Jomo Kenyatta (redirected from Jomo Kenyata)

Kenyatta, Jomo 

Born c. 1893, in the small town of Ichaweri, Kenya. Kenyan statesman and politician. Member of the Kikuyu tribe.

Kenyatta graduated from a mission primary school. He entered politics in the early 1920’s and several years later was elected general secretary of the Kikuyu Central Association, one of the first Kenyan political organizations. Between 1931 and 1946 he studied and worked in Great Britain. On returning to Kenya he became active in the national liberation movement. In 1947 he headed the Kenya African Union. In 1952 he was arrested by the English colonial authorities on the charge of having organized and led the Mau Mau, a religious and political movement, and was sentenced to a seven-year imprisonment. After completing his sentence, he was exiled to northern Kenya. In 1960, while still in exile, he was elected president of the Kenya African National Union. Returning from exile in 1961, he served as prime minister of the first national government of Kenya from June to December 1963. Upon Kenya’s independence in December 1963, he became prime minister, and he has served as president of Kenya since its proclamation as a republic in December 1964. Kenyatta is the author of several works denouncing English colonial policy in Kenya.