Kenyatta family Kenyatta family The Kenyatta family is the family of Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya and a prominent independence leader. Born into the dominant Kikuyu culture, Kenyatta became its most famous interpreter of Kikuyu traditions through his book "Facing Mount Kenya". Born Kamau Wa Ngengi at Ng'enda village, Gatundu Division, Kiambu to Muigai and Wambui, Jomo Kenyatta served as the first Prime Minister (1963–1964) and President (1964–1978) of Kenya. His date of birth, sometime in the early to mid 1890s, is unclear. In 1914, he was baptized a Christian and given the name John Peter which he changed to
Jomo Kenyatta insisted that it was necessary; in a March 1961 speech, he described Kenyatta an "African leader to darkness and death" and stated that if he were released, violence would erupt. This indefinite detention was widely interpreted internationally as a reflection of the cruelties of British imperialism. Calls for his release came from the Chinese government, India's Nehru, and Tanganyika's Prime Minister Julius Nyerere. Ghana's President Nkrumah personally raised the issue with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and other UK officials, with the Ghanaian government offering Kenyatta asylum in the event of his release. Resolutions calling for his release were produced