Bildad Kaggia

Bildad Mwaganu Kaggia (* 1921 in Dagoretti ; † March 7, 2005 in Nairobi ) was a Kenyan politician and key figure in the independence movement.

biography

Kaggia came from a family of small farmers and initially worked as a teacher . During the Second World War he served with the King's African Rifles of the British Army .

After returning to Kenya in 1946, he became a militant trade unionist who was actively involved in the East African trade union movement, which gave the Kenyan independence movement the necessary union support at a critical time. Because of this commitment, he was arrested by the British colonial authorities in 1952 together with Jomo Kenyatta as well as Kungu Karumba , Fred Kubai , Paul Ngei and Achieng Oneko ("Kapenguria Six") after the Mau Mau uprising and only released in 1961 after the state of emergency was lifted.

After Kenya gained independence on December 12, 1963, he was immediately appointed Vice Minister for Education, but was dismissed in 1964 after he questioned the national government's ability to do so. He accused President Kenyatta's government of land seizure and corruption . He declined Kenyatta's offer to transfer a larger piece of land, pointing out that he had fought for the Kenyans and not for himself and that thousands of landless Kenyans who had supported the Mau Mau uprising against British rule needed their own land had than him.

In 1966 he gave up his seat in parliament , which he had previously won as a candidate for the Kenya African National Union (KANU), in order to run for the upcoming parliamentary elections as a candidate for the Kenya People's Union (KPU) founded by Oginga Odinga . However, after he was defeated in the elections, there was a quick break with Odinga. After further unsuccessful candidacies for a seat in 1969 and 1974, he withdrew from politics and accused Kenyatta of having obstructed his political career. He was also detained for six months in 1969 because of renewed criticism of Kenyatta. In 1975 his autobiography "Roots of Freedom 1921-1963" was published.

In 2005 he died in poverty in a slum in Nairobi.

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personal data
SURNAME	Kaggia, Bildad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kaggia, Bildad Mwaganu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Kenyan politician
DATE OF BIRTH	1921
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dagoretti
DATE OF DEATH	March 7, 2005
Place of death	Nairobi