Jomo Kenyatta

Jomo Kenyatta, 1978

Jomo Kenyatta, 1966

Jomo Kenyatta and Heinrich Lübke, 1966

Jomo Kenyatta (born October 20, 1893 in Ichaweri , British East Africa as Johnstone Kamau , † August 22, 1978 in Mombasa ) became the country 's first prime minister when Kenya gained independence in 1963 . In 1964, after Kenya was proclaimed a republic, he became its first president.

Life

Childhood and youth

Kenyatta's year of birth is not certain; it lies between 1889 and 1895. His birth name was Kamau wa Ngengi and he first lived with his parents from the Kikuyu people in Ng'enda, a small village in the Kiambu district. He remained loyal to this homeland for a lifetime, which is why his political confidants were later referred to as the "Kiambu clan" or the "Kiambu mafia". Kenyatta's paternal grandmother was a Maasai . The family continued to be related to the Maasai in later generations, and Kenyatta spent several months with his Maasai relatives.

After the death of the father Muigai, his mother Wambui returned to her parents, where she died soon after. Thereupon Kamau left Ng'enda and moved to his grandfather Kongo wa Magana, who was recognized in his village community as arathi , i.e. as a seer or wise man. These seers hear the messages of Ngai and pass them on to the people.

In 1909 Kamau became a member of the "Church of Scotland Mission" in Thogoto , where he received primary school education until 1912 and then learned the carpentry trade.

First political activities

In August 1914 he was baptized as a Christian and was given the name John Peter Kamau , which he soon changed to Johnstone Kamau . To find work, he traveled to nearby Nairobi . On a sisal farm in Thika , the engineer John Cook, who he knew from his time in Thogoto, hired him in 1915 as a joiner and farm worker.

During the course of the World War, the British colonial power took around 200,000 Kenyans as soldiers and porters and sent them to Tanganyika to fight the Germans there, where 50,000 lost their lives. Kamau evaded the threat of military service by being deported to Maassai country to live with relatives in Narok . There he worked for an Indian building contractor. After the end of the war in 1918 he returned to Nairobi in search of other work, where he found employment as a salesman in Stephen Ellis' general store and attended Christian evening school in his free time.

He became interested in the political activities of KCA leaders James Beauttah and Joseph Kang'ethe in 1924, and he became a member of the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA), the main black interest group who advocated tax reduction and land restitution , but also committed to the abolition of female circumcision. Combating the latter was seen as an unacceptable interference by the missionaries and the British with the Kikuyu culture. It was also at this time that he started his own business and converted part of his house in Dagoretti into a general store called “Kenyatta Store”, which soon after became a popular destination for blacks from all tribes.

His knowledge of English enabled him from 1926 to draft and translate letters for the KCA. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed managing director of the KCA. In May, he began editing the Kikuyu weekly "Muigwithania" (The Reconciler), which was produced in an Indian print shop, and traveled all over the country on his motorcycle setting up KCA bases. In 1929 he was sent to London by the KCA to file a lawsuit in the Colonial Office . Kenyatta took off from Mombasa on February 17th and reached London on March 8th. Kenyatta published various articles in support of the lawsuit in the English newspapers The Times and The Manchester Guardian under the motto "Give us back our land" . On September 24, 1930 he returned to Mombasa and then worked for the "Kikuyu Independent School" in Githunguri. English was also taught at these independent schools, something the white settlers - unlike the Colonial Office in London - were not particularly interested in. In public he now spoke out against female circumcision and genital mutilation.

On May 2, 1931, he began his second trip to London, where he was supposed to present a petition from the KCA to a parliamentary commission. Because the commission would not let him see him, he enrolled as a student at Woodbrooke Quaker College in Birmingham . At Easter, 1932, he was finally allowed to testify before the Carter Land Commission , and then graduated from Woodbrooke. In August 1932 Kenyatta visited the USSR and at the invitation of George Padmore , a radical West Indian from Trinidad , visited the KUTW in Moscow. Padmore fell out with the Russians in 1933, after which Kenyatta had to return to Great Britain.

