[Mama Ng’ina Kenyatta in a past event. She is said to have been a key player during Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s rule. Photo/Nation]
Detailed accounts on how President Jomo Kenyatta managed to govern the country despite his old age have now resurfaced in the latest memoir ‘Memories from the Beat’ by a veteran journalist.
With a young nation at his hands and a host of tribes to satisfy, Kenyatta is said to have relied heavily on his close friends among them Dr. Njoroge Mungai for advise during the time of need.
But according to former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, Mzee Kenyatta is said to have relied heavily on his young wife Mama Ng’ina Kenyatta for advice.
“He would never interrupt Mama Ng’ina when she was talking,” recalls journalist Kamau Ngotho in a conversation with Kanda over a decade ago in Abuja.
Kaunda further says: “He attentively listened when Ng’ina was speaking and nodded to assure her he was getting every word of whatever she was saying.”
Kenyatta is said to have also given much time to his young children Uhuru Kenyatta, Muhoho Kenyatta and Nyokabi Kenyatta whom he talk local dialect Kikuyu.
In his earlier episode, Ngotho further says Mama Ng’ina has been playing pivotal roles in his son Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency.