Uhuru Kenyatta’s Capitalist Background Undermines His Empty Attacks on Imperialism
Uhuru Kenyatta: Outbursts against Imperialism holds no water
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s continuous attacks on the Western world exhibit utter hypocrisy because his upbringing and current lifestyle reflect extreme capitalism. From Kindergarten to high school in Kenya, and later to Amherst University in the United States, Uhuru’s educational training was Western-based. His wife’s mother is a White German, while his family-owned bank, the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), was “bought” from Americans. His key speeches are delivered via teleprompters like President Obama’s, and when he appeared on the Churchill Live talk show two years ago, he said his best band was UB40, a British reggae/pop group. The lead counsel for his ICC case is a White British and in 2012, he hired the London-based BTP Advisers for his presidential campaign publicity. His private residence is along the affluent Dennis Pritt road in Nairobi, a stone’s throw away from State House, and his children do not study in public schools. His father Jomo Kenyatta, lived in Englandand married an Englishwoman called Edna Clarke, who bore him a son named Peter Magana Kenyatta in 1943. Therefore, he is “black on the outside but white on the inside” and should stop preaching to Kenyans about imperialism.
In his 2005 treatise titled ‘Colonialism-Imperialism Paradigm is Kaput’, Ghanaian economist Dr. George Ayittey distinguishes between “The Externalists” (those who blame Africa’s woes on external factors like colonialism-imperialism, etc.) and “The Internalists” (the new generation who blame African leaders). “Internalists are the new and angry generation of Africans, who are fed up with African leaders who refuse to take responsibility for their own failures and, instead use colonialism and other external factors as convenient alibis to conceal their own incompetence and mismanagement. Internalists believe that, while external factors have played a role, internal factors have been far more significant in causing Africa’s crises. This school of thought maintains that while it is true Western colonialism and imperialism did harm Africa and continues to do so, Africa’s condition has been made immeasurably worse by such internal factors as misguided leadership, misgovernance, systemic corruption, capital flight, economic mismanagement, declining investment, collapsed infrastructure, decayed institutions, senseless civil wars, political tyranny, flagrant violations of human rights, and military vandalism. In fact, one can identify a whole lot of them but these will suffice.”
Massive stolen wealth of the Kenyattas
In 2011, Forbes magazine described Uhuru Kenyatta as “heir to some of the largest land holdings in Kenya. He owns at least 500,000 acres of prime land spread across the country.” There is no record showing that his father Jomo Kenyatta, was wealthy before becoming the president of Kenya. In his article titled: ‘Kenyatta’s Plot to Settle Kikuyus in Tanzania’ (Business Daily November 9, 2009), investigative journalist John Kamau revealed that 25 days after Jomo was sworn in as Kenya’s Prime Minister on June 26, 1963, his government began discussions to resettle hundreds of landless Kikuyus “into tsetse fly-infested Mpanda Settlement Scheme in Rukwa region of Tanzania.” Kamau adds that: “Kenya was to pay the Julius Nyerere’a government some 30 pounds for each family and had already set aside a budget of 6,000 pounds for the exercise.” Nevertheless, many Kikuyu families refused the offer and even those who had been “exiled” returned to Kenya in protest. No wonder the Kenyatta family sits on large tracts of land the size of Nyanza area.
Uhuru’s mother was recently mentioned by Ventures magazine as one of the three female dollar-billionaires in Africa. “Mama Ngina Kenyatta is worth Sh86 billion ($1 billion); spread in real estate, banking and hospitality sectors and is among the three women that made it to the Africa’s billionaire club. She presides over Kenyatta family’s vast business empire, associated with well-known commercial brands and blue chip companies. This includes Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), Brookside Dairy, and the upmarket and chic hotel chain, Heritage Hotels East Africa. The family is also linked to Media Max Company, which owns K24 TV, Kameme Radio and The People newspaper. It also owns thousands of acres of prime land across Kenya that was acquired by the late President Kenyatta in the ‘60s and ‘70s under a settlement transfer fund scheme that allowed government officials acquire land from the British cheap prices.” The Kenyattas own some of the top-listed companies at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, thanks to the alleged 10% acquisition by Jomo Kenyatta in all foreign companies that invested in Kenya during his leadership. Jomo Kenyatta, Mobutu Sese Seko of then-Zaire and Omar Bongo of Gabon, were among some of Africa’s ruthless capitalists who acquired wealth through massive corruption.
Uhuru’s Tribalism
What does Uhuru stand for apart from being a capitalist whose stay in power is to protect his family’s massive wealth? He has no record of participation in any liberation struggles since he belongs to everything considered as “politically incorrect” i.e. inheriting illegally acquired wealth, and being the second sitting president to be indicted by the ICC. On Mashujaa (Heroes) Day on October 20th 2013, he mentioned that: “Already, we have made important strides in this regard through equitable appointments in the Cabinet and Public service.”
However, since his deputy and fellow indictee William Ruto began his trial in The Hague, the following Kikuyus have been appointed to various jobs in the Public service: 1. Nancy Gitau – Chief Political Advisor; 2. Joseph Kinyua – Chief of Staff and Head of the Civil Service; 3. Arthur Igeria – Head of the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration Board; 4. Mutahi Ngunyi – Senior Political Advisor 5. John Mututho – Chairman NACADA; 6. Lee Kinyanjui – Chairman National Transport Authority.7. Kiragu wa Magonchi – Chairman Teachers’ Service Commission (Uhuru’s nominee).
Further, it was reported that a committee appointed by Uhuru to investigate whether to repatriate Somali refugees in Daadab and Kakuma camps following the Westgate attack, consists of Kikuyus with only one Kalenjin. They are: 1. Daniel Njuguna Waireri-Chairman; 2. Joyce Wanja Mburu-Vice Chairperson; 3. Wamuyu Wang’undu; 4. Gladys Njoki Muhia; 5. Nyokabi Githiura; 6. Charles Karanja; 7. Elizabeth Nyaguthi; 8. Stephen Kiraithe; 9. Athanas Gichuki Mwathe; 10. Christine Agatha Waitherero; 11. Hosea Kimkung Maiyo (Kalenjin); 12. Dr. Githinji Wamwoka; 13. James Lee Mukora. The Kenyan Constitution states that public appointments should consider regional and gender balance, yet Uhuru’s appointments favour Kikuyus generally.
Lies about IDP Resettlement
“We have also resettled all internally displaced persons and are doing all we can to enable them integrate back into society” said Uhuru. Shockingly, a few days ago, more than 70 Kikuyu families returned to the Mai Mahiu IDP camps in Naivasha because they had been resettled in an area without infrastructure such as schools, roads, hospitals or trading centers. “Addressing the press in Mai Mahiu, the IDPs from Amani, Vumilia Narok and Maono camps said that the Government was eager to get rid of them. According to Julia Njeri, they were transported to the area in June 2013 and left in the wilderness. The mother of four said that officers from the Department of Special Programmes never delivered the construction materials they had promised to issue.” And this is happening to Kikuyus under a Kikuyu President. What about the non-Kikuyus in non-Jubilee areas?
According to Chritina Nyström in ‘KENYA: The Party System from 1963-2000’: “The Kenya of today is marked by increased tension between ethnic groups. Tension that goes back to the days when Jomo Kenyatta was president (1964-1978) and the Kikuyu dominated Kenyan politics. The extent of Kikuyu domination came to alienate the Luo and other ethnic groups within the country. (Tordoff, 1997: 86-7) The Kikuyu is the largest ethnic group in Kenya, followed in size by Luhya, Luo, Kamba, Kalenjin and a host of other smaller ethnic groups. (KHRC, 1998: 11) In Kenya, “Democratization has resulted in reaffirmation of ethnic identities, with political parties emerging along ethnoregional criteria rather than ideological ones.” (Bratton and van de Walle, 1997: 239).”