From 1934 to 1938 he devoted himself to studying at University College London and worked on "Barlow's Kikuyu Dictionary" (Barlow's Kikuyu Dictionary). In 1935 Kenyatta began studying social anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science with Bronisław Malinowski ; his master's thesis was published in 1938 under the title "Facing Mount Kenya" and under his new name Jomo Kenyatta.

The road to independence

From 1940 he made his way as a casual worker , as an actor in the film Sanders of the River (with Paul Robeson ) and as a farm worker.

In February 1945 Kenyatta organized the World Trade Union Congress in London and in October also the 5th Pan-African Congress in Manchester, the most important of this series of congresses that has taken place since 1919. The motto was: "Freedom now" and "Africa for the Africans". As a result, he founded the multinational Pan-African Federation with Kwame Nkrumah in 1946 and returned to Kenya in September as director of the Kenya Teachers College in Githunguri .

After Juntas Gichuru resigned, Kenyatta became President of the Kenya African Union on June 1, 1947 . In the KAU, radicals like Dedan Kimathi and Real politicians were sharply opposed. Kenyatta was one of the moderate "real" people, but the British mistrusted him. At that time he was receiving death threats from white settlers. Since his stay in Moscow it was also suspected that he was a communist . Kenyatta toured Kenya from 1948 to 1950. At innumerable meetings he demanded both independence for his land within three years and the return of the land by the white settlers. At the same time, he called on his compatriots to work hard and condemned the prevailing tribalism , inactivity and crime.

Kenyatta took part in a joint meeting of KAU and the Kenya Indian Congress in 1950, at which a resolution by trade unionist Makhan Singh on the freedom of East Africa was adopted. In May 1951, Kenyatta met with James Griffiths , British Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, and called for a constitutional conference before May 1953.

In 1952, following a KAU appeal, a large crowd gathered in Kiambu to hear Kenyatta. Thereupon the colonial government declared a state of emergency on October 20th. Kenyatta was immediately arrested along with 182 other leaders and charged on November 18 with incitement to riot. Despite defense by several lawyers, Kenyatta was sentenced on April 8, 1953, to seven years of forced labor and subsequent preventive detention for the Mau Mau uprising . At the time he was 60 years old. He was taken to Lokitaung Prison . All appeals that his lawyer lodged against it until 1954 were ineffective.

Although he was released from prison on April 14, 1959, he was placed under house arrest in Lodwar . In December 1960 the state of emergency was lifted and the Kenya African National Union (KANU) elected Kenyatta as chairman in absentia. When his exile was lifted on August 14, 1961, Kenyatta went to Gatundu and other places, where he was greeted with jubilation everywhere. The official appointment as KANU President took place on October 28th. He was thus able to lead the delegation to the first important Lancaster conference in London. Members of the conference included a. the young trade unionist Tom Mboya and the radical Oginga Odinga , both Luo , as well as Ronald Ngala and the later president Daniel arap Moi . A new constitution was drafted during the conference. Kenya was described as a country that belongs to the Africans. Black Kenyans were guaranteed access to the " White Highlands ". Many white settlers then sold their property and left Kenya.

Kenyatta became a member of the Legislative Council and Minister for the Constitution and Economy in 1962 in a coalition government made up of whites, Indians and Native Africans. In May 1963, the KANU finally achieved a grandiose election victory in which Kenyatta's party won 83 of the 124 constituencies.

Presidency

On June 1, 1963, Kenyatta became Prime Minister. He convened his cabinet; this day became the national holiday, Madaraka Day , which means "self-government" in Swahili . He often spoke conciliatory and confidence-building in front of white settlers. On August 12, in his famous speech in Nakuru , he convinced the white settlers to stay in the country. Both sides should forgive and forget. As a result, Kenyatta actually continued to rely on white officials and judges. He did not dispossess any white land. Settlers who gave up their land were compensated with help from the British government. The land reform left many landless, making them landless on the land of black owners. Many of them moved to the cities, preferably to the slums of Nairobi. The land went to black landowners, and Kenyatta was one of them. This group of the rich is aptly called "Wabenzi", after the Benz automobile brand, which has become its status symbol. To this day, some British troops are stationed in Kenya. They have a large training camp near Nanyuki .

