Nothing irritates me more than reading endless diatribes against the our first president Jomo Kenyatta. Listening to people here it was as if Kenyatta was just a rapacious tribal robber baron who enriched himself and his tribespeople, the Kikuyu.
In fact, Kenyatta is probably one of the greatest Black leaders ever, which is why kids as far as Jamaica, the US, Ghana and Papua New Guinea are named after him. When Uhuru attended Mandela’s funeral, he got the loudest cheer after Mugabe because of his father, not because of himself. The other day I was thinking about it and concluded that Jomo is actually greater than the venerated Mandela, who incidentally is canonised and celebrated by the same Whites who have for centuries oppressed Blacks- because he let them keep their privileges and wealth. Today, Whites still control nearly all arable land in the land of Mandela and Nujoma.
Kenyatta was different. Though he was not perfect, he tried to redistribute land and wealth back to Africans as soon as he became president. It may come as a surprise to many but the entire Central Province was basically White Highlands, as was Nakuru and large swathes of Laikipia. Blacks were nly otenants and workers. Yet, by 1970, 90% of the land there was owned by Blacks. Ask anybody who comes from Nyandarua when they settled there - all were settled by the Kenyatta government, as were the various communities who today inhabit Nakuru (Kisiis, Luhyas, Kikuyus etc).
In 1963, an African could not own a shop in central Nairobi. By 1978, when Kenyatta died, Africans owned the majority of buildings in the Nairobi CBD.
Were there challenges during this wealth redistribution phase? You bet. Politicians and other well-connected people - including the Kenyatta family itself - took full advantage and got possession of large tracts of land and property. This is what a lot of revisionists like running with, forgetting that the circumstances have changed.
The fact is, however, compared to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and even Botswana, Kenyatta was able to hand-over both economic and political power to Africans in a fairly seamless and frictionless way. His first Cabinet reflected the whole the face of Kenya. Nascent industries which could have propelled this country into developed status were established everywhere - Kicomi, Rivatex, Miwani, Kenya National Assuarance, you name them.
And it didn’t end there.
The London School of Economics -educated Kenyatta - who wrote the seminal book Facing Mt Kenya when a majority of our fathers were still living in grass huts marrying 10 wives - was instrumental in laying the foundations of modern-day Kenya.
Eveything we are proud of today - our professional armed forces, the UN in Nairobi, the University of Nairobi, the KICC, our position as one of the world’s dominant sporting nations, the Safari Rally etc etc - was founded and promoted during the formative years Jomo was at the helm. It may surprise you to know that Kenya had a TV service in 1964, more than 10 years before South Africa and most African countries. Today, Africans from at least 45 countries are flocking to Nairobi because of the economic foundations Jomo laid. To them, our dirty capital city is like London or New York.
The other day I chuckled when I heard an old man from Buru Buru say that he won the right to buy his house through a computer lottery - in 1973. That is how advanced we were. Actually that’s why all the original residents of that estate, as well as Madaraka and Otiende which were developed during Jomo’s time reflect the face of Kenya - during Jomo’s time, everybody stood a chance to own property through a fair lottery. Another news item that grabbed my attention was the beating up of Bobi Wine by Ugandan so-called special forces. Why does that kind of nonsense not happen in Kenya?
The simple answer to the latter question is that Jomo allowed the army to become professional. It might deflate your tribal image of him, but the army commanders in all of Jomo’s years were actually non-Kikuyu. They were Kamba, which is why even as late as 1978 the Kambas made up more than 20 per cent of the army! His long-time ADC was Major Marsden Madoka, a Taita.
Let me end with this quote from the report 'A Historical Perspective to Revenue Performance in Kenya - 2010-2015" by the very respected Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAK):
Kenya has had mixed economic performance since its independence in 1963. During the
first decade of independence, the performance of the Kenyan economy was impressive.
The growth of real GDP averaged 6.6% per year over the period 1964 –1973, and compared
favourably with some of the Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) of East Asia. This remarkable
performance was attributed to consistency of economic policy, promotion of smallholder
agricultural farming, high domestic demand, and expansion of market for domestic output
within the East African region.
For those who may not understand, what the report says is that if we had continued to develop at the rate we were during Jomo’s time (and if we had controlled our population growth) we would be at the same level of Malaysia and South Korea.
You may dislike Jomo because he was from the wrong tribe, but give the devil his due. Talk to old people in your community and come back tell me what they say about the old man. Kenya worked. Look at all our neighbours and ask yourself; why have we never had a coup; why are we richer than say Tanzania which is bigger and has greater mineral wealth; why are our people among the most respected Blacks in the world?
The answer is just one word; JOMO. May he RIP.
Which is why, for me personally, Uhuru is such a let-down. Sometimes I wonder whether he is a chip off the old block.
