The late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was a powerful man in the history of East Africa specifically Kenya. He led Kenya to independence with the support of the Mau Mau fighters led by the late Dedan Kimathi.
Many Kenyans and other East Africans only know Mzee Jomo Kenyatta as the first president of Kenya and the father to the current President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Below are 6 things you probably didn't know about the Late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta:
1. Jomo Kenyatta wasn't the name he was given when he was born. He was born Kamau Wa Ngegi to Muigai and his wife Wambui in Ng'enda village in Gatundu. However, when his father died, he was adopted by his uncle Ngengi, hence the name Kamau Wa Ngengi.
2. When he was only 10, he left home to become a resident pupil at the Church of Scotland mission in Thogoto where he studied the Bible, English and Mathematics. To earn money for his school fees, he worked as a houseboy and a cook for a white settler. He also studied carpentry and in 1912, he graduated at a carpenter.
3. In 1914, he was baptized in the Church of Scotland and named John Peter Kamau. He was, however, not impressed by the name and swiftly changed it to Johnson Kamau. In 1922, he adopted the name Jomo Kenyatta where 'Jomo' means 'burning spear' and 'Kenyatta' means a Masai belt made of beads.
4. Jomo Kenyatta was an extra in the movie ‘Sanders of the river’. In this movie, Mzee acted as a tribal chief.
5. Jomo Kenyatta married four times. He married Grace Wahu in 1919, Edna Clark in 1942, Grace Wanjiku in 1946 and Ngina Muhoho the mother to Uhuru Kenyatta in 1951.
6. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta served three terms as the president of the Republic of Kenya. However, he passed on during his third term in August 1978.