With the help of British troops, both a Somali attack and an army revolt were put down. KADU and KANU merged on November 10th and the country became practically a one-party state. On December 12th, Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya. He was 71 years old at the time. In 1966 he suffered a heart attack . There were further border incidents with Somalia. The land program was officially declared over. The KANU split. Its Vice President Oginga Odinga founded a socialist party, the Kenya People's Union , the KPU , with 29 MPs . Kenyatta tried to overcome this movement, which pretended to speak for the poor masses, by changing the law and the constitution. The KPU members were repeatedly persecuted by Kenyatta's security services. During the Cold War, this was more or less tolerated by the West. The smart Tom Mboya, who was generally trusted to one day become Kenyatta's successor, is firmly on the side of Kenyatta and the West. Odinga gave up his post as Vice President, he was followed for a short time by the aesthetic Joseph Murumbi , who, however, soon withdrew from politics in disappointment and in this way made room for Daniel arap Moi.

Kenyatta tried 1967 in an East African Economic Community ( EAC ) with Milton Obote , Uganda , and Julius Nyerere , Tanzania , z. B. to run rail, post and airlines together.

His biography was published in 1968 and is entitled Suffering Without Bitterness .

On July 5, 1969, Tom Mboya was gunned down by a Kikuyu in the street in Nairobi and died. The murderer Mboyas came on trial and was later hanged . So far there has been no evidence of any involvement from higher authorities, but the death of Mboya enraged the Luo, who see themselves so far from power, for years, and a bitter dispute with the Kikuyu ensued. When Kenyatta paid a reconciliation visit to Kisumu - the entire Luo leadership was present - the situation threatened to escalate due to the angry crowd, so that the police fired sharply: at least 10 people died. The KPU was banned even though the constitution allowed opposition parties. Odinga was banished without a judgment. Paramilitary police forces from Kikuyu and loyal allied tribes, General Service Unit (GSU), were formed to protect government interests.

On January 29, 1970, Kenyatta was sworn in for a second term as president. The tourism industry flourished.

In Uganda, Idi Amin staged a coup in 1971, and Kenyatta's daughter Jane (Jeni) married Udi Gecaga in 1973 . On November 5, 1974, he was sworn in for the third term as President.

The 1975 murder of Josiah Mwangi Kariuki , a Kikuyu, ex-Mau-Mau and a member of the Nyandarua North constituency. There was a protest against this. Critics have been placed under house arrest. The land question fell silent for years under this pressure. Bombs from a radical group (Poor's People Liberation Group) exploded in Nairobi.

Kenyatta suffered another heart attack in April 1977 . The EAC came to an end, and the planes, goods and other means of transport such as ships and trucks were suddenly confiscated from the community. Kenya secured the lion's share. Tensions between the countries persisted for years. There were repeated attacks and skirmishes on the border.

On August 14, 1978, Kenyatta gathered his entire family at his home in Mombasa . His second marriage son, Peter Mugaria, and his family also flew in from Great Britain. On August 22nd, the "Father of the Nation" died peacefully in his sleep in the presence of his wife Ngina and son Peter Muigai. The state funeral took place on August 31st. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was buried in its own mausoleum in front of the Nairobi Parliament building.

Importance to the Kenyan people

Memorial in Nairobi by James Walter Butler , 1972

A satisfactory translation of his name "Kenyatta", which was adopted only late, does not exist. Since the name "Kenya" itself is an Anglicization of the original word "Kiri nijaga" ( Mount Kenya , "The shining mountain", or "Kinja" for short), Kenyatta cannot be a genuine African name. The name comes closest to the meaning of "the Kenyans". The sometimes found extension to all residents of Kenya (Kenyans = Kenyatts) is wrong.

Kenyatta's life and work are overshadowed by the oversized role and honorable recognition of his people as "Father of the Nation". Some biographies or representations are more likely to be described as hagiography . Thus, not all data and events can always be proven beyond doubt. Kenyatta was highly respected but highly controversial in some of his positions and actions. In recent discussions, the title of "father of the nation" is sometimes even completely denied him. His salutation was "Mzee" (pronounced Mseeh ). In Swahili, "mzee" is the salutation for every venerable older man. But he was the "Mzee". So he is z. B. also mentioned on the old shilling coins of the country. Kenyatta called under the slogan Harambee , which in Swahili means something like: “Let's all pull together!”, A social self-help movement that is still important today.

