It is said that he always used to ask his advisor's the question: "How will that affect the ordinary mwananchi and usually his decision would lean heavily on the answer to that question.
But it is the same man who during his last trip ever to Kisumu in 1969 took a long time in dressing down Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in abusive and threatening language. This was moments after violence had erupted which saw an unspecified number of people killed as the presidential guard opened fire on a rowdy crowd. It all started when somebody threw a chair towards the president. It missed its' mark and was caught in mid air by one of the security detail.
Jomo Kenyatta sometime in 1961 with a German delegation, shortly before he became Prime Minister. For those who are given to studying character, quite an interesting man full of contradictions, but mostly forgiven by Kenyans.
The old man in his speech called the Luo lazy and stupid and said that had it not been for his past friendship with Jaramogi, "he would have dealt with him there and then." A fascinating incident because Jaramogi kept on talking back to the president even as he made his speech. This was all captured on tape and on live radio. Shortly after that, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was detained without trial and his political party KPU banned by the government.
He is the same man who would summon all provincial police officers from all over the country to state house at very short notice and then start his speech with the remarks "I called you here today and I wanted to see who would not turn up." And then after a long dressing down on the security situation in the country, would then treat them to a hearty state banquet usually reserved for visiting dignitaries.
It is also the same man who in parliament was caught by the speaker Sir Humphrey Slade, drawing a pistol as the then opposition leader Ronald Ngala bitterly criticized his presidency.
He is also the same man who answered rumors about his ability to father children in a public meeting. There had been talk that the President had been crushed in more ways than one during his long detention in Kapenguria by the colonial government and was not able to sire children as a result.
The old man, without any hint of shame in his voice boomed at a public meeting;
"Some people are saying that I am not able to bear children. That the colonialists crushed my private parts (the swahili word he used was makende). That is not true, I want you to ask Mama Ngina here." Poor Mama Ngina obviously blushed. And most people in the then ultra-conservative Kenyan society who were at the meeting could not believe what they were hearing from the president.
He is also the same man who consistently had cabinets whose composition was over 75% from the Kikuyu tribe, which he also belonged to. Not to mention the fact that at virtually every public meeting he would make some remarks in Kikuyu. What he was doing was actually planting the seeds of tribalism, which was further watered by Moi and the fruits of which we are "enjoying" today.
He is the same man who offered a contradictory solution to the evils of the colonial government inflicted upon him and the people of Kenya. He said; "We shall forgive, but we shall not forget."
I'm sorry but I just don't see how somebody can forgive without making an effort to forget the traumatic thing that has been done on them.
The irony of it all is that Kenyans have forgiven Kenyatta for everything and have forgotten all the evil and chosen to remember only his good side and charisma. This corrupt record-breaking-land-grabber is best remembered as one of the most charismatic statesmen Africa has ever had.
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Chris you need to research on Kenyatta's character more. There are two things that will always baffle me about that Mzee. Firstly, how he used to pull off that fashion stunt of wearing an impeccable double breasted suit, bling and alas, SANDALS!!! That was original. Secondly, when attending those public holidays in Uhuru Park the only thing you would remember from his speech were two words; "kinyangarika" and "vinyangarika". He knew how to hurl the insults in his booming voice, Kibaki sounds like a choir-boy in comparison. We liked the man Chris, despite his flaws. He was your stereotype tribal king of yore. That was why we forgave him, because he symbolised and oozed the strength and raw brutal machismo as a young nation we were all yearning for, at that time.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what your point is. Would you rather the people that you say were wronged took out revenge on the Kenyatta family? Like any other person Kenyatta had his shortcomings and the more the public your life is, the more magnified are your shortcomings. That is the price we pay for greatness. Even Mandela was once a violent man and strategized for Umkhonto we Sizwe the ANC military wing before he turned to more peace-seeking efforts. That said, I am still very fascinated by the antics of that early administration.
ReplyDeleteKenyatta with all his short-comings was more of a positive influence than negative. Kenya's economy grew (maybe the fruits were not equally shared) but nonetheless grew, gaining international accolade and a shining example at a time when most of African countries were in shambles including neighboring Uganda and an impoverished Tanganyika. Kenya's growth was unprecedented and its stability through the Kenyatta years attracted investors, and that's why Kenya is the economic hub of east and central Africa to date. Besides its not suprising that Kenyatta has been largely forgiven by Kenyans, havent the majority of independent nations forgiven their founding fathers, many of whom used aristocratic leadership soon after delivering freedom to their new independent states? In a fragile situation as it was then, firm leadership was needed if Kenya was going to move past its bitter colonial past that had deeply divided the mwannchi, including mzee's tribe the Kikuyu's which despite a vigorous Mau Mau campaign, also had the largest number of colonial guards that sided with the mbeberu. These guards or "gati" as they were referred to in Kikuyu had divided families and caused alot of suffering and death. Mzee was suspiscious that some of the former 'enemies' might somhow use their experience and knowledge to destabilize the government and even worse govern it in favor of the colonialists, Kenyatta's biggest dread>
ReplyDeleteThe demonization of Kenyatta by some has been in vogue for some time. This is no surprise given the current tribal polarization. Kenyatta is thus viewed first as a member of the adui tribe. Consequently historians like B.A. Ogot and A. Odhiambo et al have been rewriting Kenyan History. They have sought to minimize and disparage Kenyatta's and the mau mau role in the independence struggle. They have also sought to place the blame for all of Kenya's current problems on Kenyatta. Indeed reading this historians and listening to odm kenyan history you would think that Kenyatta's sole contribution to Kenya was the invention of tribalism and corruption.
ReplyDeleteIndeed the only Kenyan heros in this narrative are Ogingas, Mboya, Oneko, Khodhek, Odede, Ofafa etc.
Sadly this is kenya today even history must bend to tribalism.