Kenya's first President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta did not harbour ill feelings towards his jailer at Kapenguria, Leslie Whitehouse, even after the latter ridiculed him while in prison.
According to former CBK Governor Duncan Ndegwa's memoir, Walking in Kenyatta Struggles: My Story, Kenyatta actually rewarded Whitehouse with a prestigious government job soon after independence.
When Kenyatta summoned his jailer to State House in 1964, he must have thought the president had finally decided to seek his revenge.
To Whitehouse's surprise, Mzee was welcoming, jovial and full of hearty laughter as they conversed.
Kenyatta was interested in his jailer's extensive knowledge of the administrative boundaries of the Northern Frontier District (NFD) which was later renamed the North Eastern Province.
The president's close friend, Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie, was due to visit Kenya and matters of the Kenya-Ethiopia border would certainly feature in their talks.
Cognizant of this, Kenyatta roped in Whitehouse, who had traversed the territory and had been part of consultations to determine the controversial borderlines.
The border was hotly disputed by both Kenyan and Ethiopian pastoralists due to the water points shared by the herders.
When the Ethiopian emperor arrived in the country, Whitehouse successfully helped settle the border disputes and was then appointed a magistrate.
In Ndegwa's biography, he recounted how Whitehouse would often chide Kenyatta in jail, asking him who was the king of the Northern Frontier District after which Mzee would be forced to respond "Mr Whitehouse sir!"
