Jomo Kenyatta had little ability to control them. He was increasingly frustrated, and—without the intellectual companionship he experienced in Britain—felt lonely. In October 1952, Kenyatta was arrested and driven to Nairobi, where he was taken aboard a plane and flown to Lokitaung, one of the most remote locations in the country. From there he wrote to his family to let them know of his situation. Kenya's authorities believed that detaining Kenyatta would help quell civil unrest. Many white settlers wanted him exiled, but the government feared this would turn him into a martyr for the anti-colonialist cause. They thought it better that
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