Uhuru Kenyatta, the current and fourth President of Kenya was born into a wealthy and politically powerful Kikuyu family.
Uhuru was born on October 26, 1961, in Nairobi, Kenya, to Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya and his fourth wife, Ngina Kenyatta popularly known as "Mama Ngina".
Unknown to many Kenyans, Uhuru’s father was married to four wives with whom he had a total of 8 children.
Born Kamau Wa Ngengi at Ng'enda village, Gatundu Division, Kiambu to Muigai and Wambui, Jomo Kenyatta served as the first Prime Minister (1963–1964) and President (1964–1978) of Kenya.His date of birth, sometime in the early to mid-1890s, is unclear.
In 1914, he was baptized a Christian and given the name John Peter which he changed to Johnstone. He again later changed his name to Jomo in 1938.
He adopted the name of Jomo Kenyatta taking his first name from the Kikuyu word for "burning spear" and his last name from the Maasai word for the beaded belt that he often wore.
In this article, we will delve deeper inside the Kenyatta family line.
Jomo Kenyatta’s 1st wife
In 1919, Jomo Kenyatta met and married his first wife Grace Wahu, according to Kikuyu tradition.
When it became apparent that Grace was pregnant, his church elders ordered him to get married before a European magistrate, and also undertake the appropriate church rites. (The civil ceremony didn't take place until November 1922.)
On November 20, 1922 Kenyatta’s first son, Peter Muigai, was born (he died in 1979).
In 1929, Kenyatta had another child, a daughter, Margaret Kenyatta (she died in 2017).
Peter became an Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Margaret served as Mayor of Nairobi (1970–76) and then as Kenya's Ambassador to the United Nations (1976–86).
Grace Wahu died in April 2007 at the age of 107.
Jomo Kenyatta’s 2nd wife
Kenyata married his second wife, Edna Clarke on May 11, 1942, at the Chanctonbury registry office at Storrington in Sussex.
Mzee was an agricultural labourer in England, earning £4 a week when the two met.
He had his second born son, Peter Magana with Clarke on August 11, 1944.
Kenyatta left Edna in England when he returned to Kenya in 1946 to join the nationalist struggle.
Clarke died in 1995 at the age of 86. Magana lives in London after retiring from BBC after working as a producer.
Jomo Kenyatta’s 3rd wife
Kenyatta married his third wife, Grace Wanjiku, in 1946.
She was the daughter of Senior Chief Koinange and sister to Mbiyu Koinange.
She died when giving birth in 1951. Their daughter Jane Makena Wambui (also known as Jeni) survived.
Jeni Makena Gecaga Kenyatta is the mother to Soiya Gecaga, Nana Gecaga, and Jomo Gecaga, who serves as President Uhuru Kenyatta's private secretary.
Jomo Kenyatta's 4th wife
His fourth wife, the best known due to her role as First Lady, was Ngina Kenyatta, also known as Mama Ngina.
She often accompanied him in public, and some streets in Nairobi and Mombasa are named after her.
She bore Kenyatta four children: Christine Wambui (born 1953), Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 1961), Anna Nyokabi Muthama Kenyatta (born May 1963) Muhoho Kenyatta (born 1965).
Mama Ngina lives quietly as a wealthy widow in Kenya.
Jomo Kenyatta's sons
1. Peter Muigai
Peter Muigai Kenyatta was a prominent businessman in his own right and followed his father's footsteps into politics, getting elected the MP for Juja, a constituency neighbouring that of his father's Gatundu constituency.
His father subsequently appointed him Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Muigai featured conspicuously in his father's State funeral in 1978, accompanying the ceremonial gun carriage that transported the body to its last resting place at Parliament grounds, drawn by uniformed army officers.
2. Peter Magana
He once worked as a presenter with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), in London. Not much is known about Magana whose presence in Kenya has been fleeting.
3. Muhoho Kenyata
He operates the Kenyatta family's vast business empire.
They include the Heritage Hotels, MediaMax Group that owns K24 and the People Daily, Commercial Bank of Africa and Brookside Dairy, of which he is the Executive Chairman.
4. Uhuru Kenyatta
In 1991, he married Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta. The couple is blessed with three children, Jomo, Jaba and Ngina.
In 2017, his son Jomo and wife Fiona Achola welcomed their first child, a baby girl, “Baby Wanjiru”.
Achola Kenyatta, Uhuru' daughter in law is the granddaughter of the late Dr. William Odongo Omamo and niece to Defence Cabinet Secretary, Raychelle Omamo.
Jomo Kenyatta's daughters
1. Margaret Kenyatta
She was elected the first and only woman Mayor of Nairobi in 1970 after four terms as councillor for Dagoretti ward in Nairobi.
She was the third African mayor of the Kenyan capital after Charles Rubia and Isaac Lugonzo. She served until 1976 when she was succeeded by Andrew Kimani Ngumba.
Margaret also served as Kenya's ambassador to the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Programme for 10 years between 1976 and 1986. She was the first woman in Kenya to serve as ambassador.
She went to the prestigious Alliance Girls High School in 1947 as one of the pioneer students and had her early education at Ruthimitu Primary School.
2. Jane Makena Wambui (also known as Jeni)
A champion athlete in her palmy days at The Kenya High School had three children with Udi Gecaga: Soiya Gecaga: A specialist in charity and corporate law and one-time employee at the UNHCR, Geneva, runs the We the Change Foundation.
Jomo Gecaga: And old Etonian and former first officer at Foreign Affairs is currently PA to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Nana Gecaga: Cushing Academy alumnus, Nana founded Bora Ubora Public Relations.
3. Christine Wambui
The first child of Kenyatta with Mama Ngina.
Married to Victor Pratt with whom she has four children, Kristina has established many facilities for the disabled in Kenya and doubles up as an ambassador for the visually impaired.
Jomo Kenyatta was detained between 1953 and 1961 for his part in the organization of the Mau Mau movement, which explains the long hiatus before the arrival of Uhuru in 1961.
4. Anna Nyokabi Muthama Kenyatta
She is married in Makueni County. Little more is known about her.
Jomo Kenyatta's nephew and nieces
Jomo Kenyatta's only known sibling was James Muigai, the first boy to be enrolled at Alliance High School in Kikuyu during the school's opening in 1926.
He was the father to Ngengi Muigai and Beth Mugo.
Ngegi, who upon Kenyatta's death inherited his Gatundu parliamentary seat and was a powerful figure during President Jomo Kenyatta's time.
Beth Mugo, married to a retired ambassador, was an MP and also served as Minister for Public Health.
Beth Mugo has been a nominated senator under the Jubilee Alliance (Ruling Alliance in Kenya) since 2013 and has been known to strongly support her cousin (President Uhuru Kenyatta).
