Pan-Africanism in Kenya

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Jomo Kenyatta, first leader of the Kenyan Republic, and important face of pan-Africa. Jomo Kenyatta 1966-06-15.jpg
Jomo Kenyatta, first leader of the Kenyan Republic, and important face of pan-Africa.

Pan-Africanism is a cultural and political ideology calling for the unification of the various African communities and their diasporadic counterparts for the purpose of empowering each other. [1] The heights of the movement is primarily characterized in the west by the black nationalist struggles of Marcus Garvey, and the push for greater self determination by W.E.B Du Bois during the early twentieth century. The literature is much vaster once one leaves the western world and enters the African continent, where one can find a consistent effort in much of the territory to unify themselves against the common enemy of Imperialism. [1] Pan-Africanism's influence can be characterized through its contributions to art, media, and politics.

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Pan-Africanism‌ ‌in‌ ‌Kenya‌ ‌before‌ ‌Jomo‌ ‌Kenyatta‌

Harry Thuku was a prominent speaker born in the Kikuyu region whose prominence can be traced all the way back to the 1910s. He worked with Ugandans and other Africans to expand their strength and expose the unfair economic and social conditions levied onto them by Britain. [2] Harry Thuku proved himself a pioneer of pushing for African-Asian alliances with his positions on Indian migration within the still colonial Kenyan. [2]

Jomo Kenyatta

Here, in the African political realm, one is introduced to famous fathers of Pan-Africanism like Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, and Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria. [3] These pioneers would push Pan-Africa well into the 1960s while sparking a whole generation of new cultural and political movements along the way....

Amongst the famous persons is Jomo Kenyatta, who would spearhead Kenya into independence and the nation's first experiment with democracy. Despite Pan-Africanism in Kenya, dating back to the 1920s with Harry Thuku, it would be Kenyatta who would actualize the movement's real potential in Kenya. Pan-Africanism cannot be studied in Kenya without realizing Jomo Kenyatta's dream for Kenya's role in leading the African world. [4]

Jomo Kenyatta's role in bringing Kenyan independence

Jomo Kenyatta, born Kamau Ngeni, was born in the Gatundu Division of Kiambu in 1889 to the Kikuyu tribe. [4] Kenyatta was introduced to Kenyan politics by way of his occupation at the Nairobi City Council from 1921 to 1926. [4] In 1925, he was elected as a representative of the Kikuyu region when they were dealing with land problems created by the Hilton Young Commission. [4]

In 1928, he helped publish the Muigwithania, meaning “the reconciler”, which was used secondarily to promote Kikuyu culture, but the newspaper pushed the idea of the “common good” and focused on reconciling the differences between the tribes; this Pan-African ethnic would later translate into his political career following independence. [5] For most of the 1930s, Kenyatta would spend some time in England, studying economics, petitioning African grievances to parliament, and teaching the indigenous language. [5]

In 1945, Jomo Kenyatta took part in the Pan-African Fifth Congress where he would become introduced to other prominent Pan-Africanists like Kwame Nkrumah. [6] Following his return to the Kikuyu region in 1946, he would demonstrate his commitment to Pan-Africanism with his third marriage. He believed in breaking down tribal barriers and believed polygamy could gain him political power.

Kenyatta's Pan-African philosophies

Kenyatta's philosophy on Pan-Africanism followed two traditions, that of the elder tradition and that of the warrior tradition. [4]

Elder tradition

The Elder tradition took politics from the bureaucratic model implanted into colonies back to the “heavily paternalistic” roots that characterized precolonial African politics. He believed that eliminating all vestiges of the tribe would be impossible and could possibly result in a rejection of his authority by the political elites. This translated into his prime minister administration as not just an executive figurehead that works with the Kenyan Parliament, but a father figure of the greater “tribe” of Kenya. This involved withdrawing “from involvement in the affairs of the nation and dominate the scene from a godlike position in the background”. [4] This all culminated in a Pan-Africa that could transition into nation-statehood with ease by relying upon symbols familiar to more traditional political structures.

