A punishment that was imposed on Jomo Kenyatta in 1920 forced him to quit drinking alcohol, albeit for a few years.
Nation reported that Jomo was accused by the church of taking alcohol and getting married without following laid down procedures.
Although he pleaded guilty to the charges that had been leveled against him and promised to reform, Kenyatta was still expelled from the church for three years.
He was also directed to solemnize his union before a European magistrate.
The publication indicated that the church kept an eye on him and he was accepted back into the church in 1923 when he promised that he would stay away from alcohol for the rest of his life.
However, he never kept his word as he relapsed a few years later. There are different accounts of Jomo imbibing alcohol in the early 1930s.
Nation reports that he loved Scotch whiskey and picked up the taste while staying in London between 1933 and 1937.
The British knew that he couldn't do without alcohol and they tried to use this to kill him when he was in detention in the 1950s.
The publication indicated that they supplied him with up to three bottles of whiskey every day hoping that he would die of liver cirrhosis.
However, the plans of the colonial masters did not work. Eight years later, in 1963, Jomo became Kenya’s first black prime minister. Shortly after, he became Kenya’s president and lived until he was 89.
