Jomo Kenyatta a deputy minister; and daughter Margaret Kenyatta (born 1928). Margaret served as mayor of Nairobi between 1970 and 1976 and then as Kenya's ambassador to the United Nations from 1976 to 1986. Grace Wahu died in April 2007. His daughter, Wambui Margaret, became his closest confidante. During his trial, Kenyatta described himself as a Christian, stating that "I do not follow any particular denomination. I believe in Christianity as a whole." Arnold stated that in England, Kenyatta's adherence to Christianity was "desultory". While in London, Kenyatta had taken an interest in the atheist speakers at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park,
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