Warrior tradition

The warrior tradition complimented and supplemented the Elder tradition insofar as both traditions aimed at suppressing the influence of western structures that was implanted during colonization, but also moved with a familiarity of preexisting political symbols and cultures. This tradition is one of active militant aggression that characterize the political culture of African politics. This tradition predates Kenyatta as scholars believe that “early-armed challenges by Africans against colonial rule as the very origins of modern nationalism in the continent”. [4] Kenyatta injected this idea into the Kenyan political sphere when handling the Mau Mau soldiers and transforming them from a renegade militia to protectors of the “Elder”. This tradition is characterized by a strong Pan-African ethic of self reliance that can be seen even into modern day Kenyan politics.

Jomo Kenyatta's legacy as a father of Pan-Africanism

Kenyatta was a father of Pan-Africa, but he stood out greatly from his peers. He would more accurately be characterized as a conservative Pan-African. He greatly relied upon ancestral and traditional symbols to rally, consolidate, and mobilize the Kenyan population. He kept much of the bureaucratic models of governance that existed and utilized the aforementioned symbols to give his political regimes legitimacy. His leadership of Kenya would serve as a symbolic chiefdom to the point that his son currently holds the mantle as his successor in the political sphere. [7] Furthermore, while his regime would become characterized as authoritarian in nature, the economy was left relatively free. [8] Kenya remained a mostly capitalist nation, which was controversial at the time in the African world.

In contrast to most of his contemporaries, he desired to maintain individual politics within a Pan-African spirit, rather than a political union. Kenyatta heavily disagreed with his contemporary Kwame Nkrumah, who believed that a unified Africa must extend to the political realm by way of political assimilation into a Marxist regime. [9] Kenyatta never disagreed with Nkrumah's desire for an anti-imperialist Africa, but understood that there was a latent difficulty in creating unity through nationhood after spending most of his life trying to instill this idea into Kenyan community. Creating unity through continental nation hood would be an undertaking that might be an impossibility.

Recent Pan-African Congress and its implications

Pan-Africa in Kenya has been mostly felt through the population's loyalty to the state and the constant push against tribalism, especially amongst the younger generation. [10] There is an increasingly political dialogue occurring in the international world. The recent Pan-African congress that was held in Ghana spent much of its time chastising Kenya for its unwillingness to cooperate with the "road map unanimously adopted at the emergency meeting of the Governing Council (GC) and International Preparatory Committee (IPC)". [11] The road map includes a three step process of integrating the African nations into one African state and integrating the diasporadic African peoples into it. Kenya still remains one of the Pan-African centers of the world, but their desire to remain sovereign has limited aspirations of a politically united Pan-Africa. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Kenya</span>

A part of Eastern Africa, the territory of what is known as Kenya has seen human habitation since the beginning of the Lower Paleolithic. The Bantu expansion from a West African centre of dispersal reached the area by the 1st millennium AD. With the borders of the modern state at the crossroads of the Bantu, Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic ethno-linguistic areas of Africa, Kenya is a multi-ethnic state. The Wanga Kingdom was formally established in the late 17th century. The Kingdom covered from the Jinja in Uganda to Naivasha in the East of Kenya. This is the first time the Wanga people and Luhya tribe were united and led by a centralized leader, a king, known as the Nabongo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwame Nkrumah</span> Ghanaian politician (1909–1972)

Francis Kwame Nkrumah was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained independence from Britain. He was then the first Prime Minister and then the President of Ghana, from 1957 until 1966. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya African National Union</span> Political party in Kenya

The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 1944 but due to pressure from the colonial government, KAU changed its name to Kenya African Study Union (KASU) mainly because all political parties were banned in 1939 following the start of the Second World War. In 1946 KASU rebranded itself into KAU following the resignation of Harry Thuku as president due to internal differences between the moderates who wanted peaceful negotiations and the militants who wanted to use force, the latter forming the Aanake a forty, which later became the Mau Mau. His post was then occupied by James Gichuru, who stepped down for Jomo Kenyatta in 1947 as president of KAU. The KAU was banned by the colonial government from 1952 to 1960. It was re-established by James Gichuru in 1960 and renamed KANU on 14 May 1960 after a merger with Tom Mboya's Kenya Independence Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jomo Kenyatta</span> President of Kenya from 1964 to 1978

