Kenya’s first President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta had many skills and talents. What many people didn’t know is that the founding father actually starred in a movie as an actor.
Mzee Jomo Kenyatta featured in “Sanders of the River” in 1935 as a powerful tribal chief.
However, Jomo Kenyatta kept silent on his role in the movie for some personal reason.
The movie’s intended purpose was to help the world understand and respect the African people’s culture and their meaning.
However, the movie never achieved this purpose but it managed to achieve its financial purpose and praise for the white men.
The movie was to portray African people positively in the traditional setting. Videos of locals dancing and getting involved in traditional ceremonies were shot.
Unfortunately, during the editing of the movie, the message was changed praising a small group of white men for their courage and efficiency in colonising Africans.
This angered Mzee Jomo Kenyatta who distanced himself from the movie and never wanted to mention it to anyone.
Kenyatta’s friend who had persuaded him to take up the role in the movie, Paul Robeson, an African American actor was also left speechless when the movie was released.
He got mad that he tried buying all the copies sold from the market to prevent the movie from spreading but it was all in vain.