The Untold Story of The Kenyatta Family's Wealth

The vast wealth of the Kenyatta family was considered such a crucial factor in Kenya’s internal security that the CIA, America’s spy agency, issued a special report on it the day Kenya’s founding father was buried in 1978.

The report, which was made public last week, talked of thousands of acres of land owned by Mzee Kenyatta and his wife Mama Ngina, high-powered wrangles over gemstones mines, a colossal stake in the charcoal trade, secret exports of ivory and an unspoken fear that Kenyans would revolt and seize back land from the First Family.

Stamped ‘secret’, the Economic Intelligence Weekly Review dated August 31, 1978 is part of nearly 800,000 declassified files that the CIA was forced to publish online just ten days ago.

It gives an insight into the explosive mix of power and business in the post-independence Kenya and might explain why the Kenyatta family has always appeared to be indebted to President Daniel arap Moi, who took over on Mzee Kenyatta’s death, amid a wave of resentment against the country’s ruling class. The CIA, in the report, equates the Kenyatta family to royalty and expresses fear that it might be the target of “wealth redistribution” following the change of government.

Contrary to its analysis, however, Moi not only vowed to protect Kenyatta’s legacy in the Nyayo philosophy — following in Mzee’s footsteps — but anointed a scion of the Kenyatta clan, now President Uhuru Kenyatta, as his successor when he stepped down in 2002 after ruling Kenya for 24 years.

Uhuru’s first stab at the presidency was thwarted by the candidature of Moi’s former Vice-President Mwai Kibaki, who rode to victory on a national coalition and a last-minute backing of Raila Odinga.

According to the CIA’s assessment in 1978, the Kenyatta family was “resented”, perhaps because of a public perception that their wealth had been acquired through dubious means.

The CIA wrongly speculated that that Moi and the then Attorney General Charles Njonjo were likely to “capitalise on the widespread dislike of Mama Ngina and on public discontent over corruption to take over large shares of the family’s holdings.”

Such a move would lead to conflict, it warned. “Whether attempted as a first step toward widespread income redistribution or merely as a shift of resources in favour of the new rulers, such a move would almost certainly provoke a strong political response from the Kenyatta family,” the report says.

Mama Ngina Kenyatta

That “strong political response” is undefined, but part of the 13-million page document shows America was worried that the ministers who had been loyal to Kenyatta were likely to overthrow Moi or ensure that he did not succeed Kenyatta after acting as President for 90 days as the Constitution then prescribed. That did not happen.

After being sworn in as Acting President, Moi neutralised ministers considered closest to Kenyatta, such as Paul Ngei and Mbiyu Koinange, and outmaneuvered his opponents with the support of Njonjo and the Laikipia politician G.G Kariuki, deftly establishing his own rule The Kenyatta family was already rich, and the CIA was able to find what it describes as “extensive holdings of farms, plantations, hotels, casino and insurance, shipping and real estate companies” as part of the wealth portfolio.

Vast farms

It reported: “Kenyatta himself owned only about a half-dozen properties covering roughly 4,000 hectares, mainly farms in the Rift Valley and in the district of Kiambu where he was born.

His wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta, however, owns at least 115,000 hectares including a 13,000 hectare ranch in the Kiambu district, two tea plantations at Matu and Mangu, and three sisal farms near the Tanzanian border.

She also has considerable holdings in the resort areas around Mombasa and is involved in coffee plantations and in the Kenyan ruby mines.” The Standard on Sunday has been unable to establish the veracity of this assertions, which were cabled to Washington by the agency’s Nairobi operatives.

Mama Ngina, who is distinctly private and whose public appearances are rare, and Uhuru’s half-sister Margaret, now in her eighties and ailing, are depicted as very wealthy at that time. Margaret, the second African Mayor of Nairobi, was the daughter of Kenyatta’s first wife Wahu.

Source: Standard Media

Categories: kenya, kenyans, Kenyatta family