When ‘ghosts’ haunted Kenya’s first President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta out of State House

By KENNETH KWAMA

Home is where your clothes are, or so the saying goes, but this was not the case for Kenya’s first President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and State House Nairobi, where he kept a few clothes but never spent a night for fear of ghosts.

Unlike his father, President Uhuru Kenyatta operates from State House, Nairobi. The older Kenyatta often complained of hearing frogs “croaking the whole night” but Uhuru has never complained (at least not publicly) of ghosts or other strange happenings at the country’s residence of power.

 Over the entire 14 years of his presidency, Kenyatta’s only documented night at State House was in January 1969, after the suspicious death of then Attorney General Argwings Kodhek.

Kenyatta had to make an abrupt return to Nairobi from Mombasa where he often spent his holidays. Those who knew him say he never slept a wink that night. One of his closest associates, Duncan Ndegwa, later revealed that Kenyatta would not sleep at State House because he said there were ghosts of white people and frogs that croaked the whole night. Kenyatta interpreted this to mean that the white settlers whom he had helped to evict from the seat of power were telling him he had no business being there.

Gatundu residence

 For this reason, Kenyatta preferred his ancestral home in Gatundu from where he would make the 50km journey to Nairobi every morning to perform his stately duties.

East African Standard captured Kenyatta’s preference for his Gatundu home in a story that was published on July 12, 1973 under the headline President Moves to Gatundu.

The paper reported that Kenyatta would move to Gatundu after winding up a one-month busy tour of Rift Valley Province.

“In the Rift Valley, the President performed many State functions, and laid the foundation stones of many projects. These functions included the laying of the foundation stone for a wheat silo, the opening of an African-owned hotel in Nakuru and handing over shambas to the needy in Molo area,” reported the paper.

From Nakuru, Kenyatta drove past Nairobi and spent the night in Gatundu. According to past reports, Mzee loathed State House Nairobi to the extent that during the crisis brought about by the assassination of Tom Mboya in July 1969, Kenyatta held an emergency Cabinet meeting under a mango tree at his Gatundu residence.

Unlike his father, Uhuru has stuck to State House Nairobi from where he performs most of his functions. Although he has hosted a Cabinet meeting there, the most memorable events have been the unveiling of new Cabinet and Principal Secretaries.