Was Tom Mboya really an exceptional man?

[kijanamrefu]

@Teddy_time

Thats not the point. What I am trying to hammer home here is a man who has made it in his country and is comfortable there would choose to be buried away from his family in a foreign country because he is very impressed with Mboya.

Lets also not forget that this is the 60s and a time at which America is undergoing its Civil rights movement so the Black man at the time was not seen in a very flattering light in the US (we see the same even today but it was much worse in the US at the time). This fact makes it even more interesting.

I am impressed with many people here and abroad but that does not mean I want to be buried next to them.

I understand you fully.

The only answer I have for your discussion is fetishization/adoration.

[MortyTuumbo]

@Mjuaji

But instead a 76 IQ kalejinga took the reigns and ruled with his stomach.

Moi was only supposed to be president for 90 days. Internal bickering is what brought forth the Nyayo era. And the twin assassination attempts is what brought the full wrath of the said Cockrel.

[MortyTuumbo]

@Tarantinoh

To know that Tom Mboya was expectional, He was the MP Kamukunji Constituency, back when Kamukunji had 70% Mount Kenya voters, (1969 Census). He transcended ethnic, social class and race politics, making the Jomo Kenyatta kitchen cabinet jittery, He had to go when his excellency Jomo had a stroke in early 1969 and he was the heir apparent.

The guy was born on the slopes of Mt. Kenya so he learned how the natives, lived, talked and immersed himself in the culture. Jomo didn’t see him as a threat and he truly admired the guy because he saw him as a son of the MOUNTAIN!

The jealous one which no one ever seems to mention was oginga himself.

[upepo]

@Tarantinoh

To know that Tom Mboya was expectional, He was the MP Kamukunji Constituency, back when Kamukunji had 70% Mount Kenya voters, (1969 Census). He transcended ethnic, social class and race politics, making the Jomo Kenyatta kitchen cabinet jittery, He had to go when his excellency Jomo had a stroke in early 1969 and he was the heir apparent.

Mboya was a shiny-eye for all practical purposes save for the thieving part. Plus he was brilliant and well exposed to the workings of the world.

[Tarantinoh]

@upepo

Mboya was a shiny-eye for all practical purposes save for the thieving part. Plus he was brilliant and well exposed to the workings of the world.

Thieves are everywhere, keep your labelling theories away from the discussion about a great Kenyan.

[Mediocre]

The guy spoke Kikuyu, Kamba, Luo, Suba, etc. He was more Kenyan than the politicians around him. He achieved political fame in his 30s when most of his peers were older. He could have been president but Moi saw the threat from very far away. Wale mnasema Jaramogi are wrong. Moi was already VP when he died and from then on till Kenyatta died in 78. Killing him ensured nobody was powerful enough to replace him

[Wafs]

This guys was exceptionally brilliant. He should have tried to make peace with Jaramogi. The people and tribe he befriended and was loyal to killed him eventually. Some have called him naive.

[Okwonkwo]

@Soprano

Less competition then.
But don’t we have Butange Ndemo today?
Wakenya siku hizi wanajua sana, hawaongozeki tena!
mak masai

How is Bitange Ndemo exceptional

[Kahuni_Maisha]

@Okwonkwo

How is Bitange Ndemo exceptional

in all fairness, I see a lot of passion in Ndemo, while serving this Nation.

[Teddy_time]

@Okwonkwo

How is Bitange Ndemo exceptional

True. Bitange Ndemo is a very able man. Just like Matiangi. But I wouldnt say exceptional.

[Okwonkwo]

@Kahuni Maisha

in all fairness, I see a lot of passion in Ndemo, while serving this Nation.

But how is he exceptional, what unique thing has he done for this country?

[Kahuni_Maisha]

@Okwonkwo

But how is he exceptional, what unique thing has he done for this country?

he ain’t exceptional yet, but the man has a lot to offer to this country. I guess if He is given the platform, maybe, he can be exceptional. the platform was there though by the name of Konza city, but we all know what happened.

[TrumanCapote]

@Teddy_time

Was Tom Mboya really an exceptional man or was he just lionized and romanticized in death the way JFK was?

