Jomo Kenyatta not only by Kikuyu and Kenyans, but by Africans more widely. After 1963, Maloba noted, Kenyatta became "about the most admired post-independence African leader" on the world stage, one who Western countries hailed as a "beloved elder statesman." His opinions were "most valued" by both conservative African politicians and Western leaders. On becoming Kenya's leader, his anti-communist positions gained favour in the West, and various pro-Western governments gave him awards; in 1965 he for instance received medals from both Pope Paul VI and the South Korean government. In 1974, Arnold referred to Kenyatta as "one of the outstanding African leaders
Jomo Kenyatta Robeck became the District Officer, after which Kenyatta and the other inmates were treated more leniently. In April 1954, they had been joined by a captured Mau Mau commander, Waruhiu Itote; Kenyatta befriended him, and gave him English lessons. By 1957, the inmates had formed into two rival cliques, with Kenyatta and Itote on one side and the other KAU members—now calling themselves the "National Democratic Party"—on the other. In one incident, one of his rivals made an unsuccessful attempt to stab Kenyatta at breakfast. Kenyatta's health had deteriorated in prison; manacles had caused problems for his feet and he