Tom Mboya
Encyclopedia
Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya (August 15, 1930 – July 5, 1969) was a prominent Kenya
n politician during Jomo Kenyatta
's government. He was founder of the Nairobi People's Congress Party, a key figure in the formation of the Kenya African National Union
(KANU), and the Minister of Economic Planning and Development at the time of his death. Mboya was assassinated
on July 5, 1969 in Nairobi
.
town in what was called the White Highlands
of Kenya.
. In 1946, he went to the Holy Ghost College (later Mang'u High School
), where he passed well enough to proceed to do his Cambridge School Certificate. In 1948, Mboya joined the Royal Sanitary Institute's Medical Training School for Sanitary Inspectors at Nairobi, qualifying as an inspector in 1950. In 1955 he received a scholarship from Britain
's Trades Union Congress
to attend Ruskin College, Oxford
, where he studied industrial management. Upon his graduation in 1956, he returned to Kenya and joined politics at a time when the British government was gaining control over the Kenya Land Freedom Army Mau Mau uprising.
City Council as a sanitary inspector in 1950. A year after joining African Staff Association, he was elected its president and immediately embarked at molding the association into a trade union
named the Kenya Local Government Workers Union. This made his employer suspicious, but before they could sack him, he resigned. However, he was able to continue working for the Kenya Labour Workers Union as secretary-general before embarking on his studies in Britain. Upon returning from Britain, he contested and won a seat against incumbent C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek. In 1957, he became dissatisfied with the low number of African leaders (only eight out of fifty at the time) in the Legislative council and decided to form his own party, the People's Congress Party.
At that time, Mboya developed a close relationship with Kwame Nkrumah
of Ghana
who, like Mboya, was a Pan-Africanist. In 1958, during the All-African Peoples' Conference
in Ghana
, convened by Kwame Nkurumah, Mboya was elected as the Conference Chairman at the age of 28.
In 1959 Mboya organized the Airlift Africa project, together with the African-American Students Foundation in the United States, through which 81 Kenyan students were flown to the U.S. to study at U.S. universities. Barack Obama
's father, Barack Obama, Sr.
, was a friend of Mboya's and a fellow Luo
; although he was not on the first airlift plane in 1959, since he was headed for Hawaii
, not the continental U.S., he received a scholarship through the AASF and occasional grants for books and expenses. In 1960 the Kennedy Foundation agreed to underwrite the airlift, after Mboya visited Senator Jack Kennedy to ask for assistance, and Airlift Africa was extended to Uganda
, Tanganyika
and Zanzibar
(now Tanzania), Northern Rhodesia
(now Zambia), Southern Rhodesia
(now Zimbabwe), and Nyasaland
(now Malawi). Some 230 African students received scholarships to study at Class I accredited colleges in the United States in 1960, and hundreds more in 1961-63.
In 1960, Mboya's People's Congress Party joined with Kenya African Union
and Kenya Independent Movement to form the Kenya African National Union
(KANU) in an attempt to form a party that would both transcend tribal politics and prepare for participation in the Lancaster House Conference
(held at Lancaster House
in London
) where Kenya's constitutional framework and independence were to be negotiated. As Secretary General of KANU, Mboya headed the Kenyan delegation.
After Kenya's independence in 1963, Mboya was elected as an MP
for Nairobi Central Constituency (today: Kamukunji Constituency
) and became Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and later Minister for Economic Planning and Development. In this role, he wrote the important "Sessional Paper 10" on Harambee
and the Principles of African Socialism (adopted by Parliament in 1964), which provided a model of government based on African values.
after visiting a pharmacy . Nahashon Isaac Njenga Njoroge was convicted for the murder and later hanged
. After his arrest, Njoroge asked: "Why don't you go after the big man
?. Who he meant by "the big man" was never divulged, but fed conspiracy theories since Mboya was seen as a possible contender for the presidency. The mostly tribal elite around Kenyatta has been blamed for his death, which has never been subject of a judicial inquiry. During Mboya's burial, a mass demonstration against the attendance of President Jomo Kenyatta led to a big skirmish, with two people shot dead. The demonstrators believed that Kenyatta was involved in the death of Mboya, thus eliminating him as a threat to his political career although this is still a disputed matter.