Was reading an article about him and was surprised to find a wealthy American actually requested that when he dies, he should be buried next to him (which he was):

William X Scheinman, the American who rests beside Tom Mboya | Nation

I was trying to place this in the context of myself. When I die, I want to buried uko ocha. Is it possible that any of us can meet such an exceptional man from another country who impresses us so much that when we kick the bucket, we want to be buried next to him?

I have had the pleasure of visiting Tom Mboya mausoleum at Rusinga Island a couple of times. The mausoleum was built by his American friend who wanted to be buried next to him.The mausoleum is shaped as a bullet. The American was buried outside with a small headstone.

Africans generally are not driven by strong convictions and ideals as white people are because Africans in general have not attained security in the Maslow hierachy of needs even the wealthiest have the fear that they need more to ensure their security and that of their posterity. White Americans want to self actualise having acquired security of being born into a society with plenty of opportunities for upward mobility and a stable political dispensation.This is why an African can not imagine such loyalty to a point of requesting to be buried to close friends. However this happens alot with white people .However just recent ly John McCain was buried next to his childhood friend at a Naval centre as per his last wishes. Africans tuko mbali.If cremation is causing all the bruhaha,no kuzikwa in another continent?

There is an information gap about victims political assassinations during Kenyatta’s time.Mboya from info in his mausoleum was a citizen of the world and a darling of the west he was the only Luo who could get votes in Kikuyu constituencies as an MP.The only African to grace Time Magazine in the 60s 70s or is it 80s? Not sure when.

Tom Mboya was the first to assist bright Kenyan s to study abroad like Obama thru western goodwill bcz of his good relationship with most all Western leaders he had met. I understand that he was very charismatic and westerners took to him like fish to water.

Anybody questioning Mboyas greatness is ignorant of how Kenyatta worked.Anybody who was a threat DIED.If you were common Kenyatta wouldn’t bother with you. His death was the sign that Kenyatta was extremely threatened by Mboya and others like Pio Gama Pinto and many others.

[montecarlo]

@ndume

Kibaki has been serving in high levels of government since independence. He is as corrupt as all others.

This one I have to ask for evidence. Please share

[ndume]

@Tarantinoh

To know that Tom Mboya was expectional, He was the MP Kamukunji Constituency, back when Kamukunji had 70% Mount Kenya voters, (1969 Census). He transcended ethnic, social class and race politics, making the Jomo Kenyatta kitchen cabinet jittery, He had to go when his excellency Jomo had a stroke in early 1969 and he was the heir apparent.

Moi was already VP, Mboya had no path. Without disputing what you say about him being kamukunji MP, your analogy is not universal at all and is misleading. So today we have that Indian quack doctor, Mishra, as Kesses MP, which is 99% Nandi people. There are others in Meru and Kisumu and there has been one in Nairobi. What I am trying to say is that political dynamics, in most cases, determine electability, not individual uniqueness

[Mediocre]

@ndume

Moi was already VP, Mboya had no path. Without disputing what you say about him being kamukunji MP, your analogy is not universal at all and is misleading. So today we have that Indian quack doctor, Mishra, as Kesses MP, which is 99% Nandi people. There are others in Meru and Kisumu and there has been one in Nairobi. What I am trying to say is that political dynamics, in most cases, determine electability, not individual uniqueness

That doesn’t rule out the fact that Moi could have done it. He had the most to lose and if his post 82 history is anything to go by, he had the means and motive to do it.

[system]

He was a brilliant man no doubt but let’s not forget that he had made sinister arrangements on how to kill Jomo. When those plans backfired on him, he knew his goose was cooked.

[grandpa]

@Mediocre

That doesn’t rule out the fact that Moi could have done it. He had the most to lose and if his post 82 history is anything to go by, he had the means and motive to do it.

Hapana. Sio Moi. The guy was so meek at the time and his fangs only truly came out after Kenyatta’s death

[grandpa]

@Purple

He was a brilliant man no doubt but let’s not forget that he had made sinister arrangements on how to kill Jomo. When those plans backfired on him, he knew his goose was cooked.

Learnt something new today. Do you have any reference on this?

[Mediocre]

@grandpa

Hapana. Sio Moi. The guy was so meek at the time and his fangs only truly came out after Kenyatta’s death

So you believe he was a meek guy for 11 years as VP, come on man, no one survives that long with Kikuyu and Luo vultures surrounding him ready to pounce at the slightest chance of weakness.