Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. He died on August 22nd, 1978. [Photo: kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com]
Today marks exactly 39 years since the first president of this country Mzee Jomo Kenyatta passed away in 1978.
Mzee Jomo Kenyatta is always remembered as a charismatic leader who exuded with gallantry and effective leadership skills. An elite in the days when illiteracy was bliss, Mzee was also an accomplished author having penned the book ‘Facing Mount Kenya’ in which he lauded the Kikuyu community and went on to explain their different cultures and beliefs.
Kenyatta rose to power in 1963 when the British Colonial Government handed over independence to Kenya. Kenyatta led the country for 15 years before his death.
His immediate Vice President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi was to take over and lead the country for 24 years before handing it to Mwai Kibaki who passed the mantle to Uhuru Kenyatta, Mzee’s son in 2013.
The current president Uhuru Kenyatta has been quoted saying that his father was a family man who always grounded them by rearing them in the Ichaweri rural village as opposed to life in the palatial State House in Nairobi.
Mzee is survived by his youngest wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta and her sons and daughters.