Jomo Kenyatta was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He played a significant role in the transformation of Kenya from a colony of the British Empire into an independent republic. Ideologically an African nationalist and a conservative, he led the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party from 1961 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kikuyu people</span> Ethnic group in Kenya

The Kikuyu are a Bantu ethnic group native to East Africa Central Kenya. At a population of 8,148,668 as of 2019, they account for 17.13% of the total population of Kenya, making them Kenya's largest ethnic group.

The Kikuyu Central Association (KCA), led by James Beauttah and Joseph Kang'ethe, was a political organisation in colonial Kenya formed in 1924 to act on behalf of the Gĩkũyũ community by presenting their concerns to the British government. One of its greatest grievances was the expropriation of the most productive land by British settlers from African farmers. Most members of the organisation were from the Gĩkũyũ tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya African Union</span> Political organization

The Kenya African Union (KAU) was a political organization in colonial Kenya, formed in October 1944 prior to the appointment of the first African to sit in the Legislative Council. In 1960 it became the current Kenya African National Union (KANU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan-Africanism</span> Movement to encourage and strengthen bonds between people of African ancestry

Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement extends beyond continental Africans with a substantial support base among the African diaspora in the Americas and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Mboya</span> Kenyan politician and independence activist (1930–1969)

Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya was a Kenyan trade unionist, educator, Pan-Africanist, author, independence activist, and statesman. He was one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Kenya. He led the negotiations for independence at the Lancaster House Conferences and was instrumental in the formation of Kenya's independence party – the Kenya African National Union (KANU) – where he served as its first Secretary-General. He laid the foundation for Kenya's capitalist and mixed economy policies at the height of the Cold War and set up several of the country's key labour institutions. Mboya was Minister for Economic Planning and Development when he was assassinated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Arthur (missionary)</span>

John William Arthur was a medical missionary and Church of Scotland minister who served in British East Africa (Kenya) from 1907 to 1937. He was known simply as Doctor Arthur to generations of Africans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Thuku</span> Kenyan politician (1895-1970)

Harry Thuku was a Kenyan born in Kiambu, Mitahato village. As a politician, he was one of the pioneers in the development of modern African nationalism in Kenya. He helped found the Young Kikuyu Association and the East African Association before being arrested and exiled from 1922 to 1931. In 1932 he became President of the Kikuyu Central Association, in 1935 founded the Kikuyu Provincial Association, and in 1944 founded the Kenya African Study Union. Opposed to the Mau Mau movement, he later retired to coffee-farming.

The earliest account of Nairobi's history dates back to 1899 when a railway depot was built in a brackish African swamp occupied by a pastoralist people, the Maasai, the sedentary Akamba people, as well as the agriculturalist Kikuyu people who were all displaced by the colonialists. The railway complex and the building around it rapidly expanded and urbanized until it became the largest city of Kenya and the country's capital. The name Nairobi comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to 'the place of cool waters'. However, Nairobi is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun".

Peter Mbiyu Koinange was a politician from Kenya. He served in the government and cabinet of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, for 16 years. During this time, he held the post of member of parliament for the Kiambaa Constituency and the portfolios of Minister of State for Education, External Affairs, Pan-African Affairs, as well as Minister of State in the Office of the President.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign against female genital mutilation in colonial Kenya</span>

The campaign against female genital mutilation in colonial Kenya (1929–1932), also known as the female circumcision controversy, was a period within Kenyan historiography known for efforts by British missionaries, particularly from the Church of Scotland, to stop the practice of female genital mutilation in colonial Kenya. The campaign was met with resistance by the Kikuyu, the country's largest tribe. According to American historian Lynn M. Thomas, female genital mutilation became a focal point of the movement campaigning for independence from British rule, and a test of loyalty, either to the Christian churches or to the Kikuyu Central Association, the largest association of the Kikuyu people.

T. Ras Makonnen was a Guyanese-born Pan-African activist of Ethiopian descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenyatta family</span> Family of Jomo Kenyatta

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Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru was a Kikuyu woman and a Kenyan political activist remembered for leading the protest after the arrest of Harry Thuku, that resulted in her death. Muthoni Nyanjiru was born in Weithaga, Murang'a, Kenya, although her date or year of birth are not recorded. At the time she was shot and killed in 1922, she had been living in Nairobi with her stepdaughter, Elizabeth Waruiru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of Jomo Kenyatta</span> First President of Kenya from 1964 to 1978

The presidency of Jomo Kenyatta began on 12 December 1964, when Jomo Kenyatta was named as the 1st president of Kenya, and ended on 22 August 1978 upon his death. Jomo Kenyatta, a KANU member, took office following the formation of the republic of Kenya after independence following his efforts during the fight for Independence. Four years later, in the 1969 elections, he was the sole candidate and was elected unopposed for a second term in office. In 1974, he was re-elected for a third term. Although the post of President of Kenya was due to be elected at the same time as the National Assembly, Jomo Kenyatta was the sole candidate and was automatically elected without a vote being held. He died on 22 August 1978 while still in office and was succeeded by Daniel arap Moi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parmenas Githendu Mockerie</span> Kenyan writer and publisher (1939-)

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References

  1. 1 2 Imanuel, Geiss (Jan 1969). "Pan-Africanism". Journal of Contemporary History. 4 (1): 187–200. doi:10.1177/002200946900400113. JSTOR   259800. S2CID   220873954.
  2. 1 2 Kyle, Keith (1966). "Gandhi, Harry Thuku and Early Kenya Nationalism". Transition. 27 (27): 16–22. doi:10.2307/2934196. JSTOR   2934196.
  3. ↑ Black Past (1962). "(1962) Nnamdi Azikiwe, 'The Future of Pan Africanism'". Black Past.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kenneth O. Nyangena, Nyangena (2003). "Jomo Kenyatta: An Epitome of Indigenous Pan-Africanism, Nationalism and Intellectual Production in Kenya". African Journal of International Affairs. 6: 1–18 – via AJOL.
  5. 1 2 Bruce and John, Berman and Lonsdale (1998). "The Labors of 'Muigwithania': Jomo Kenyatta as Author, 1928–45". Research in African Literatures. 29 (1): 16–42. JSTOR   3820530.
  6. ↑ "Jomo Kenyatta". South African History Online. 2015-07-21. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  7. ↑ Nii, Ntreh (2019-12-12). "Why did Kenya's Kenyatta disagree with Ghana's Nkrumah on Pan-Africanism?". Face2face Africa. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  8. ↑ History.com Editors (2010-07-21). "Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan independence leader, is freed from prison". www.history.com. Retrieved 2020-10-29.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  9. ↑ Tunteng, P. Kiven (1974-01-01). "Kwame Nkrumah and the African Revolution / Kwame Nkrumah et la Revolution Africaine". Civilisations. 23/24: 233–247. JSTOR   41229517.
  10. ↑ Ranta, Eija (2017-11-16). "14: Patronage and Ethnicity amongst Politically Active Young Kenyans". In Oinas, Elina; Onodera, Henri; Suurpaa, Leena (eds.). What Politics?: Youth and Political Engagement in Africa. Brill. pp. 230–245. ISBN   978-90-04-35636-8. JSTOR   10.1163/j.ctvbqs5zx.20 .
  11. ↑ Okoth, Julius (2015-09-02). "Pan Africa Movement-Kenya is a walking lie". www.pambazuka.org.
  12. ↑ Maore, Maoka (2020-04-19). "Kenya as the epicenter of rising Pan-Africanism". The Standard.
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