Jared Odero
Kenya Stockholm Blog 
uhuruto claim and appeal for nationalism is hollow,false and without any foundation whatsoever.
the mere fact that you are a president following disputed rigged elections legitimized by flawed court process doesn’t make one a nationalist.
uhuruto have no past in nationalism and so far have done nothing in Kenya with their presidency to show that they are true nationalists.
they have not shown courage in words and deed to tackle Kenya major hindrances—
land redistribution
entrenched cabal of tribalism in key institutions of government and public service and private sector
effort to reform inefficient corrupt electoral processes and electoral commission to deepen democracy and give power to masses of Kenya
liberate kenya form faulty electoral processes which gives us criminal,inexperienced ,inept and unsuitable presidents and executives.
supported reforms in judiciary for enhanced justice system
not done anything to carry out fundamental reforms of security sector especially police,prison services to get rid of tribal kings there and instill professionalism.
uhuru have done nothing to expand democratic space and environment in kenya.
they have done nothing to eliminate cartels of corruption in government processes and systems.
have not supported office of auditor general .
have not supported human rights in Kenya
have not supported free press and non governmental organizations in kenya
have done nothing to enhance public participation in governance of Kenya
have done nothing to encourage freedom of speech,movement in and out of kenya
the policies initiated are self serving and ignored what is popular government agenda which would have clearly shown their patriotism and nationalistic mantle.
so far there is nothing to show any trait of nationalism in them,now or in the past just mere empty hollow slogans,empty rhetoric and useless propaganda.
1. AG Githu Muigai is pushing for the appointment of one Chris Mburu as chairperson of Kenya National Commission of Human Rights (KNCHR).
2. Muigai who advertised the post illegally has selected only 5 lawyers out of 11 people shortlisted to the post of whom only 2 have masters in law Chris Mburu and Nelly Matheka who are mostly likely to be appointed.
3. Kenyans are only fooled that the process will be through vetting and yet its already predetermined.
4. They have ensured Jaoko is not appointed because of her Sir-name.
5. Either way, one has to be from Mt Kenya to hold postion in Uhurus government.
6. Impunity.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
State House Nairobi And The Sleeping Habits Of Three Presidents
Of the three presidents Kenya has had thus far, it is only President Kibaki who has turned State house Nairobi into a ‘permanent residence’ surprising both friends and foe as to why such a wealthy man with a palatial private residence in the city and known for his frugality, would opt for these official accommodation which costs a fortune to maintain, more so when he is staying there.
Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta avoided sleeping at State house Nairobi at all costs causing the rumour mills to say he was convinced that the colonial ghosts still inhabited the place since it was the governors official residence during the colonial era.
Kenyatta would always travel to Gatundu to spend the night or even days if he had official duties in the city. During the crisis resulted by the assassination of Tom Mboya in July 1969, Kenyatta held an emergency cabinet meeting under a mango tree at his Gatundu residence.
Kenyatta’s favourite residence was State house Nakuru and he appears to have felt more secure in the Rift valley where he also owned large tracts of land and had vast business interests not to mention friends from his community who had also acquired vast tracts of land in the vicinity.
State house Mombasa was also a favorite for Kenyatta but others say it was through doctors orders that Kenyatta chose to spend a lot of time at the coast where the climate suited his heath condition best.
Incidentally it was at State house Mombasa where Kenyatta collapsed and died in 1978. It was as a result of spending a lot of quality time at the coast that the then provincial commissioner Eliud Mahihu became a very powerful and wealthy man in Kenya.
Then came Daniel arap Moi, Kenya’s second president who got off to a good start and assured Kenyans of peace and prosperity and with time favored, Nakuru to Nairobi State house but spent more time at his private residence at Kabarak which he acquired during the Kenyatta days.
While in Nairobi, Moi hardly slept at State house and always opted for his Kabarnet gardens home in Woodley near Kibera. He still stays there when he’s visiting the city as the government allocated him the house which was supossed to be the official residence of the Vice president.
Moi also enjoyed staying at the coast and like his predecessor was also a frequent visitor to Mombasa where he enjoyed a lot of support from the coastal people until 2002 when they turned against his chosen heir Uhuru Kenyatta.
Then came Mwai Emilio Kibaki who has surprised many by making the Nairobi State house his ‘permanent abode’ inspite of having a palatial residence in the upmarket Muthaiga area in the outskirts of the city.
However, Kibaki’s presidency has been influenced a lot by his eccentric wife Lucy who is known to have brought radical changes at State house early into his administration, raising eyebrows several times among his handlers.
Soon after Kibaki ascended to power, the bar was re-opened at State house Nairobi allowing consumption of alcohol at the country’s most prestigious address something that had not existed for 24 years during Moi’s era.
Moi loathed alcohol with passion after losing scores of his childhood friends to alcohol with many of them drinking themselves to death. The trend continued during his long stint as vice president.
The bar opened during Kibaki’s era turned out to be a 24 hour facility where the likes of the then powerful minister of internal security Chris Murungaru and kitchen cabinet members spent the night there discussing political and other social issues with the president to the chagrin of the first lady.
During this period, the president was still recovering from a road accident that seemed to have affected his mental faculties as he suffered from frequent memory lapses and was advised by his doctors to quit alcohol.
This gave the first lady a perfect opportunity to shut down the facility which had degenerated to a place for senior politicians to idle and get drank at the expense of the tax payer.
Not to mention, the Narc election victory was celebrated for the better part of 2003 and where better to do it than at State house with the president and his handlers. Some senior politicians were known to leave State house at 5 a.m in the morning, almost daily.
These heavy drinking sessions found their way into the influential Economist magazine.
During the funeral of the late Yatta MP, J.P Mutiso, Murungaru and health minister Charity Ngilu staggered from the police helicopter that brought them to Yatta, only to pass out when they took their seats. It was later overheard amongst journalists at the function that they had been from State house.
Kibaki has chosen to do all official business and also sleep at State house Nairobi, being the first head of state to turn the imposing white structure into his home though the first lady commutes every morning from Muthaiga and hardly spend the night at State house for security reasons.
Known to be very short tempered, the first lady is said to have thrown the President into the swimming pool at State House while he was on a wheel chair forcing security men to dive inside with their clothes still on, to rescue their boss.
From that day, the first lady is never be left alone with the President and has to leave the grounds before nightfall to avoid any nasty situations that could jeopardize the health or life of the president.
Nevertheless, Lucy still controls what happens at State house and this was seen by the ejection of Kibaki’s first state house comptroller Matere Keriri who fell out with her and was replaced by one obscure Hyslop Ipu.
MY NEIGHBOURS – THEY RAPED ME…
On the first of January 2008 we were still fearful. On that day, we were not open for business.
I worked at the Eldama Ravine shopping centre at Mama Faith’s Shop. We owned the shop. It was just next to my house – they are joined together. But I stayed home that day because I was scared. We left the shop locked up.
At about 3pm that day, people came to my home. At the time there was only my husband and I at home. My children had gone to visit their grandparents in Nyandarua. There were more than ten people who came. They were all men. They were dressed in coats and they had smeared mud on their faces so you could not recognize them. The mud was different colors on their faces – white back and red in spots – patches all over their faces. They were armed. They had arrows, pangas and rungus.
The first I knew they were there was when I heard talking and noises outside. They were speaking in Kalenjin.
They said “we have come to finish you.” The door was not locked so they just came inside. My husband and I were in the sitting room. We were sitting down but stood up as soon as the men walked in. When they came in I began to plead with them because of what I had heard them say. I asked them why they were doing this when we had lived with them for so many years. They ordered me to shut up and said that the Kikuyu had migrated to the area and taken up their (the Kalenjin’s) property. They asked me to be quiet or they were going to kill me. So I just kept quiet then.
That is when they started attacking my husband. They began cutting him with pangas and pierced him with arrows. My husband he did not go without a fight, the men, they struggled to keep him to the ground. They crowded him – ten of them against him… they attacked him. I was scared.
With a panga they sliced his neck, and he fell to the ground. It was a serious blow. As if that was not enough, that he was lying on the ground, they cut up his body into little pieces.
After they cut up my husband, but before he died, one of the men came towards me and asked me what I wanted to be done to me. I asked them not to kill me.
