Jomo Kenyatta

Jomo Kenyatta (October 20, 1892?–August 22, 1978) was an African politician, the first Prime Minister (1963–1964) and President (1964–1978) of an independent Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan Nation.

Return to Kenya

In 1946 Kenyatta founded the Pan-African Federation with Kwame Nkrumah. In the same year he returned to Kenya and was married for the third time, to Grace Wanjiku. He became a principal of Kenya Teachers College. In 1947 he became a president of the Kenya African Union (KAU). He begun to receive death threats from white settlers.

Related Topics:
1946 - Pan-African Federation - Kwame Nkrumah - Kenya Teachers College - 1947 - White settler

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Grace Wanjiku died in childbirth in 1950 when she gave birth to daughter Jane Wambui. In 1951 Kenyatta married Ngina Muhoho.

Related Topics:
1950 - 1951

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His reputation with the British government was marred by his assumed involvement with the Mau Mau Rebellion. He was arrested in October 1952, accused of organizing the Mau Mau and on April 8, 1953 was sentenced to seven years in prison and hard labour. Contemporary opinion linked him with the Mau Mau but later research claims otherwise. Kenyatta was in prison until 1959. He was then sent into exile on probation in Lodwar, a remote part of Kenya.

Related Topics:
Mau Mau - 1952 - April 8 - 1953 - Hard labour - 1959 - Lodwar

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