Jomo Kenyatta a high majority. Odinga was replaced as Vice President by Joseph Murumbi, who in turn would be replaced by Moi. In July 1969, Mboya—a prominent and popular Luo KANU politician—was assassinated by a Kikuyu. Kenyatta had reportedly been concerned that Mboya, with U.S. backing, could remove him from the presidency, and across Kenya there were suspicions voiced that Kenyatta's government was responsible for Mboya's death. The killing sparked riots in Nairobi, and ethnic tensions were stoked across the country. In October 1969, Kenyatta visited Kisumu, located in Luo territory, to open a hospital. On being greeted by a crowd shouting
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