Mboya left a wife and five children. He is buried in a mausoleum
located in Rusinga Island
which was built in 1970.. A street in Nairobi is named after him.
Mboya's role in Kenya's politics and transformation is the subject of increasing interest, especially with the coming into scene of American politician Barack Obama, Jr.
Obama's father, Barack Obama, Sr.
, was a US-educated Kenyan who benefited from Mboya's scholarship programme in the 60s, and married during his stay there, siring the future Illinois
Senator and President. Obama Sr. had seen Mboya shortly before the assassination, and testified at the ensuing trial. Obama Sr. believed he was later targeted in a hit-and-run incident as a result of this testimony.
plantation in Kilima Mbogo . Mboya married Pamela Mboya in 1962 (herself a daughter of the politician Walter Odede). They had five children, including daughters Maureen Odero, a high court judge in Mombasa
, and Susan Mboya, a Coca-Cola
executive who continues the education airlift program initiated by Tom Mboya. Their sons are Luke and twin brothers Peter (died in 2004 in a motorcycle accident) and Patrick (died aged four). After Tom's death, Pamela had one child, Tom Mboya Jr., with Alphonse Okuku, the brother of Tom Mboya. Pamela died of an illness in January 2009 while seeking treatment in South Africa
.
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n politician during Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyattapron.] served as the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation....
's government. He was founder of the Nairobi People's Congress Party, a key figure in the formation of the Kenya African National Union
Kenya African National Union
The Kenya African National Union, better known as KANU is a political party which ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years after its independence from British colonial rule in 1963, until its electoral loss at the end of 2002...
(KANU), and the Minister of Economic Planning and Development at the time of his death. Mboya was assassinated
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
on July 5, 1969 in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
.
Biography
Thomas Odhiambo Mboya was born on August 15, 1930 in Kilima Mbogo, near ThikaThika
Thika is an industrial town in Central Province, Kenya, lying on the A2 road 40 km north east of Nairobi, near the confluence of Thika River & Chania River. Thika has a population of 200,000and is growing rapidly, as is the entire greater Nairobi area...
town in what was called the White Highlands
White Highlands
The term White Highlands describes an area in the central uplands of Kenya, so-called because, during the period of British Colonialism, white immigrants settled there in considerable numbers. The main motivation was to take advantage of the good soils and growing conditions, as well as the cool...
of Kenya.
Education
Mboya was educated at various Catholic mission schools. In 1942, he joined a Catholic Secondary School in Yala, in Nyanza province, St. Mary's School YalaSt. Mary's School Yala
St. Mary’s School Yala is a provincial school for boys situated along the Kisumu-Busia highway in Yala Township in the Nyanza Province of Western Kenya....
. In 1946, he went to the Holy Ghost College (later Mang'u High School
Mang'u High School
Mang'u High School is a national high school established in 1925, located near Thika, Kenya.-History:The school was started in 1925 by a Dutch priest, Father Witte, C.S.Sp. at Kabaa. In 1939, the school was moved to a new site at Mang'u Village on 22 acres of land and because of accessibility it...
), where he passed well enough to proceed to do his Cambridge School Certificate. In 1948, Mboya joined the Royal Sanitary Institute's Medical Training School for Sanitary Inspectors at Nairobi, qualifying as an inspector in 1950. In 1955 he received a scholarship from Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's Trades Union Congress
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
to attend Ruskin College, Oxford
Ruskin College, Oxford
Ruskin College is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is named after the essayist and social critic John Ruskin and specialises in providing educational opportunities for adults with few or no qualifications...
, where he studied industrial management. Upon his graduation in 1956, he returned to Kenya and joined politics at a time when the British government was gaining control over the Kenya Land Freedom Army Mau Mau uprising.
Political life
Mboya's political life started immediately after he was employed at NairobiNairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
City Council as a sanitary inspector in 1950. A year after joining African Staff Association, he was elected its president and immediately embarked at molding the association into a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
named the Kenya Local Government Workers Union. This made his employer suspicious, but before they could sack him, he resigned. However, he was able to continue working for the Kenya Labour Workers Union as secretary-general before embarking on his studies in Britain. Upon returning from Britain, he contested and won a seat against incumbent C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek. In 1957, he became dissatisfied with the low number of African leaders (only eight out of fifty at the time) in the Legislative council and decided to form his own party, the People's Congress Party.
