Mzee Jomo Kenyatta (in sunglasses) looks as his son Muhoho greets a guest at State House in Mombasa. PHOTO | FILE
The story of Africa’s independence struggle is never complete
without mentioning the role played by the pan-Africanism movement.
And
neither can the story of pan-Africanism be told without reference to
the role played by Kenya’s founding president in the movement that
determined it was time to break the yoke of colonial domination.
Mzee
Jomo Kenyatta, whose 38th commemoration will be on Monday, embodied
pan-Africanism – the pragmatic ideology that advocated for the freedom
of all people of African descent – and was one of its leading lights.
The
movement has a global network and is aimed at strengthening the bonds
of solidarity between all Africans both in the continent and in the
diaspora.
Mzee Kenyatta took up the
struggle against colonial rule in Kenya in the early 1920s, becoming the
most prominent of the anti-colonial leaders not only in Kenya but also
in Africa.
Even as he spearheaded Kenya’s
struggle against the colonialists, Mzee Kenyatta embodied a bigger
vision – freedom for all Africans, a campaign he carried on even after
Kenya attained independence in 1963.
Mzee
Kenyatta’s footprints as a leader committed to a wider pan-African cause
stretches back to the 1930s when he was the honorary chairman of the
International Friends of Abyssinia.
He
organised protests against the invasion of Ethiopia by Italy and in
September of 1935, he wrote the often-cited article “Hands off Ethiopia”
in the Labour Monthly, a UK magazine.
Ethiopia
was the only country that did not come under the control of European
powers and its destiny was crucial for black consciousness.
Mzee
Kenyatta’s commitment to the interest of other Africans was also
evident when he spoke at the Fifth Pan-African Congress (PAC) of 1945 in
Manchester in the UK.
At the conference,
where leading Africans of the time teamed up to demand an end to
colonialism, Mzee Kenyatta spoke on behalf of five other territories
besides Kenya where people were under colonial subjugation.
It
was on October 17, 1945, during the first session where Mzee Kenyatta
was the rapporteur, when he stood up to speak at the 5th PAC for the six
territories – Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Tanganyika, Nyasaland (Malawi),
and the Rhodesias (today’s Zimbabwe and Zambia).
His
presentation was captured in the recorded proceedings of the conference
titled “History of the Pan-African Congress: colonial and coloured
unity” and edited by the pan-Africanist George Padmore.
“SIX TERRITORIES”
“Jomo
Kenyatta said his task that morning was a hard one, for he had to
report on six territories. Somaliland, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika,
Nyasaland, and the Rhodesias,” says the record.
Interestingly,
Kenyatta did not start with Kenya’s case as many would have expected
but he begun with Uganda, then Tanganyika before dwelling on Kenya’s
problems and the other regions.
“He spoke
on behalf of nearly 14 million people in East Africa. It is their call
that he brought to the Congress. If conditions were possible for them to
come, many of them would be there with them,” the proceedings say.
Mr
Kenyatta concluded by speaking on Somalia and the proceedings record
him as saying, “Just a word about Somaliland, a great section of which
has been fighting the British Government for over 25 years. There is one
thing we must do and that is to get political independence. If we
achieve that we shall be free to achieve other things we want. We feel
that racial discrimination must go and then people can perhaps enjoy the
right of citizenship, which is the desire of every East African.
Self-independence must be our aim.”
In
Makers of World History Volume 2, historian Kelley Sowards introduces
Mzee Kenyatta thus: “Jomo Kenyatta was the most widely known and
charismatic of all the leaders of the African people who were clamouring
for independence from colonial rule in 1950s. He was a large,
powerfully built man, with a commanding presence, a penetrating,
transfixing gaze, and a deep, kettle-drum voice. He was a spell-binding
orator, well educated, and an experienced political leader and a
consensus builder among the many factions of his people. He was clearly a
danger to continued white supremacy in Kenya. He knew it and the white
settlers knew it”.
Dr Sowards’ description
of Kenyatta as the most widely known of Africans who were in the
struggle for independence is supported by the fact that by 1945 he was a
reputed intellectual, journalist, author and politician who embodied
the pan-African struggle for the emancipation of all Africans.
Fast
forward to 1963 when Kenya attained independence and Mzee Kenyatta
showed the same zeal he had in the 1930s and 1950s in standing up for
other African nations. On June 20, 1963, 19 days after becoming Kenya’s
Prime Minister, Mr Kenyatta banned all trade with the apartheid regime
ruling South Africa. He also imposed a similar ban on all trade with
Portugal for refusing to grant independence to Angola.
NELSON MANDELA
The
founding president also organised a demonstration of 20,000 people
including his Cabinet ministers to protest against the jailing of Nelson
Mandela. They carried a shrouded coffin, symbolising the apartheid
regime of South Africa, to a freshly dug grave in Shauri Moyo, Nairobi.
He
also called on Boers living in Kenya to condemn apartheid. “Those who
call themselves Kenyans should work with us. If they don’t, we’ll tell
them to pack up and go.’’
When Ian Smith
declared Zimbabwe independent under white rule, Mr Kenyatta made it
clear that Kenya would never recognize it and led other East African
countries to impose sanctions on the “illegal, racist regime in Southern
Rhodesia.’’
Mzee Jomo Kenyatta began
diplomatic efforts to isolate Ian Smith’s Rhodesia, announcing in
January 1966 that no airline going to or from that country would be
allowed to land in Kenya.
He also started helping Zambia with oil supplies by road and air.
Mzee
Kenyatta also paved the way for Angola’s independence from Portugal
when he brought together the three rival freedom leaders – Agostino
Neto, Holden Rorberto and Jonas Savimbi – and got them to sign a peace
treaty in Nakuru in January 1975.
He was
also key in the formation of the first East African Community that
brought together Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. He was also more pragmatic
than his counterparts who had suggested political integration, insisting
on economic harmony as a priority.
In
Kenya, Mzee Kenyatta exerted his pan-Africanism which was exhibited by
his ideological stand on issues such as language and names inherited
from colonists.
“The basis of any
independent government is a national language and we can no longer
continue aping our former colonisers. Those who feel they cannot do
without English can pack up and go” he said in 1974 when he made
Kiswahili the official language.
He also showed his disdain for place names inherited from the white colonialists when he toured western province in 1969.
One of the places he toured was a tourist attraction site called Boderick Falls.
“I
want to tell people of Western Province that I felt ashamed trying to
pronounce Boderick Falls. These are names reflecting servitude. Why
can’t you look for better local names with local content, names we know
of their origin?’’ he said. There and then, the president issued a
directive that both the leaders and locals look for a substitute name
for the tourist feature.
He caused
laughter when he asked: “Which Luhya man was called Broderick? Broderick
was whose relative? A name is very important for identity. Which
foreigner adopts your African names? If you want to domineer someone,
conquer his intellect first and you will suppress him wholly”.
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