On Nov 5, 1974, he was sworn in as President for a third term.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> His increasingly feeble health meant that his inner circle effectively ruled the country, and greatly enriched themselves, in his name.<ref name="succession1980"/> He remained president until his death four years later in 1978.

==Death==
President Kenyatta had suffered a heart attack in 1966. He would in the mid-seventies lapse into periodic comas lasting from a few hours to a few days from time to time. In April 1977, then well into his 80s, he suffered a massive heart attack.<ref name="succession1980"/>

On August 14, 1978, he hosted his entire family, including his son Peter Magana who flew in from Britain with his family, to a reunion in Mombasa.

On August 22, 1978, President Kenyatta died in [[Mombasa]] of natural causes attributable to old age.

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was buried on August 31, 1978 in Nairobi in a state funeral at a mausoleum on Parliament grounds.

He was succeeded as President after his death by his vice-president [[Daniel arap Moi]].<ref>For an in depth exposé on the intrigues of the succession see ''The Kenyatta Succession'' by Joseph Karimi, Philip Ochieng, 1980</ref>

==Legacy==

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, as he was popularly known, was an important and influential statesman in Africa. He is credited with leading Kenya to independence and setting up the country as a relatively prosperous capitalist state. He pursued a moderate pro-Western, anti-Communist economic philosophy and foreign policy.<ref name="foreign policy">Lamb, David. ''The Africans''. Page 61.</ref><ref name="fate">Meredith, Martin. ''The Fate of Africa''. Page 266</ref><ref>Miller, Norman and Rodger Yeager. ''Kenya: The Quest for Prosperity'' (second edition). Pages 172-173.</ref> He oversaw a peaceful land reform process, oversaw the setting up of the institutions of independent Kenya, and also oversaw Kenya's admission into the [[United Nations]]. During his reign, the country was reasonably well governed, peaceful and stable, the economy developed and grew rapidly and attracted high levels of foreign investment, and a black Kenyan professional and business middle class was established.

The net summary of his legacy, is that he contributed in no small measure to the decolonization of Africa, and molded Kenya into the regional power in East Africa, and into one of the more developed and prosperous countries in sub-Saharan Afrika.

==Family==
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). Margaret served as mayor of Nairobi between 1970–76 and then as Kenya's ambassador to the United Nations from 1976 -86. Grace Wahu died in April 2007.<ref>[http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/print/news.php?articleid=1143966984 Wahu Kenyatta mourned], ''The Standard'', April 6, 2007</ref>

He had one son, Peter Magana Kenyatta (born 1943) from his short marriage with Edna Clarke.<ref>[http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/20102003/News/News6.html Police stop VP's bid for Kenyatta papers], ''Daily Nation'', October 20, 2003</ref>

His third wife, Grace Wanjiku, died when giving birth in 1950. Daughter Jane Wambui survived.<ref>[http://www.eastandard.net/archives/august/sun22082004/reports/rep21080404.htm Dear Daddy: Letters straight from the heart], ''The Standard'', August 22, 2004</ref>

His fourth wife, the best known due to her role as [[First Lady]], was [[Ngina Kenyatta]] (née Muhoho), also known as Mama Ngina. She often accompanied him in public and also has some streets in Nairobi and Mombasa named after her. She bore Kenyatta four children: Christine Wambui (born 1952), [[Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta]] (born 1961), Anna Nyokabi (also known as ''Jeni'') and Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1964). Mama Ngina lives quietly as a wealthy widow in Kenya. [[Uhuru Kenyatta]], Mzee Kenyatta's political heir, unsuccessfully vied for the Kenyan presidency as President Moi's preferred successor in 2002 and is today the Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance. Muhoho Kenyatta runs his Mother's vast family business but lives out of the public limelight.

Kenyatta was the uncle of [[Ngethe Njoroge]], Kenya's first representative to the United Nations and the great uncle of [[Tom Morello]], the guitarist for [[Rage Against the Machine]]. His niece, Beth Mugo, married to a retired ambassador, is an MP and currently serving as Minister for Public Health.
==Bibliography==
===Books by Jomo Kenyatta===
*''[[Facing Mount Kenya]] '' (1938)
*''My people of Kikuyu and the life of Chief Wangombe'' (1944)
*''Suffering Without Bitterness'' (biography 1968)
*''Kenya: The land of conflict'' (1971)
*''The challenge of Uhuru;: The progress of Kenya, 1968 to 1970'' (1971)

===Books about Jomo Kenyatta===
*[[Guy Arnold]] (1974), ''Kenyatta and the politics of Kenya'', London: Dent ISBN 046007878X
*Jeremy Murray-Brown (1979), ''Kenyatta'', Allen & Unwin, ISBN 0049200593
*George Delf (1961), ''Jomo Kenyatta: Towards Truth about "The Light of Kenya"'' New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-8371-8307-3
*Rawson Macharia (1991), ''The Truth about the Trial of Jomo Kenyatta'', Nairobi: Longman. ISBN 9966498230
*Veena Malhotra (1990), ''Kenya Under Kenyatta'' Kalinga. ISBN 8185163162
* Montagu Slater (1955), ''The trial of Jomo Kenyatta'' London: Secker and Warburg. ISBN 0436472007
* Elizabeth Watkins, (1993) ''Jomo's Jailor — Grand Warrior of Kenya'' Mulberry Books ISBN 978-0952895206

===Films about Jomo Kenyatta===
* Anthony Howarth & [[David Koff]] (1973), ''Kenyatta'' Part 3 of ''The Black Man's Land Trilogy'' [http://www.cinemagician.net]

==Notes==
   [pron.] - The name ''Jomo Kenyatta'' is pronounced {{IPA-en|ˈdʒoʊmoʊ kɛnˈjɑːtə|}} {{respell|JOE|moe}} {{respell|ken|YAH|tə}} in English.
{{reflist|2}}
*{{cite web|url=http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:wgwEXps_egsJ:www.rcbowen.com/kenya/government/kenyatta.html+James+Beauttah&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1 |title=Kenya — Government/History — Mzee Jomo Kenyatta |publisher=72.14.205.104 |date=2009-05-30 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}

==External links==
*[http://www.africawithin.com/kenyatta/speech_at_kau.htm Speech by Kenyatta at the Kenya African Union Meeting at Nyeri, July 26, 1952]
*[http://kenya.rcbowen.com/government/kenyatta.html Mzee Jomo Kenyatta]
*[http://www.kenyatravelideas.com/famous-people-from-kenya-jomo-kenyatta.html Famous People in Kenya: Jomo Kenyatta]

Jomo Kenyatta - Revision history

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