Jomo Kenyatta (1894-1978)

Kenyatta was a Kenyan who had studied economics in Moscow and social anthropology in London in his younger years, but came back during this era. Soon after returning he joined the Kikuyu Central Association and would edit the newspapers for them. When he wasn’t working with the newspapers he was teaching in schools to help the next generation.

As problems in the country started to heighten, he was elected president of the Kenya African Union (KAU) and started doing speaking engagements around the country (1946). The decision to be a vocal leader would cause him to get a great deal of death threats from those who opposed his message. He was not as radical as many of the other leaders though. He was always very traditional and had no interest in using violence to achieve these goals. He also supported Female Genital Mutilation, which was a traditional act in some parts of Africa, but is looked at quite poorly in current society. Due to his leadership position, he was arrested for being part of the rebellion, despite not being a part of the violence he was arrested for, and would spend a good deal of time in jail.

The elections that were started at the end of the rebellion would eventually turn into leadership roles for Kenyan natives, and he would become the 1st Prime Minister (1963-1964), and later 1st President (1964-1978), of Kenya. His government set up a moderate, pro-Western, capitalist government and was considered a great leader both inside and outside of the country. While the economy boomed, he did struggle to unify such a diverse population of ethnic groups. As time went on he started to act more like a dictator by making his own political party the only allowed party in the country and by jailing anyone who disagreed with him. Despite all of the problems with his rule, he is still considered to be the founding father of Kenya and is seen in positive terms most of the time.

Fun Fact: Kenyatta is the great uncle of the guitarist for Rage Against The Machine (Tom Morello).