This archive report was first published on 11 September 2019.
On September 11, 2019, Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa made a surprising revelation about President Uhuru Kenyatta's background during the opening ceremony of the second Arid and semi-arid Lands (ASALs) conference in Amboseli National Park, Kajiado County.
While preparing to read the President's speech, Mr. Wamalwa caused laughter among dignitaries and delegates when he said that President Kenyatta is also a 'pastoralist.'
According to Mr. Wamalwa, the President's status as a pastoralist stems from his conception in Turkana County, where his mother, Mama Ngina, visited his late father, Jomo Kenyatta, who was under house arrest at the time.
Mr. Wamalwa's statement was met with laughter and surprise, but it also sparked interest in the President's family history.
As the story goes, Jomo Kenyatta was one of the Kapenguria Six, who were arrested and charged with masterminding the anti-colonial Mau Mau uprising in 1952. He was later imprisoned at Lokitaung in Turkana until 1959 and then exiled in Lodwar for two years.
It was during his time in Lodwar that Jomo Kenyatta was allowed to be visited by his wife, Mama Ngina, and the rest, as they say, is history.