- On the low number of African leaders, it is of interest to note that history has now indicated that Argwings-Kodhek's death earlier in the same year, attributed to a road accident, may not have been such. An exhumation of the body of C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek, who was later to become a powerful minister in the Kenyatta cabinet and a close confidant of Kenyatta's, suggested that his death was actually the result of a gunshot fired from a police-issued rifle. Many close to the family actually believe that this was President Kenyatta's first political assassination. Closely held family records indicate that former cabinet minister Paul NgeiPaul NgeiThe Honourable Paul Joseph Ngei was a Kenyan politician who was imprisoned for his role in the anti-colonial movement, but who went on to hold several government ministerial positions after Kenya became independent....
actually identified the police vehicle that carried the assassins to the ambush point on Hurlingham Road (now Argwings-Kodhek Road). The vehicle in question was part of Vice-President Moi's Vice-Presidential Escort detail. The testimony of former cabinet minister Andrew Omanga, then C.M.G.'s Permanent Secretary indicate that when Omanga met him lying in the road shortly after the 'accident' C.M.G. stated that he had a 'shock' and that he heard a 'gun shot'. Formerly powerful Attorney-General Charles NjonjoCharles NjonjoCharles Mugane Njonjo is a former Kenyan Attorney General , and Minister for Constitutional Affairs .- Biography :...
confirmed as C.M.G. lay dying the next morning that the 'wounds are consistent with gun shot wounds'. It is commonly known that Kenyatta, frustrated with Oginga Odinga, had already notified Argwings-Kodhek that he was going to be appointed Vice-President—a position C.M.G. had turned down and suggested that it be given to Moi, instead of Mboya—to become the first AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n to join the colonial Legislative Council.
At that time, Mboya developed a close relationship with Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966. Overseeing the nation's independence from British colonial rule in 1957, Nkrumah was the first President of Ghana and the first Prime Minister of Ghana...
of Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
who, like Mboya, was a Pan-Africanist. In 1958, during the All-African Peoples' Conference
All-African Peoples' Conference
The All-African Peoples' Conference was a conferenceof political parties and other groupsin the late 1950s and early 1960s in Africa.It was attended bydelegates from independence movementsin areas still under European colonial rule,...
in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, convened by Kwame Nkurumah, Mboya was elected as the Conference Chairman at the age of 28.
In 1959 Mboya organized the Airlift Africa project, together with the African-American Students Foundation in the United States, through which 81 Kenyan students were flown to the U.S. to study at U.S. universities. Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's father, Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of U.S. President Barack Obama. He is a central subject in his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father.-Early life:...
, was a friend of Mboya's and a fellow Luo
Luo
Luo may refer to:*Luo , a group of related African ethnic groups.*Luo , a people of Kenya and Tanzania, part of the above named group...
; although he was not on the first airlift plane in 1959, since he was headed for Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, not the continental U.S., he received a scholarship through the AASF and occasional grants for books and expenses. In 1960 the Kennedy Foundation agreed to underwrite the airlift, after Mboya visited Senator Jack Kennedy to ask for assistance, and Airlift Africa was extended to Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
and Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
(now Tanzania), Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
(now Zambia), Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
(now Zimbabwe), and Nyasaland
Nyasaland
Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a British protectorate located in Africa, which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Since 1964, it has been known as Malawi....
(now Malawi). Some 230 African students received scholarships to study at Class I accredited colleges in the United States in 1960, and hundreds more in 1961-63.
In 1960, Mboya's People's Congress Party joined with Kenya African Union
Kenya African Union
Kenya African Union was a political organization formed in 1944to articulate Kenyan grievances against the British colonial administration of the time...
and Kenya Independent Movement to form the Kenya African National Union
Kenya African National Union
The Kenya African National Union, better known as KANU is a political party which ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years after its independence from British colonial rule in 1963, until its electoral loss at the end of 2002...
(KANU) in an attempt to form a party that would both transcend tribal politics and prepare for participation in the Lancaster House Conference
Lancaster House Conferences (Kenya)
The Lancaster House conferences were three meetings in which Kenya's constitutional framework and independence were negotiated.*The first conference was under the chairmanship of Secretary of State for the Colonies Ian Macleod in 1960...