One said “we need to know what she is like, now that she never talks to us”. There was another group of men who were looting my shop. I could see them from the door – it was still open. They were going past carrying property from my shop: sugar, cooking fat and other goods.
I was wearing trousers with buttons at the waist. The men tore at my trousers trying to get them open and the buttons came off. There were about four of them there doing this to me at that time.
They lifted me up and put me on the ground. They were arguing amongst themselves who was going to be the first.
Then one said that if I escaped from the knife and arrows, I would die of AIDS. Some of them held my legs and some held my hands while they raped me. When this was happening my husband and I were both still in the sitting room, but by now I was not watching my husband but pleading my own case.
The last time I had looked at him, it was like he was dead. He wasn’t moving.
One man raped me and then the second one and the third. They put their penises in my vagina. It was either the second or the third man who said they were not able to get inside me: so they cut me.
I think it was the panga they were carrying that they used. They cut my vagina and continued raping me with the blood flowing. As they raped me I thought about my children. I remember that when I had my children, my doctor had told me that I had a narrow opening. So both my children were born by cesarean.
They continued raping me. It was when the fourth man was raping me that I went unconscious.I next remember – and it is vague – that a Kalenjin friend of ours called Joseph was there and he was pleading with the men. He was asking them for him to be allowed to take the body of my husband and take me to hospital. The men started quarreling with him and told him that he was in partnership with us. They threatened to kill him.
adds TWO MORE witnesses In the Uhuru case!
BREAKING: ICC adds TWO MORE witnesses In the Uhuru case!
Posted in: Facing Justice|October 23, 2013 4 0 0 0 0
The ICC Appeals Chamber judges allowed the prosecutor to add two more witnesses for the case against President Uhuru Kenyatta due to begin on November 12.
The addition of witness P-548 and P-66 were granted on condition in the case Prosecutor Vs. Uhuru Kenyatta. Sources claim that one of the new witnesses is a former Mungiki insider while the other is an expert on sexual violence.
Earlier the ICC had warned the defense teams of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto over making filings while suing the official designations of the two, saying that the ‘President of Kenya and Deputy President of Kenya are not on trial at the ICC’.
Letter to President Yoweri Museveni
By Jack Sabiiti
Posted Friday, October 18 2013 at 01:00
Mr President, on September 24, you addressed the 68th UN General Assembly in New York and castigated the International Criminal Court (ICC) for being shallow, biased and arrogant. You scorned political actors whom you said ignore African Union positions on complex African issues.
Well, I no longer give much attention to political speeches; they are just baloney disguised as food for thought. But yours this time round was provocative, hence this letter. You insinuated, Mr President, that ICC is dominated or rather influenced by politicians outside Africa and that as a judicial body mandated to try crimes against humanity; it is alien to Africa yet meddling in African affairs.
My submission is that the ICC is itself an African issue in principally two dimensions. First, of the 122 countries that ratified the Rome Statute under which the ICC was formed, 34, including Uganda, are African, making Africa the largest regional block in ICC. Leading countries such as USA, China, Russia, France, etc., deliberately chose not to submit to it and African rulers, including yourself, did not have the audacity to ask why.
Second, the epicenter of criminal impunity for which the ICC was formed is Africa, the cradle of bad governance. It was quite startling to hear you say that African governments supported the formation of the ICC because they abhor impunity. You know much as I do, Mr President, that that statement was false and intended to mislead.
The premises upon which the ICC was founded were correct and remain tenable. It is logical to preserve the status quo, for the ICC to decisively deal with criminals masquerading as political leaders. African Union’s anticipated position that African countries withdraw en masse from the Rome Statute should accordingly be dismissed with all the contempt it deserves.
You very well know, Mr President, that AU today is nothing but a Union of thieves, murderers and dictators, ravaging their respective countries of birth with reckless abandon. They are corrupt, only pre-occupied with opulence and monopolising political power to aggrandize themselves and their respective inner circles.
True, the ICC like any institution of record is not perfect. However, even a clock that is out of order is right twice a day. For all intents and purposes, the reputation of the ICC is arguably much better than that of virtually all African countries put together.
It is a fact that the overzealous African rulers spearheading Africa’s massive pull out from the ICC, using the Kenya case scenario as an excuse, are the very ones that led the ratification of the Rome Statute in the first place. The motivation and enthusiasm then came from their quest to contain political opponents back home. It is not surprising that support for ICC by these rulers have been dwindling the longer they stay in office.
You will recall, Mr President, that in 1980, you launched a bush war against an elected UPC Government led by Apollo Milton Obote (RIP), accusing it of plotting to rig an election. From 1980 to 1986 when NRA captured state power, close to 1 million Ugandans perished. The NRM you led was partly culpable for the Luweero massacre because like they say, it takes two to tango. Had the ICC been instituted, I am sure you would have been indicted for crimes against humanity, just as Joseph Kony the leader of the Lords Resistance Army was indicted.
Mr President, the framers of Uganda’s Constitution, of which I was part by enacting Article 3(4) thereof had in mind the notion that violence can bring peace, paradoxically. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any person or groups of people resisting any ruler intent on violating our Constitution. Such resistance may take the form of violence to obtain the necessary political demands and this would be constitutional.
On the contrary, Africa’s strongmen are the chief perpetrators of terrorism, not overtly/directly but covertly/indirectly through gross mismanagement and abuse of authority. NRM today is clearly in breach of so many constitutional provisions and has since its inception in 1986, blatantly terrorised Ugandans under the guise of maintaining political stability. It has wantonly abused even the basic rights of the people of Uganda, sometimes leading to death. A good case in point is the infamous Mukura Massacre.
Mr President, you have good reason to change your opinion about the ICC because well, you never know. After all, your opinion about many things have been changing since becoming a politician. In fact, what seems not to change is the opinion you have about yourself. I doubt the political actors to whom you chose to render the unsolicited advice on complex African issues took you seriously.
And mark this; those who remember the past with a clear conscience need have no fear of the future. The only trouble with the future is that it basically arrives before we are ready for it. God bless Uganda.
Mr Sabiiti is the MP Rukiga County.
that makes me feel that unless we do something,something is gona do us wrong.
The Nairobi Star: “Ruto Admits KDF looted Mall” vs the below, naturally if he admits, he prejudices the investigation:
Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto acknowledged public anger over the alleged looting in a CNN interview.
“I must admit that it’s an unfortunate incident and the president has launched an inquiry to find out exactly what happened,” he said.
“That inquiry is under way, and we will take corrective measures to ensure that anybody and every person who participated in this mall incident, that may have overstepped their mandate, will be brought to book.”
It will not be possible to say whether anyone is still missing at Westgate Mall until a forensic examination of the rubble is completed, he said. “That is when we will determine whether there are extra bodies or not,” he said.
Ruto, who is on trial in the Netherlands, accused of masterminding violence after Kenya’s disputed election in 2007, also said he was confident the claims against him would be shown to be “mere fabricated allegations.”Note> the regime employs very low educated soldiers to prevent coups in the military only their officers mostly hand-picked with 8x4x4 failure.majority of these soldiers are picked from very primitive tribes of Kenya .
The biggest Problem in Kenya is that,there is no serious opposition party. there are very few concerned people of what is going on in kenya . After 50 years of killings of opposition pary leaders and the oppression ,in general for the wananchi and the buying of tribal chiefs ,,tribal leaders the regime using the devide and rule strategy each kenyan regime has survived through oppressive and draconian ruthless measures to make the masses obey this oppressive regime blindly.Primitivity among millions of kenyans low education,poverty false religious myths. brainwashing ,money-worshipping ,opportunism in every tribal leader be it an mp these are the most useless and stupid men and women in every tribe .The Kikuyu Ruling class money buys each and every tribal dog wolf etc. that is why revolution or serious opposition has never worked in Kenya.
I like the way the gang Monkeys Chimpanzees and Baboons calling themselves african leaders are lavishly using the word terrorists. They forget that they are the true terrorists against their own people. Just how do you justify someone who used to help himself in the bush suddenly becoming so powerful he does not have qualms using a cool Sh100 million for a week’s travel within Africa. More so when people are dying of simple diseases like malaria due to lack of drugs. When people who could otherwise be productively contributing to the country’s economy are left to wallow in stone age lifestyles because it is easier to ignore them than to try and lift them up. We are all human beings and some people should not think that just because some people are suffering, they have chosen to be like that. No,these anus thinking foreign lackeys they are forced to be like that by circumstances beyond their control. We were all living primitive lifestyles at some point and it took some deliberate opportunities to pull us up. Take a look at someone like Museveni. Moi. The late Mobutu of ZaireThis is a man who will mercilessly bludgeon a legitimate opposition figure just because he can’t imagine himself being challenged by anyone. Tell me if that is not terrorism Western Civilization & democracy should not chicken to barbarians and savages from these monkeys still living in darkness skinning their masses they deny god given human rights.
Uhuru adanganye toto jinga. We know he is a capitalist.
Mama Ngina, Biwott in Africa billionaires list
By Mugambi Mutegi, pmutegi@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, October 8 2013 at 19:47
Mama Ngina Kenyatta and former powerful Cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott have made it to the list of Africa’s top billionaires, Nigeria-based Ventures financial magazine says.
They are among the 55 Africa’s dollar billionaires in a list that includes other two Kenyans, Naushad Merali and Manu Chandaria, whom the magazine tips as the wealthiest in the country and 25th richest on the continent with a fortune of $1.65 billion (Sh142 billion).
Mama Ngina, the mother of Kenya’s fourth President, Uhuru Kenyatta, with a net worth of $1 billion (Sh86 billion) spread in real estate, banking and hospitality sectors is among the three women that made it to the Africa’s billionaire club.
Ventures magazine, which published the list of rich Africans for the first time, placed the fortunes of Mr Biwott and Mr Merali, who both made their money during the era of President Moi, at about $1 billion (Sh86 billion).
President Kenyatta is missing from the list despite being named position 26 by Forbes Africa’s rich list in 2011— a pointer that some of the investments put under his name by the US firm could have been transferred to the family by the Nigerian publication.
The 55 billionaires Ventures magazine has identified are more than the 16 super rich Africans listed by Forbes last year.
It was able to identify dozens more billionaires by using “on-the-ground knowledge” to overcome hurdles that may have “hampered” other researchers, said Ventures.
Of the 55, 20 are Nigerian, nine are South African and eight are Egyptian, underlining the power of natural resources such as oil and gold in creating wealth on the continent.
The other women that join Mama Ngina Kenyatta in roll are a daughter of Angola’s president Isabel Dos Santos and a Nigerian oil tycoon Folorunsho Alakija and fashion designer.
In Kenya, the common thread in the billionaires is politics, save for Mr Chandaria, thanks to his holding company — Comcraft Group, a $2 billion industrial behemoth, which produces steel, plastics, and aluminum products in 45 countries. His Kenyan stable includes Mabati Rolling Mills and Kaluworks Ltd.
Mr Chandaria, 84, was named the oldest billionaire in Africa. He is also Kenya’s biggest philanthropist with his Chandaria Foundation giving away millions of dollars to causes in education, health and the arts.
Mr Biwott and Mr Merali owe the wealth to their close links with former President Moi. Mr Biwott has vast investments abroad and, in Kenya, he is associated with Yaya Centre, an upmarket shopping centre, in Hurlingham, oil marketer KenolKobil as well as land and property valued at billions of shillings.
Mr Merali through his Sameer Group has business interests across agriculture, energy and power, finance and telecommunications.
He has significant stakes in Equatorial Bank, Sasini, Eveready East Africa, Ryce East Africa, Sameer Industrial Park and a joint venture with Bharti Airtel, a mobile phone services provider in Kenya.
Total assets
As the matriarch in charge of the Kenyatta family’s vast business empire, Mama Ngina presides over an enterprise that is associated with well-known commercial brands and blue chip companies.
This includes Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), which is Kenya’s largest non-listed lender with total assets of Sh100 billion that last year posted a net profit of Sh2.6 billion. The bank is ranked Kenya’s ninth largest with a market size index of 4.08 per cent.
Others are Brookside Dairy—where the President’s younger brother, Muhoho, sits as executive chairman, and the upmarket and chic hotel chain, Heritage Hotels East Africa.
The family is also linked to Media Max Company, which owns K24 TV, Kameme Radio and The People newspaper.
It also owns thousands of acres of prime land across Kenya that was acquired by the late President Kenyatta in the ‘60s and ‘70s under a settlement transfer fund scheme that allowed government officials acquire land from the British cheap prices.
But the wealth of Kenya’s billionaires is small compared to that of Africa’s richest man: Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, with a fortune of $20.2 billion (Sh1.7 trillion).
The Africa’s list is likely to reignite debate about inequality between the rich and poor.
Ventures editor-in-chief Uzo Iweala told the BBC’s Focus on Africa radio programme that its estimate of 50 billionaires was probably conservative.
“There is this culture of you don’t necessarily want to show your wealth, considering the gap between rich and poor,” he said.
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Mama-Ngina-and-Biwott-in-Africa-billionaires-list/-/539550/2024388/-/view/printVersion/-/w7vf8vz/-/index.html
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/10/23/former-kenyan-pm
Jomo Kenyatta
by Malcolm Linfield
INTRODUCTION
I recently sent a letter of enquiry to the West Sussex Gazette, which appeared in the edition of June 6 1996. It reads as follows:
“Dear Sir: On behalf of somebody who is researching the life of Jomo Kenyatta, I have been asked to find out what I can about the wartime years he spent in West Sussex before he returned to Kenya in 1946. The knowledge I have is fairly limited, and I am hoping to appeal to readers who may have known him during his time in this county.
The sum of my knowledge is this: Kenyatta came to England in 1929 as official spokesman for his people, the Kikuyu, to try and redress their grievances against the colonial government. He stayed in England for the next 17 years, during which time he studied anthropology at the University of London and wrote his acclaimed book ‘Facing Mount Kenya’, which was published in 1938.
The outbreak of war prevented Kenyatta returning home. In 1940, he came down to Sussex where he found work at AG Linfield and Sons, market gardeners, at Thakeham. He was initially put to work in the tomato hot-houses.
During this time he lived in the neighbouring village of Storrington, where I believe he married a local girl. They had a son, Peter, who eventually went to live in Kenya. He was something of a novelty to the local people, who affectionately called him ‘Jumbo’. I also believe he travelled up to London one day a week to continue his studies.
I remember my grandfather telling me years ago that he had Kenyatta over to lunch on a number of occasions, when they discussed politics among other things. I don’t expect they always agreed on everything! My grandfather gave me a book which Kenyatta had written and given him – it is called ‘My People of Kikuyu’ and is inscribed inside the front cover: “To AG Linfield. With best wishes, Jomo Kenyatta. 17-4-42.
If any of your readers have any interesting recollections of Kenyatta, then I shall be delighted to hear from them.”
Although the number of letters I received was small, they were all of interest, so my appeal to the WSG had not been in vain. They certainly added to my knowledge of this fairly controversial figure. His connection with my family has always fascinated me, and since he is therefore a part of my family history, I have decided to write this article about him.
Perhaps the most interesting letter came from the daughter of Roy Armstrong, with whom Kenyatta lived as a paying tenant during the war years. I went to see her and she showed me where Jomo had his vegetable plot in their large garden. I had always thought that Jomo actually lived in the village of Storrington, whereas, in fact, he lived in the Sandgate area, some 2 miles to the east of the village – heathland and beautiful wooded countryside, with spectacular views of the South Downs. Apparently, Jomo felt quite at home here, since the similarities with his homeland were quite striking. During his visit to England in 1963 when he attended the Lancaster House Conference in London, now as prime minister of Kenya, Jomo made a special trip with his cabinet to visit the Armstrongs.
Apparently I made a couple of mistakes in my letter to the WSG. Kenyatta’s English wife came from Ashington and was called Edna Clarke. She was a fellow lecturer in the WEA, which is how she came to meet Jomo. They had a son, Peter, born in 1943, but he never settled in Kenya, as I incorrectly stated, and works as a researcher/journalist for the BBC. Jomo had another son in Kenya, whom he also called Peter, which is what led to my confusion!
1929-46
As general secretary of the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA), Kenyatta was sent to London as their official representative on 17 February 1929. Despite the reports of a number of Royal Commissions sent to Kenya in the 1920s, the KCA still felt strongly that their grievances had not being properly addressed. By sending their official spokesman to the very heart of the British Empire, they now felt that they possibly stood a better chance of obtaining concessions. Incidentally, Jomo may well have been introduced to my grandfather’s uncle, Frederick Caesar Linfield (1861-1939) who, as a Liberal Member of Parliament, was a member of the Parliamentary Commission sent to East Africa in 1924.
Since colonisation in the 1890s, the deprivation of their land in ever increasing amounts was to become the major grievance of the Kikuyu. By 1904, large numbers of white settlers had been allocated farm areas in central Kikuyuland, and by 1905 some 11,000 Kiambu Kikuyu alone had lost 60,000 acres. Many were forced to work as cheap labour on the European farms, which was particularly degrading for a traditionally independent people. White settlement in Kiambu effectively blocked the possible expansion of the Kikuyu and closed the southern frontier. The closing of the frontier was of great importance in the 1930s, when population pressures, limited resources and opportunities led to a growing sense of despair among the people. Their inability to redress their economic, social and political grievances through their political organisations (the Kikuyu Association was formed in 1920) only added to the intensity of their frustrations.
Evicted Kikuyu were forced to migrate to the towns, where growing unemployment aggravated their problems and sense of despair. Barriers were also erected to stifle all African aspirations to advancement and to positions of prestige and status in the white market economy. Thus the African was forbidden to cultivate cash crops like coffee, tea, sisal and pyrethrum. The role of the African was essentially limited to that of a low wage earner.
Throughout the colonial period in Kenya, the cultural traditions of the Kikuyu were also challenged by the whites. The Kikuyu had their own religion, superstitions and ceremonial circumcision or initiation rites; they also believed in the spiritual presence of ancestors. But the Europeans made little effort to understand Kikuyu customs and condemned them out of hand. The missions were a major source of Kikuyu resentment because they demanded a total transformation without compromise. But from about 1923, the aims and motives of the missionary churches were increasingly questioned by the Kikuyu people – their authority was no longer regarded as sacrosanct.
This was the background to Kenyatta’s visit to England in 1929, his objective being to take his people’s complaints to the very top. His trip was financed by a group of Indian merchants, who saw the potential of sending the articulate and persuasive Kenyatta to the centre of British politics. Unfortunately, perhaps not surprisingly at the time, Kenyatta found himself facing something of a brick wall; while there were plenty of people who were sympathetic and interested, the colonial office refused to even see him. Nevertheless, a meeting with Drummond Shiels (British colonial under-secretary) in 1930 proved particularly prophetic; he argued that to “refuse to see or hear emissaries of the discontented” would only drive them towards “violent methods” (Ref. 1) Kenyatta returned briefly to Kenya in October 1930, since the Indians were no longer willing to support him. Since he could do more in London than back home, the KCA raised the necessary money to send him back and he left towards the end of 1931, but this time he was to stay away for the next 15 years.
Kenyatta found odd jobs to finance his mission and lived as cheaply as he could. He continued to bombard the Colonial Office with petitions, all of which were ignored. He must have lived a thoroughly frustrating existence, with little to show for his efforts. He achieved some success in 1932 when he managed to persuade the Carter Land Commission to offer compensation to those evicted from their lands by the settlers, although Africans were still to be barred from the choice highlands area. In 1936, he embarked on a course of anthropology at the University of London under Bronislaw Malinowski, at that time arguably the leading expert in his field in England. Malinowski was struck by Kenyatta’s intelligence and true understanding of his people’s culture, and helped prepare his book, mentioned earlier, “Facing Mount Kenya” which came out in 1938. The book was a bestseller, and helped to establish Kenyatta as something of a celebrity who people wanted to meet and talk to. But the book was more than a history of his people’s culture- it was also full of propaganda and attacked the whole colonial system in Kenya.
Kenyatta was now ready to return to Kenya, having at least done much to publicise the grievances of his people to the outside world. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Second World War put paid to his plans, and the world lost interest in African politics as the activities of Hitler and the Nazis dominated the world stage. Unable to return home, he was persuaded by his friend Dinah Stock that they should leave London and stay with friends in the relative safety of the country. They set out to stay with friends near the village of Storrington in West Sussex, and so they arrived at the home of Roy Armstrong, a Southampton University lecturer. The peaceful countryside was, in many ways, a home from home to Kenyatta, with its view of the rolling South Downs, its bracken and silver birches, its woods and farmland. He certainly felt comfortable here, and stayed throughout the duration of the war.
Roy Armstrong rented out the flat in his house to Dinah Stock and Kenyatta in 1939. He was given his own area of scrub to clear where he successfully cultivated his own supply of vegetables and kept some chickens. Armstrong’s daughter, who was a small girl at the time, clearly remembers her fascination for the sweet corn he was growing – it was the first time she had ever seen it! When I went to see her recently, she showed me the site of Kenyatta’s vegetable plot, as well as the silver birch which was his “sacred tree”, through which he communicated with the spirits of his people during his more reflective moments. Mysteriously, perhaps, this tree survived the batterings of the 1987 Hurricane whereas all the trees surrounding it were brought crashing to the ground.
Soon after moving to Sussex, Kenyatta found a job as a farm worker in the locality. In 1940 or 1941, he took a job as a nursery worker at AG Linfield’s Chesswood nurseries in the neighbouring village of Thakeham. He was initially put to work in the tomato glasshouses, although he also worked in many other areas. The shortage of manpower throughout the war years meant he would have done many different jobs during the four or five years he was employed at the family business. Although AG Linfield, under the Chesswood label, has become synonymous with the production of mushrooms, the war years saw a complete cessation of mushroom growing since they were regarded by the Government as a “non-essential luxury devoid of food value”. (Ref. 2). So the cultivation of mushrooms was an area Kenyatta would not have experienced. The strive to produce as much home grown food as possible meant that companies like Linfields had to devote all their energies to the production of vegetables; indoor and outdoor tomatoes were one of their most important crops during this period.
Kenyatta apparently got on well with everybody, and proved to be a helpful and kind worker, willing to come to the aid of anyone who needed a helping hand. He even cooked the beetroot before it was sold. During his time in Sussex, he became friendly with a family in Ashington and it was through them that he met Edna Clarke, a teacher. When her parents were killed in an air raid in May 1941, Kenyatta instinctively offered his help and sympathy and within a year they were married. On 11 August 1943, their son Peter Magana was born in Worthing Hospital. He was named after Kenyatta’s grandfather.
Kenyatta was something of a novelty in the Storrington area. Affectionately known as ‘Jumbo’, he soon settled into Sussex life and was well known in the village. But he was definitely an extraordinary character – flamboyant and gregarious, a showman who delighted in mimicry and whose powers of imagination would hold an audience spellbound as he pretended to stalk and kill a lion. No doubt these exceptional talents helped him to persevere through the long years of frustration and disappointment which he must have endured in England, trying to put the case of his people to a largely unreceptive governing class. He never gave up, and despite numerous setbacks, somehow or other he always managed to keep his dream alive. No doubt, the peaceful Sussex countryside and its close resemblance to his homeland must have been a comfort as well as a reminder of his single-minded purpose. He managed to keep cheerful throughout his wartime exile, a man convinced of his destiny and confident that one day the aspirations of his people would be realised. It was only a matter of time.
To supplement his farmworker’s wage of 4 per week, he was in much demand as a lecturer. Not only did he lecture to British troops under the Forces Educational Scheme, but he also lectured for the Workers Educational Association (WEA), usually about colonial issues. Two of my correspondents had attended some of these lectures: one remembers a meeting which took place at the White Hart, Queen Street, Arundel when Kenyatta was introduced by Arthur Johnson of Coldwaltham, a local NUPE organiser. On this occasion, his lecture was about India and its struggle for independence. On another occasion, on June 24 1942, his theme was “What does Europe want of Africa?” His line, as usual, related to land, oppression and the hardship and misery of the native peoples.
1946-50 Nationalist leader
In September 1946, Kenyatta sailed from Southampton, leaving behind Edna and their child at Thakeham. Once home, as the unquestioned leader of the new nationalism, he soon became fully immersed in Kenyan politics. He had spent sixteen years abroad, mostly in England, campaigning for his people, during which time he wrote a powerful critique of the whole British occupation in Kenya. When he returned home, it was only natural that he was given the leadership of the new Kenya African Union (KAU), a nationalist association which sought to incorporate all the tribes in Kenya. Therefore, he was not solely concerned with the grievances of the Kikuyu. His immediate concern was to build up mass support for the aims of the new party: freedom of speech; universal franchise; equal rights with Europeans; to “defend” all Kenya Africans; and to “fight” for African education, labour, housing and freedom of the press. Obviously, after repeated failure to gain concessions before the war, he now realised that show of strength was the most likely way of achieving reform. So he embarked upon the most intensive political effort of his life: building up the strength of the KAU. In these early post war years, he secured his Kikuyu base first and then worked from it. An early attempt was made to extend his political message to the independent schools. Kenyatta spent much of his time touring the country, addressing meetings, and attracting audiences of some twenty to thirty thousands. These enormous meetings exemplified his personal magnetism and charisma as a leader; he stirred the very emotions of his audience often to a fever-pitch which threatened to explode into action. Yet he always had full control over the situation; essentially, he was an orthodox nationalist leader who wanted to avoid violence as far as possible. Kenyatta’s primary objective was to show the colonial authorities the dangerous consequences of ignoring the new nationalist movement. However, this is not to deny that he was probably prepared to tolerate a certain amount of violence should the government not come to its senses and fail to grant concessions to the nationalists.
1950-61 Kenyatta and the “Mau Mau” rebellion
Kenyatta’s alleged involvement with the “Mau Mau” rebellion during the 1950s has effectively tainted his reputation ever since. Although the meaning of the term remains obscure, we identify “Mau Mau” with “the militant nationalism and the violence that characterised the politics of central Kenya before and during the early years of the Emergency” (Ref. 3), which was declared by a frightened government in October 1952. It first made its appearance in 1948, and it was officially proscribed in 1950.
It is important to realise from the start that the phenomenon of “Mau Mau” was restricted to one tribe, the Kikuyu, not surprisingly because they were the most seriously affected by colonisation among the various tribes in Kenya. They had most to complain about; but their many attempts to redress their grievances through the machinery of the colonial state had always failed. The failure of Jomo Kenyatta to gain any concessions after World War II enabled the militants to come to power, and the result was the tragedy of the “Mau Mau” rebellion: with the enormous loss of 13,547 lives (of whom 13,423 were Kikuyu alone).
A typically European interpretation of “Mau Mau” – especially among the colonial government, the missionary leaders and the white settlers – was that it was a fanatical collective madness. Such people were convinced that Kenyatta was the mastermind of a secret tribal cult, led by unscrupulous extremists who stirred up the primitive masses to further their own ambitions. For LSB Leakey, “Mau Mau” had the evil power of “turning thousands of peacekeeping Kikuyu into murderous fanatics.” (Ref. 4). The widespread use of oathing and oathing ceremonies were taken by Kenya’s Europeans to signify an irrational rejection of modernity; due to their primitive intellect, the Kikuyu were considered unable to adapt to rapid change. In reality, “Mau Mau” was the logical outcome of years of mounting frustration and deterioration of life conditions. Allowed no outlet, these frustrations boiled over into the violence that was “Mau Mau” – all European values were turned upside down, and the tribe found “its mystical unity in the re-formed figures of the past.” (Ref. 5)
In effect, “Mau Mau” can be regarded as a post-political type of social movement because it grew out of the repeated failure of the Kikuyu political organizations to gain any reform through the constitutional channels of the colonial government. The younger Kikuyu became increasingly impatient with the lack of progress, especially after World War II. These were the men who formed the backbone of “Mau Mau.” The resort to a post-political solution to their problems seemed the only hope for salvation; and it was reinforced when Kenyatta and the other main Kikuyu political leaders were arrested in October 1952.
Kenyatta’s responsibility for “Mau Mau” has been the subject of a great deal of debate. Was he a moderate forced to take a militant line by the extremists, or was he committed to violence or the threat of violence to gain reform? Certainly, there needs to be a firm distinction drawn between his responsibility for “Mau Mau” and the position bestowed upon him during the rebellion. But far from being responsible for “Mau Mau”, Kenyatta could hardly have supported it even. Its inherently tribal orientation not only threatened to destroy the solidarity he had helped to build up among the Kikuyu but also the years of hard work he had put into building an all-tribe nationalist movement. For fear of domination by a single tribe threatened to break apart the all-tribal unity which Kenyatta sought to pitch against the colonial government.
It is this consideration, I think, which explains Kenyatta’s open condemnation of “Mau Mau” on a number of occasions in 1951 and 1952; many of his opponents said he had his tongue-in-cheek. But he feared that a violent tribal confrontation would destroy what he had already achieved, and his condemnation of “Mau Mau” was probably a warning to the militants to step into line. In all probability, he was not fool enough to believe that an individual tribal revolt could achieve anything like as much as a rationally conceived confrontation which included all the tribes of Kenya. Events proved him wrong; but he was not to know that they would. Kenyatta wanted to coerce the colonial authorities into granting concessions; solidarity among the Kenya Africans was a crucial weapon in his armoury. But a rebellion among the Kikuyu would be easily suppressed, and would lead the government to take immediate action against the nationalist movement as a whole; in effect, extinguishing what he had achieved, and setting back the nationalist movement by years. These were probably his fears.
Unfortunately, Kenyatta lost the initiative to the militants. The evidence tends to suggest that “Mau Mau” evolved from the militant infiltration of Kenyatta’s all-tribe KAU by the old members of the KCA and the young militants of the “Forty group”, who were simultaneously leaders of the new underground movement. In the early post-war years, it was a highly select secret organisation with limited membership. But with the failure of KAU to gain any reform, it underwent a dramatic transformation beginning in 1950 into an underground mass movement. By 1950, the young extremists had given up all hope of finding compromise with the Europeans, and despite his hold over the masses, Kenyatta lost his initiative to the less patient militants. He was powerless to prevent the tragedy of “Mau Mau.” In effect, the government was a major precipitant of “Mau Mau” by failing to grant concessions when it was absolutely necessary.
Kenyatta’s position in the movement is a very interesting one, because whether he liked it or not, he was the acclaimed leader of “Mau Mau.” Oaths were administered in his name and he was claimed to possess divine powers. But he was elevated to this position by the militants who administered the oaths. In effect, he was the figurehead and not the real driving force behind the movement. Kenyatta was a name to be used because he was the most widely known and revered of the Kikuyu nationalists – he had shown his magnetism as a leader at the vast meetings he addressed, and he was surrounded by a mystical aura. So, with or without his approval, he was the “leader” of “Mau Mau” even after his detention.
Even though Kenyatta must have condemned the violence of “Mau Mau” because it essentially involved the horrors of a Kikuyu civil war, he was still regarded as the spiritual leader of the movement. But there was no central direction of operations; “Mau Mau” became the rebellion of semi-educated or illiterate peasants who expressed their frustrations in almost indiscriminate violence. It was not so much directed against the European settlers than against Africans considered to be loyalist to the government. While only about 95 Europeans were killed by “Mau Mau” terrorists, nearly 2000 “loyalist” Kikuyu lost their lives. It would seem that the embittered Kikuyu were more incensed towards the loyalists among their tribe than the people who were directly responsible for their adverse conditions. The tragedy of “Mau Mau” is that it need never have happened – an enlightened government would have seen the folly of continuing to suppress all African aspirations, which made some sort of revolt inevitable.
Of course, in a state of confusion and with no central leadership, it was only a matter of time before the might of the British Army defeated “Mau Mau.” By 1956 the rebellion was over; more than 11,000 Kikuyu had been killed by the security forces. But all had not been in vain; the revolt ensured that change was inevitable in Kenya. The complacency of the colonial government was shattered beyond repair. In 1961, Kenyatta and the other detainees were released; three years later he was President of an independent African state: the Republic of Kenya.
1961-78 Kenyatta the Statesman
Soon after his release, Kenyatta once again set about building the bridges of national unity. As a tribally diverse country, his first imperative was to unify all the tribes of Kenya to fight against the colonial government’s desire to put off the inevitable. Soon he would be back in London again, attending the Kenya Constitutional Conference. It was during these negotiations, that he took time off in October 1963 to revisit old friends in West Sussex. He visited Roy Armstrong at his wartime home at Highover, Bracken Lane, Heath Common, Storrington, complete with limousine, his cabinet and bodyguards! Politics was apparently not one of the subjects they covered. Arthur Johnson of West Chiltington, who knew Kenyatta well during the war years and who lectured with him on anthropology and colonial administration, stated that he “could never believe that he was responsible for those atrocities in Kenya.” His wife said: “We remember him as he was here. We thought he was a very friendly and very nice charming man who was very fond of children and of animals.” (Ref. 6) Mrs FW Eddolls, in charge of the Linfields’ canteen during the war, also said how she found him to be “a very nice and likeable chap” and how she would be very pleased to see him again.
In 1964 Kenya became a republic within the British Commonwealth with Kenyatta its first president. He had come a long way from his days as the friendly, helpful nursery worker at Linfields’ nursery! His first act was to welcome the frightened whites to stay in the country. Despite the nine years he had been kept in detention by the colonial government, he was able to forget his own suffering and offer the hand of reconciliation. He also knew the importance of maintaining stability in Kenya if foreign capital was still to be invested in the new state. Despite the years of violence of “Mau Mau”, Kenya soon became a model of harmony and stability. Foreign investment boomed and the economy flourished.
During 1965, my uncle, Jim Linfield and his family went on holiday to Kenya to stay with his brother-in-law, who had a farm there. During their visit, they were all “summoned” to Nairobi to meet the President and I have a signed photograph of them with Kenyatta. It is dated November 11 1965. Kenyatta had also invited them to his home, but at the last moment it was cancelled by a political crisis when UDI was declared by Ian Smith in Rhodesia.
Kenyatta guided his nation for fourteen years. Although there were several scandals, and he was supposed to have amassed a large fortune, the people of Kenya remained loyal to him and grateful for the lifetime of devotion he had given to the cause of their freedom. His legacy was enormous: when he died on August 22 1978, he left behind a prosperous and peaceful nation, and certainly one of the most stable of the newly independent African states.
Conclusion
The overall picture I have gained about Kenyatta during his wartime years in Sussex is something like this: he was respected as a popular and good lecturer and I have found little evidence of any racism against him. My cousin remembers him as a very cultured and intelligent man who loved children and animals. It would seem that he was generally accepted by his fellow employees and the local people; of course, there was a war on at the time, and people were very much pre-occupied with the national effort to defeat the Nazis. Jomo was undoubtedly a charismatic figure who earned the respect and even affection of the many local people with whom he came into contact.
As for his personal involvement with the “Mau Mau” rebellion, I feel that the evidence speaks for itself. He was essentially a nationalist leader who had spent decades pursuing a peaceful and patient policy to obtain concessions for the people of his homeland. But his apparent lack of success in the face of protracted opposition meant that he lost the initiative to a younger generation of militants unimpressed with his gradual approach and also more determined to achieve change as quickly as possible. As the unquestioned leader of the new national movement and with a charismatic presence, he was effectively elevated to the position of leader of “Mau Mau” whether he liked it or not. The tragedy of “Mau Mau” is that he had long predicted the dire consequences of ignoring the aspirations of the African, but the authorities chose to ignore him. They really should have listened.
References
1. Jomo Kenyatta by Dennis Wepman (1985), p. 61.
2. History of the MGA (1945-1980) by FC Atkins OBE in The Mushroom Journal, May 1983, p. 164.
3. The Myth of Mau Mau: Nationalism in Kenya by Carl G. Rosberg and John Nottingham p. xvi Introduction.
4. Defeating Mau Mau by LSB Leakey, p. 43.
5. Comment on Corfield Makerere College, Kampala November 1960, p. 37.
6. “Kenyatta invited to West Sussex” in Worthing Herald, 1963.
Bibliography
1. Kenyatta by Jeremy Murray-Brown, 2nd edition 1979.
2. The Myth of Mau Mau: Nationalism in Kenya by Carl G. Rosberg and John Nottingham
3. Jomo Kenyatta by Dennis Wepman, 1985
4. Defeating Mau Mau by LSB Leakey, 1954
5. The Mushroom Journal, May 1983.
6. Comment on Corfield Makerere College, Kampala November 1960.
7. Kenyatta and the Politics of Kenya by Guy Arnold, 1973
8. Worthing Herald, October 1963
9. West Sussex County Times, March 5 1976
10.Kenyatta’s Country by Richard Cox, 1965
© Lin(d)field One Name Group 1992 – 2011
http://lindfield.name/longshot/volume_5/jomo_kenyatta.html
The Most Evil man in the World former Dictator Daniel Arap Moi (murderer who murderd millions of Kenyan People) from 1978-2002.has lost a case where he had robbed by violence a white-manHis master. but as history says a slave will never be above his master (The Thug Moi lost miserably to his master Musungu)!Retired president Daniel arap Moi is at risk of being evicted from a 100-acre farm in Nakuru if the Supreme Court allows an application by a rancher seeking to enforce an eviction order.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Uhuru biased in State jobs – Senators
By Nation Reporter
More by this Author
Opposition senators have criticised the Jubilee Government in connection with public service appointments.
The senators said it was worrying that despite the Constitution demanding national representation, appointments still favoured a certain group of people.
Siaya Senator James Orengo said several departments focused on getting people from a particular ethnic group locking other people from accessing the jobs.
MOTHER TONGUE
“This government, when you look at it from the Office of the President to the national security departments, occupants could easily conduct affairs in mother tongue,” said Mr Orengo. “It is that bad.”
Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama said the public service was supposed to be open to all Kenyans and not a few individuals. We demand that all Kenyans are considered fairly and equally,” he said.
Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki defended Jubilee, saying the government was ethnically balanced as required by the Constitution. Laikipia Senator GG Kariuki also dismissed Mr Orengo’s claims.
Sonko is in Shit-pit Toilet for exposing Westgate attack was False Flagg Govt Operation to try to save Uhuru Kenyatta & William Ruto From The ICC in Hague>It was engineered by NIS General Gichangi Boys>The fierce blowback on Sonko has began in earnest. The onslaught is multifaceted – from the Senate it’s led by the pathetic apologist of the ICC-accused duo, Kithure Kindiki. In the media, Sonko’s every movement or discretion is being publicly reported — thanks to NSI’s airtight trail of the flamboyant Sonko. Sonko publicly exposed Kenya’s official complicity in the Westgate operation –revealing the information he shared with NSI and top security…followed by inaction. The impunity merchants besieged by ICC are now targeting Sonko. It means the drug manenos are on the table. I doubt Sonko will go down without a fight — a big and dirty fight…that might reveal further rot in this government. (These murderers may kill Sonko Watch this Space>If anything happens to Patriot Sonko!
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-138590/sonko-dares-kithure-expel-him
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Moi loses battle for Kabarak school land
By PAUL OGEMBA
More by this Author
Retired president Daniel Moi lost out on his battle to hold on to a 100-acre land belonging to a rancher, Mr Malcolm Bell. (Read: Rancher fights to evict Moi from farm)
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court put an end to the 10 year court battle, ruling that they have no jurisdiction to overturn an order by the Court of Appeal directing the former president to vacate the land or face eviction.
“The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court may not be invoked just merely for appeals but in matters that raise serious constitutional violations. It is our view that this matter was well settled and does not qualify to be entertained before us,” said the judges.
PUBLIC INTEREST
The judges ruled that Mr Moi and the Board of Governors of Kabarak High School had not demonstrated that the dispute involved great public interest or if there will be serious miscarriage of justice should the Court of Appeal order be enforced.
“It was an error in the first place for the Court of Appeal to grant them the certificate to appeal at the Supreme Court since the dispute does not raise any substantive constitutional violation,” ruled the judges.
The ruling puts at risk the existence of Kabarak High School which is built on the disputed land in the event that the owner, Mr Bell, goes ahead to evict them.
Mr Moi and Mr Bell’s dispute over the 100-acre land began in 2003 when Mr Bell sued him for trespass, alleging that the former president coerced his late father Ginger Bell into donating it to Kabarak High School in 1980.
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, ’tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at. I am not what I am………. so says Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello. Seems Shakespeare had Uhuru Kenyatta in mind whem he penned this !
Why the Uhuru government is rotten to the core
by ICC.supporter » Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:38 pm
The only reason why the head of police can make such an outrageous statement (that he is going to arrest journalists who exposed the KDF looting at Westgate) is that we have a president who actually agrees with him but will not admit it openly. Why do I say this? Because we all know that Uhuru Kenyatta’s priority is to desperately avoid justice at the International Criminal Court.
David Kimaiyo’s statement today is straight from the dark days of the Moi era. Kenyans died for things like freedom of the press.
If Kimaiyo, and by extension Uhuru, think they can muzzle the press so that Kenyans can be ignorant of things like Kenyan troops looting during a national tragedy rather than protecting Kenyans, then they have something else coming.
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Reporters- … index.html
The highest stage of Capitalism Profiteering,Greedy has driven Money-lovers &Worshippers to extremes >Many families in Western Europe has turned to vegetalisters hence consuming such genetically manipulated genes can cause unknown consequences to your health>Watch the Video>
Will King Uhuru By-Pass President Robert Mugabe Of Zimbabwe? If Only he will Chicken (Threaten UN/ICC/UK/USA/FRANCE/ETC to Submission) )The Western Democracy & Civilization?
“the Government of Kenya did not refer the Kenya Situation to the ICC, but indicated to
the Prosecutor that he may apply to open an investigation under Article 15”
Click to access doc1050005.pdf
1. The issue is not the ICC. In fact it is wrong to say that the ICC is a racist ploy by Western imperialists: that is absolute balderdash.
2. Africans created the ICC, they have jobs there, they take themselves there, and they create the political mess that provides work for the ICC.
3. If the AU political honchos do not want the ICC, let them do us a favour: stop rigging elections and killing people to get and retain power.It is that simple.
4. Once they take people there to be tried for crimes against humanity, let them keep the script simple by accepting responsibility for their decisions.
5. Just tell me: who took Laurent Gbagbo to ICC, was it the French President or his Ivorian counterpart? As far as I remember it was Alassane Ouattara, the Ivorian President. What about Joseph Kony? Who has hired the FBI to hunt for him and take him to The Hague? I will not be wrong if I gave the responsibility to Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda.What about a man called Bemba, the ‘butcher of Goma’. Was it not Kabila who handed him over to the ICC?
6. In the Kenyan case the evidence is there in Parliament: “ don’t be
vague go to The Hague” was the chorus of those now very vociferous in their denunciation of ICC.
7. Get President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and ask him whether he has absolutely nothing to do with the ICC. Most likely he will tell you one of his generals is probably heading there at his behest.We should excise our Sovereignty within the confine of Dignity and Integrity.
Jomo Kenyatta was clearly capitalist and we were trying a different course. But I must confess I did not see myself as charting out something for the rest of Africa. One picks one’s way. I never saw the contradictions that would prevent Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania from working together. I was na‹ve, I guess. Even now for me freedom and unity are paramount.
I respected Jomo (Kenyatta) immensely. It has probably never happened before in history. Two heads of state, Milton Obote [Uganda’s leader] and I, went to Jomo and said to him: `let’s unite our countries and you be our head of state’. He said no. I think he said no because it would have put him out of his element as a Kikuyu Elder.
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12:31 PM ET
Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Why Kenya’s president must face ICC
By Netsanet Belay, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Netsanet Belay is Africa director at Amnesty International. The views expressed are the writer’s own.
Like so many thousands of Kenyans, Pamela, David and Kanu are all still struggling to piece their lives together nearly six years after the violence that rocked parts of Kenya following the elections in December 2007.
Finding work, feeding their children and recovering from physical and psychological trauma are just some of their everyday battles.
“I suffered a lot because I have only one hand, but I have been completely forgotten,” Kanu recently told Amnesty International. His arm was hacked off with a machete after he tried to save a woman from being raped by 17 men amid the post-election violence.
Life for Pamela, a 24-year-old mother of four, is still incredibly difficult. She has a bullet lodged in her chest after police fired through the wall of her mud hut. After the incident, she tried to follow up the case with the police. The individual she believes shot her still works in a nearby suburb.
David, a former taxi driver, has struggled to support his family since a bullet to the knee cut short his career. He told Amnesty International that when he tried to report what happened to him to the police, they did nothing.
“Instead of helping me, they tried to arrest me for reporting on the government. I haven’t spoken to them since,” he said. “There is no justice in Kenya, because since I was injured, we reported and nothing was done.”
These are only three of the thousands of victims of unthinkable atrocities during Kenya’s 2007/2008 post-election violence, when more than 1,000 people died and 600,000 were forced out of their homes. The clashes erupted in December 2007 between groups supporting the winner of the presidential elections and his main rival.
In late 2009 the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) stepped in, when it became clear that Kenya was unable to provide the much-needed justice and reparations to victims of the post-election violence. The Court charged Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto, both senior political figures at the time on opposing sides, with crimes against humanity including murder, forcible population transfer, and persecution. Joshua arap Sang, a radio journalist, was also charged with similar crimes.
Kenyatta was also accused of responsibility for rape and other inhumane acts – including forced circumcision and penile amputation – carried out by the Mungiki, a criminal gang allegedly under his control. Ruto and Sang’s trial began on September 10. Kenyatta’s trial was originally scheduled to begin on November 12 but has now been postponed until February.
The Kenyan government has been campaigning against the trials since the charges were laid. In recent months, they have secured the support of the African Union, which has tried to discredit the Court in the hope the cases would be dropped. AU representatives have argued that no sitting head of state or government should appear before the ICC, and they have threatened mass withdrawal of African countries from the Rome Statute which governs the ICC.
On Thursday, at an informal meeting, they will try to persuade the U.N. Security Council to back a deferral of the case against Kenyatta and Ruto, citing the recent tragic attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Regardless, the ICC has announced today that it will postpone Kenyatta’s trial until February. But while the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court provides for cases to be deferred in exceptional circumstances, the deferral of these cases is a serious blow to justice for the thousands of Kenyans who look to the Court as their only hope.
“Since they were given the opportunity to do the cases [in Kenya], and they failed, then the cases should continue,” Pamela said.
Time and time again, Kenya has shown itself to be unable and unwilling to deliver justice at home. Over the past few years, Kenya’s authorities have promised to investigate the abuses of 2007/2008 and bring those responsible to justice. But little action has been taken and prosecutions have been minimal, with the majority of victims now feeling that their case has been forgotten.
In 2008, a government-appointed Commission of Inquiry into the post-election violence declared that a special tribunal should be established. The Kenyan parliament voted against proposed legislation to set up the tribunal, paving the way for the International Criminal Court to begin investigations.
Members of the Security Council have a huge responsibility in their hands. A refusal to accept the AU’s request to defer the trials of Kenyatta and Ruto at the International Criminal Court will send a strong and powerful message to the thousands of victims and survivors that impunity will not prevail.
For people like Pamela, David and Kanu, the alternative is, simply, unthinkable.
Observation made outside the bigger picture.i dont believe it reflects the fair truth of affairs in kenya given the sober manner the new form of gvment structure is being ran…lets rally bhind for this 1st one term