Nomad_Africa_Edition12

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s first cabinet in 1963.
conducted in Swahili, a widely spoken language.
Kenyatta subsequently embarked on a huge
national campaign to sensitise Kenyans on
the importance of getting their own land
back and seeking independence from the
British authorities.
The British authorities began sensing Kenyatta’s
popularity and banned the KAU, triggering
the formidable Mau Mau rebellion –
a result of years of oppressive colonial rule
and much aligned to the dispossession of
rich agricultural lands that were in the hands
of British settlers. However, the rebellion
was eventually quelled at great cost to the
British Government, failing to capture widespread
public support partly due to the
British policy of divide and rule as well as the
protest movement remaining internally divided
despite attempts to unify its various
strands.
The British authorities in Kenya declared a
state of emergency and Kenyatta, together
with other 182 African leaders, was arrested.
Although high-powered attorneys defended
Kenyatta, he was sentenced to 7
years indefinite restriction and hard labour
Kenyatta subsequently embarked on a huge national
campaign to sensitize Kenyans on the importance of
getting their own land back and seeking independence
from the British authorities. The British authorities
began sensing Kenyatta’s popularity and banned the
KAU, triggering the formidable Mau Mau rebellion – a
result of years of oppressive colonial rule and much
aligned to the dispossession of rich agricultural lands
that were in the hands of British settlers.
in 1953, serving his sentence in North Western
Kenya, at Lokitaung. April 14 1959 marked
the day Kenyatta was set free after completing
his sentence, but he was still restricted
by the authorities to the largest town in
northwestern Kenya, Lordwar.
Elections were then held in May 1963, pitting
Kenyatta's KANU (Kenya African National
Union), which advocated for Kenya to be a
unitary state against the KADU (Kenya
African Democratic Union), which advocated
for Kenya to be an ethnic federal
state.
KANU defeated KADU by winning 83 seats
out of 124 and on 1 June 1963, Jomo Kenyatta
became the first Prime Minister of the first
autonomous Kenyan government. However,
after independence, Queen Elizabeth
II still remained as Head of State (after Independence,
styled as Queen of Kenya), represented
by a British Governor-General who
consistently asked white settlers not to leave
Kenya and supported reconciliation. Kenyatta
retained the role of Prime Minister after
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