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How fear transformed the Jomo Kenyatta presidency   by Chris Kumekucha

There was this fascinating comment in the Kumekucha blog where a reader talks about Kenyatta’s motorcade rushing back to his office at Harambee house for what must have been a crisis meeting shortly after the bloody coup in neighboring Zanzibar in January 1964.

It soon became very clear that there were plenty of potential threats to the presidency which had to be addressed immediately. It was a question of survival and the only way to survive was to crash all opposition even before it had a chance of raising its’ head properly. The president would need people he could trust completely around him and in all key positions in the country especially in the disciplined forces.

Kenyatta promptly started appointing close relatives and village mates to sensitive positions in government and the security forces. Later after the assassination of Tom Mboya the Kenyatta administration went even further and launched secret oath-taking amongst senior officials in government. I remember my dad telling me stories of how he resisted several invitations to these oath-taking sessions where one had to strip completely naked and do all kinds of weird things. He was assured that promotion to very senior positions anywhere in Kenya was impossible without taking these oaths.

Then the “economic threat” to the presidency that all three occupants of State house have had to face early in their administration also quickly emerged for Kenyatta. The dominant economic force at independence was the small group of white settlers who had chosen to stay on. The president’s close advisors correctly identified this small group as a potential threat to the presidency. In such a poor country as Kenya, money can do a lot of damage in quickly promoting any political cause including that of removing the president. These settlers were the financiers of KADU which was the main political opposition to Jomo Kenyatta’s KANU. They had also never really trusted Jomo Kenyatta (mainly because of his firm belief in African traditions) and it would only be natural for them to jump at the first chance at helping change the occupant of State house.

So it was hardly surprising that Kenyatta’s early years in State house were chiefly occupied with neutralizing these threats amongst others. We shall see shortly, exactly how that was done, sometimes pretty ruthlessly.

But before that, let us appreciate the fact that at this point of our story, possible pointers to the change of character in Jomo Kenyatta were already beginning to poke the surface.

Fear is a very powerful emotion that has been known to transform people’s characters completely. It is no secret that despite the absolute power in State House which we are told corrupts absolutely; few have appreciated the fact that the occupants of this great house on the hill have always had to live with great fear. For Kenyatta and Moi it was fear of being overthrown and seeing those close to them raped and murdered in cold blood or executed by firing squad by the successful coup leaders. For Kibaki it has been more about ending up in some prison with a long list of charges, some of them trumped up by his political opponents and pretenders to the presidency.

Clearly Jomo Kenyatta also feared assassination to the point of being paranoid. For instance during his entire time as president Kenya’s founding father avoided flying at all costs. This was one reason why he was always represented in conferences and functions out of the country by his Vice president. Even in trips to the Coast Kenyatta would always prefer the 8 hour long trip by road, even when his health was at its’ worst. It was only after his death that Kenyatta’s body was flown back to Nairobi from Mombasa. Fear was undoubtedly a strong driving force behind numerous executive decisions then and some of these quickly ushered in impunity and shaped the office of the presidency for many years to come.

About the Author

Read the whole fascinating Jomo Kenyatta story in my book “Dark Secrets of the Kenyan presidency.” Email Me NOW for a FREE mini version of the book in pdf format at kumekuchaspecialoffer at gmail dot com.

“Dites Moi” – South Pacific

Tenors of Imperial Russia, Vol. 1 $13.25 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed….

Piano bar volume 10 – parlez moi d’amour $5.99 …

The Art of Taoist Tai Chi: Cultivating Mind and Body $98.98 A spiral-bound manual illustrating the movements of Tai Chi, with text in both English and French. Master Moy Lin-shin demonstrates each movement….

Air Foil MOI Driver $199.99 PowerBilt has charged the club heads of the new Air Force One Fairway Woods with pressurized nitrogen – up to 150 PSI! Now, for the first time ever, you will experience Maximum C.O.R., Maximum C.T., Maximum Trampoline Effect, and Maximum Smash Factor, regardless of your swing speed with a fairway wood. The same technology you get in your Driver is now available in a Fairway Wood. Features 17-4 Sta…

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