Jomo Kenyatta

Who is Jomo Kenyatta?

Jomo Kenyatta, born around 1897 near Gatundu in the Kikuyu heartland, became the founding father of independent Kenya. In the 1920s and 1930s he emerged as a leading spokesman for Kikuyu land and political rights, spending years in Britain where he studied anthropology under Bronislaw Malinowski at the London School of Economics and wrote 'Facing Mount Kenya' (1938), a landmark study of Kikuyu society. Returning home, he led the Kenya African Union. During the Mau Mau uprising the colonial authorities arrested him and, in the 1952 to 1953 Kapenguria trial, convicted him of managing the movement, imprisoning him for years. After his release he led the Kenya African National Union (KANU) to victory, and Kenya achieved independence in 1963. He served as the country's first Prime Minister and then President until his death on 22 August 1978, promoting the philosophy of 'Harambee' (pulling together).

Sources: Jomo Kenyatta, 'Facing Mount Kenya' (1938) · Jomo Kenyatta, 'Suffering Without Bitterness' (1968) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry on Jomo Kenyatta