(held at Lancaster House
Lancaster House
Lancaster House is a mansion in the St. James's district in the West End of London. It is close to St. James's Palace and much of the site was once part of the palace complex...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) where Kenya's constitutional framework and independence were to be negotiated. As Secretary General of KANU, Mboya headed the Kenyan delegation.
After Kenya's independence in 1963, Mboya was elected as an MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Nairobi Central Constituency (today: Kamukunji Constituency
Kamukunji Constituency
Kamukunji Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies of Nairobi Province. It consists of central to eastern areas of Nairobi. Kamukunji constituency has common boundaries with Pumwani Division of Nairobi. The entire constituency is located within Nairobi...
) and became Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and later Minister for Economic Planning and Development. In this role, he wrote the important "Sessional Paper 10" on Harambee
Harambee
Harambee is a Kenyan tradition of community self-help events, eg. fundraising or development activities. Harambee literally means "all pull together" in Swahili, and is also the official motto of Kenya and appears on its coat of arms....
and the Principles of African Socialism (adopted by Parliament in 1964), which provided a model of government based on African values.
Assassination
He retained the portfolio as Minister for Economic Planning and Development until his death at age 39 when he was gunned down on July 5, 1969 on Moi Avenue, Nairobi CBDCentral business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
after visiting a pharmacy . Nahashon Isaac Njenga Njoroge was convicted for the murder and later hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. After his arrest, Njoroge asked: "Why don't you go after the big man
Big man
A big man, big man syndrome, or bigmanism, within the context of political science, refers to corrupt, autocratic and often totalitarian rule of countries by a single person....
?. Who he meant by "the big man" was never divulged, but fed conspiracy theories since Mboya was seen as a possible contender for the presidency. The mostly tribal elite around Kenyatta has been blamed for his death, which has never been subject of a judicial inquiry. During Mboya's burial, a mass demonstration against the attendance of President Jomo Kenyatta led to a big skirmish, with two people shot dead. The demonstrators believed that Kenyatta was involved in the death of Mboya, thus eliminating him as a threat to his political career although this is still a disputed matter.
Mboya left a wife and five children. He is buried in a mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
located in Rusinga Island
Rusinga Island
Rusinga Island, with an elongated shape approx. 10 miles from end to end and 3 miles at its widest point, lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf...
which was built in 1970.. A street in Nairobi is named after him.
Mboya's role in Kenya's politics and transformation is the subject of increasing interest, especially with the coming into scene of American politician Barack Obama, Jr.
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
Obama's father, Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of U.S. President Barack Obama. He is a central subject in his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father.-Early life:...
, was a US-educated Kenyan who benefited from Mboya's scholarship programme in the 60s, and married during his stay there, siring the future Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Senator and President. Obama Sr. had seen Mboya shortly before the assassination, and testified at the ensuing trial. Obama Sr. believed he was later targeted in a hit-and-run incident as a result of this testimony.
Personal life
Mboya's father Leonard Ndiege was an overseer at a sisalSisal
Sisal is an agave that yields a stiff fibre traditionally used in making twine, rope and also dartboards. The term may refer either to the plant or the fibre, depending on context...
plantation in Kilima Mbogo . Mboya married Pamela Mboya in 1962 (herself a daughter of the politician Walter Odede). They had five children, including daughters Maureen Odero, a high court judge in Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, and Susan Mboya, a Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
executive who continues the education airlift program initiated by Tom Mboya. Their sons are Luke and twin brothers Peter (died in 2004 in a motorcycle accident) and Patrick (died aged four). After Tom's death, Pamela had one child, Tom Mboya Jr., with Alphonse Okuku, the brother of Tom Mboya. Pamela died of an illness in January 2009 while seeking treatment in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
External links
- The African American Students Foundation page on the African Activist Archive Project website.
- Airlift to America website This website is related to the book Airlift to America: How Barack Obama, Sr., John F. Kennedy, Tom Mboya and 800 East African Students Changed Their World and Ours by Tom Shachtman
- Biography according to About Lumumba information — that could have parted him with Odinga. Includes Background Memorandum prepared by Senator Kennedy's Office, August 1960.