It was ruled as a de-facto single-party state by the Kenya African National Union ( KANU ), a Kikuyu-Luo alliance led by Jomo Kenyatta during 1963 to 1978.

Kenyatta denied he was a leader of the Mau Mau but was convicted at trial and was sent to prison in 1953, gaining his freedom in 1961.

Kenyatta was finally released in August and became president of KANU in October.

In 1962 a KANU-KADU coalition government, including both Kenyatta and Ngala, was formed.

In June 1969 Tom Mboya, a Luo member of the government considered a potential successor to Kenyatta, was assassinated.

Kenyatta died in 1978 and was succeeded by Daniel Arap Moi ( b. 1924 ) who ruled as President 1978-2002.

Burning Spear was originally Rodney's group, named after a military award given by Jomo Kenyatta, the first Prime Minister and President of an independent Kenya, and including bass singer Rupert Willington.

Previously, under President Jomo Kenyatta, he was Vice-President from 1967 to 1978 ; he succeeded Kenyatta as President upon the latter's death.

Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as " Nyayo ", a Swahili word for " footsteps ", as he was said to be following the footsteps of the first Kenyan President, Jomo Kenyatta.

However, political realities dictated that he would continue to be beholden to the Kenyatta system which he had inherited intact, and he was still too weak to consolidate his power.

Mwai Kibaki, was elected President by a two to one majority over Kenyatta, which was confirmed on 29 December 2002.

KADU's aim was to defend the interests of the tribes so-called KAMATUSA ( an acronym for Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu ), against the dominance of the larger Luo ( Kenya ) and Kĩkũyũ tribes that comprised the majority of KANU's membership ( Kenyatta himself being a Kĩkũyũ ).

All these officials are elected at a national delegates conference ( The last full election was in 2005 and it saw Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed as party chairman ).

The structure is an alteration of the original, which saw party delegates elect a single vice chairperson, in a move that was seen as a move to ostracise the then vice chairman, Oginga Odinga, by politicians allied to Jomo Kenyatta and Tom Mboya.

When Daniel arap Moi succeeded Jomo Kenyatta as President of Kenya in 1978, Kibaki was elevated to Vice Presidency, and kept the Finance portfolio until Moi changed his ministerial portfolio from Finance to Home Affairs in 1982.

Kenya is also much more democratic and freer in the Kibaki era than it was during the Kenyatta and Moi eras.

Jomo Kenyatta was born Kamau wa Ngengi to parents Ngengi wa Muigai and Wambui in the village of Gatundu, in British East Africa ( now Kenya ), a member of the Kikuyu.

The name " Jomo " is translated in English to " Burning Spear ", while the name " Kenyatta " was said to be a reference to the beaded Masai belt he wore, and later to " the Light of Kenya ".

During this period, Kenyatta was an active member of a group of African, Caribbean and American intellectuals who included Dudley Thompson, George Padmore, C. L. R.

She was popularly referred to as Mama Ngina and was independent Kenya's First Lady, when Kenyatta was elected President.

* 1953 – Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by Kenya's British rulers.

Notably, Carolina DE Kavika Pittman essentially had his career ended after getting leveled by a block from Buccaneers T Kenyatta Walker in 2003.

Jomo Kenyatta airport is served by a single Runway 06 / 24.

In 1960 he founded the Kenya African Democratic Union ( KADU ) with Ronald Ngala to challenge the Kenya African National Union ( KANU ) led by Jomo Kenyatta.

With an eye on the fertile lands of the rift valley populated by members of Moi's Kalenjin tribe, Kenyatta secured their support by first promoting Moi to Minister for Home Affairs in 1964, and then to vice-president in 1967.

A group of disappointed KANU presidential aspirants then quit KANU in protest after being overlooked by outgoing President Moi when Moi had founding Father Jomo Kenyatta's son, Uhuru Kenyatta, nominated to be the KANU presidential candidate, and hurriedly formed the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP ).

Three days later, after a protracted count which saw presidential results in Kibaki's Central Kenya come in last, allegedly inflated, in a cloud of suspicion and rising tensions, amid vehement protests by Raila's ODM, overnight re-tallying of results and chaotic scenes, all beamed live on TV, at the national tallying center at the Kenyatta International Conference Center in Nairobi, riot police eventually sealed off the tallying Center ahead of the result announcement, evicted party agents, observers and the media, and moved the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Samuel Kivuitu, to another room where Kivuitu went on to declare Kibaki the winner by 4, 584, 721 votes to Odinga's 4, 352, 993, placing Kibaki ahead of Odinga by about 232, 000 votes in the hotly contested election with Kalonzo Musyoka a distant third.

Kenyatta acted as an extra in the film Sanders of the River ( 1934 ), directed by Alexander Korda and starring Paul Robeson.

On 1 June 1963, Kenyatta became prime minister of the autonomous Kenyan government, with Queen Elizabeth II remaining as Head of State ( after Independence, styled as Queen of Kenya ), represented by a Governor-General.

In the 1969 elections, Kenyatta banned the only other party, KPU ( formed and led by his former vice president, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who had been forced to quit KANU along with his left leaning allies ), detained its leaders, and called elections in which only KANU was allowed to participate.

Kenyatta has further been criticised for encouraging the culture of wealth accumulation by public officials using the power and influence of their offices, thereby deeply entrenching corruption in Kenya.

* Speech by Kenyatta at the Kenya African Union Meeting at Nyeri, 26 July 1952

* Kenya: Kenyatta launched a " willing buyer-willing seller " based land reform program in the 1960s, funded by Britain, the former colonial power.

* Pass the Torch ( Tafari Records ) ( 2007 ) ( Seven versions of old tunes by Joseph Hill, and seven tunes by his son Kenyatta Hill )

It steered Kenya to side with the west during the cold war, with both Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi using apparent links to the Soviet Union as pretexts to crush political dissent.

Nominated to Parliament in 2001, he became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favored by President Moi as his successor ; Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a large margin.

Robert Ouko served in the government of Kenya from the colonial period through the presidencies of Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi.

In 1980, a portrait of Daniel arap Moi replaced Kenyatta until 2005, when the central bank introduced a new coin series that restored the portrait of Kenyatta.

As with the coins, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta appeared on the banknotes issued until 1978, with Daniel arap Moi's portrait replacing him in 1980.

The first and second presidents of Kenya maintained their semi-official residents within the town, Jomo Kenyatta, and Daniel arap Moi.

In 1985 the university college was incorporated by the then-president Daniel arap Moi and was renamed Kenyatta University.