One of the questions asked again and again and ultimately probably not to be answered comprehensively is the question of his role in the Mau Mau freedom struggle . He was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison and later house arrest. What is certain is that he was neither the operational nor the secret leader of this military struggle. He did not agree with the methods of this struggle, but was also close to this part of his people, because these fighters also wanted to end the colonial rule of the British. In this respect, they had common goals, but not the same paths. He knew how to use the attacks of the Mau Mau fighters politically. B. the will to resist of the population did not weaken even after the collapse of the Mau-Mau. The Mau Mau fighters, however, were never compensated in any way or given power by Kenyatta.

He succeeded in keeping the white settlers in the country through moderate land reform. Economically, they tried their hand at an East African economic community, together with Milton Obote , Head of State of Uganda , and Julius Nyerere , President of the Republic of Tanzania (which is now partially restored in some areas). This community broke up due to ideological differences until 1978 and led to long-term threats and isolation of the countries. Even though Kenyatta officially pursued a non-aligned policy, Kenya developed into an economically successful African state that also attracted foreign investors. Kenya also became a member of the United Nations during his tenure .

After years of struggle for freedom in which he really united the nation, after scientific and journalistic work, after personal suffering in prison or exile and convincing political leadership, Kenyatta is known to many people as “Taa ya Kenya” (Swahili: “the light of Kenya”) and one of the great leaders of Africa in the independence phase.

However, there are also downsides to this great life's achievement, such as his increasingly authoritarian leadership style and the repeatedly raised accusation of having enriched himself on land, ivory and mineral resources. His security apparatus harassed political opponents. This apparatus has also been linked to the murder of political opponents, e.g. B. in the murder case of Josiah Mwangi Kariuki .

The international airport in Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) , was named after him, as well as many schools and other institutions.

Private life

Kenyatta was married four times, and all marriages have had children. According to the Kikuyu tradition, he married Grace Wahu in 1919. His first daughter Margaret Wambui Kenyatta, later the Lord Mayor of Nairobi, was born in 1928. In May 1942 he married the Englishwoman Edna Clarke in West Sussex, whom he later left. His son Peter Mugaria Kenyatta was born on August 11, 1943. In the same year Kenyatta married for the third time, this time Grace Wanjiku Koinange, the sister of his political companion Mbiyu Koinange and daughter of the late Senior Chief Koinange. The young wife Grace Wanjiku died in childbed, the daughter Jane Wambui Kenyatta survived. He had four children with his last wife, Ngina Kenyatta , called "Mama Ngina", whom he married in 1951:

• Kristina Wambui Kenyatta-Pratt (born September 1952)
• Anna Nyokabi Kenyatta (called "Jeni")
• Uhuru Kenyatta (* 1961), 4th President of the Republic of Kenya since March 2013
• Muhoho Kenyatta (* 1964)

His great-nephew is Tom Morello , also the guitarist of the US band Rage Against the Machine .

Works

• Facing Mount Kenya - The Tribal Life of the Gikuyu (1938), Vintage Books USA, 1962, ISBN 0-394-70210-7
• My People of Kikuyu and the Life of Chief Wangombe. Oxford University Press, 1967, ISBN 0-19-680542-2
• Suffering Without Bitterness. The Founding of the Kenya Nation. (Autobiography, 1968)

Web links

Commons : Jomo Kenyatta  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Portrait at kenya.rcbowen.com (English)
• Axel Kämmerer, Andreas Haas: Kenyatta, Jomo (Johnstone) , in: Kurt Groenewold , Alexander Ignor, Arnd Koch (Eds.): Lexicon of Political Criminal Processes , online, as of August 2017.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jomo Kenyatta: Facing Mount Kenya , London 1961, p. 210.
2. ^ Woodford McClellan: Africans and Black Americans in the Comintern Schools, 1925-1934 . In: The International Journal of African Historical Studies . tape 26 , no. 2 . Boston University African Studies Center, 1993, ISSN  0361-7882 , pp. 371-390 , doi : 10.2307 / 219551 , JSTOR : 219551 (English).
3. ↑ http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144001711&cid=4&  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ;