Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta led Kenya to independence in 1963 and governed it until his death, becoming both the father of the nation and the founder of a landholding political elite. Born Kamau wa Ngengi around 1897 in Kikuyu country, he was educated at a Church of Scotland mission and worked as a water-meter reader in Nairobi. He became general secretary of the Kikuyu Central Association in 1928, campaigning over land alienation to white settlers in the highlands, and went to London in 1929 to petition on it. He stayed in Britain for most of the next seventeen years, studying anthropology under Bronisław Malinowski at the London School of Economics. His thesis was published in 1938 as Facing Mount Kenya, a defence of Kikuyu society including of female circumcision, which mission churches were attacking. He helped organise the 1945 Pan-African Congress in Manchester. He returned in 1946 and led the Kenya African Union. When the Mau Mau uprising began in 1952 the colonial government declared an emergency and convicted him of managing it in a trial widely regarded as rigged; the chief prosecution witness later admitted lying. He spent nine years in prison and detention. Around 11,000 rebels and over 1,000 civilians were killed, and tens of thousands were held in camps where torture was systematic. Released in 1961, he led KANU to victory and became prime minister in 1963 and president in 1964. He preached harambee — pulling together — and forgiveness towards the settlers, kept Kenya capitalist and Western-aligned, and delivered growth. He also made Kenya a one-party state in practice, and the land redistribution enriched his circle. He died in 1978.
- Lived: 1893 CE – 1978 CE
- Nationality: Kenyan
- Roles: head_of_state, independence_leader
