Kenya’s founding father Jomo Kenyatta was a prolific Head of State who served as the country’s Prime Minister between 1963 and 1964 and as president until 1978. He remains an icon for transforming Kenya from a British Colony to an independent republic. Jomo Kenyatta biography shares even more about his widely admired life story.
Various accounts of Kenyatta have since emerged with multiple properties and institutions named after his power and influence.
7 Profile Facts in Jomo Kenyatta biography
We have summarized everything you need to know about Kenyatta’s family, career history, and daring political journey.
Who is Kenyatta?
1. Kenyatta was born in 1897
Born in 1897 in the small rural village of Ngenda, Kenyatta died in 1978 aged 81 years.
The cause of Kenyatta’s death was a periodic heart attack that had been diagnosed in 1966.
2. He was brought up near River Thiririka
Kenyatta’s father was Mzee Muigai, and his mother was Wambui.
Upon Muigai’s death, Wambui was inherited by Muigai’s brother Ngengi.
Unfortunately, Kenyatta and his brother Kongo underwent mistreatment at the hands of his uncle, now his father.
He eventually escaped to live with his grandfather and traditional healer, Kongo wa Magana.
3. Kenyatta attended school at the Church of Scotland Mission
1909, the determined Kenyatta left home and enrolled as a pupil at the Thogoto-based Church of Scotland Mission (CSM).
He eventually learned how to read and write in English among other skills.
4. His first job was a wage master
On relocating to Thika in 1914, Kenyatta landed his first job in an engineering firm headed by Briton John Cook.
His role included fetching the company wages from a bank in Nairobi, about 40 kilometers away.
In 1917, he relocated to Narok where he became a cattle trader. The move was necessary to avoid recruitment into the First World War.
Shortly after, Kenyatta married his first wife Grace Wahu with whom he sired the firstborn son Peter Muigai against the will of his stepfather Ngegi.
5. James Beauttah Inspired Kenyatta into politics
Kikuyu Central Association senior figure James Beauttah inspired Kenyatta to join politics.
KCA gave Kenyatta the much-needed support to travel across Kikuyu land, and sometimes to the United Kingdom courtesy of his eloquence in English.
Between 1935 and 1937, Kenyatta worked as a linguistic consultant at the Phonetics Department at University College London (UCL).
The Second World War locked Kenyatta at Sussex where he would meet and sire a child with a woman called Edna.
The UK-based Peter Magana Kenyatta is a retired BBC producer.
6. Rise from Gatundu to State House
Kenyatta and his first wife settled at Gatundu. Kenyatta would receive the third wife Grace Wanjiku out of the good relationship with her father and senior chief Koinange.
Unfortunately, Wanjiku died in 1951 while giving birth her daughter Jane Makena Wambui.
After the Kapenguria Six prosecution, Kenyatta was detained between 1954 and 1961, venerating him into a political martyr.
Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah were among those who chanted for Kenyatta’s release.
In 1961, Kenyatta joined KANU and formally accepted its presidency.
On June 1, 1963, Kenyatta was sworn in as prime minister with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state.
Kenya was finally declared independent in December 1964. Upon Kenyatta’s death in 1978, President Daniel Arap Moi took over the button promising to walk in his footsteps “Nyayo.’
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