Kenyan diaspora: Their money is welcome but ideas are resisted

Economic lifeline abroad, but political distance at home. [File]

 In the 1940s and 50s, across Africa, men such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia were sent to the West. Often in borrowed attire, they carried the aspirations of villages and entire countries, convinced that higher learning could help secure freedom.

 In Kenya, Tom Mboya advanced this vision. Through his airlifts in the early 1960s, he enabled Wangari Maathai, Barack Obama Sr, Zackary Onyonka, Gikonyo Kiano and hundreds more to study in American universities. His aim was precise: equip Kenya with the intellectual capital needed for self-governance after independence. Many returned to serve the young nation, shaping its early institutions.