Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta has been reported a number of times to have been a sceptical believer in religion, portrayed as choosing to think deeply before he committed himself to matters of faith.
In a memoir Walking in Kenyatta's Struggles written in 2007 by Kenyatta's close aide and accomplished leader Duncan Ndegwa, Kenyatta's scepticism is narrated to have convinced George Muhoho, Kenyatta's brother-in-law, to get married, despite the Catholic law forbidding the same.
Ndegwa narrated that Kenyatta took pleasure in taunting Muhoho, while he was still a priest, for his beliefs that heaven was a place far in the skies.
Ndegwa narrated that every time Kenyatta taunted Muhoho, he would sing a song that seemed to be on his lips most of the time; Iguru kwa Ngai! Nitugacemania o Kuo (In heaven, God's abode, there we shall meet).
"When the Apollo II astronauts went to the moon, they brought moon rocks as souvenirs to world leaders, including myself. Now tell me, Muhoho, where is this heaven you talk about and the Americans who went to the moon did not see it?" the book quotes Kenyatta's words to Muhoho.
He further clarified that Jomo Kenyatta did not harbor an aversion to religion as many would have concluded, but he loved being inquisitive before committing his beliefs and deciding his stand.
"Mzee did not mind anyone believing in the Christian dogma, and indeed his immediate family was of the Catholic faith," Ndegwa wrote.
It was not the only time Kenyatta would taunt someone for their beliefs in religion.
Ndegwa wrote that in 1969, after the assassination of Tom Mboya, Agikuyu tribesmen embarked on an oath-taking mission to prove their allegiance to President Kenyatta, terrorising Christians who did not agree with the oath.
This prompted the Catholic Bishop of the Nyeri diocese Caesar Maria Gatimu to approach Kenyatta and plead for his intervention in bringing the victimization to an end.
"When the Anglicans ring their bell, that does not prevent the Presbyterian Church from ringing their bell. When the Orthodox Church rings its bell, it does not prevent the Catholic Church from ringing its bell. Is there any harm with the Agikuyu ringing their bell?" Kenyatta is reported to have dismissed the priest.
These beliefs and questions are reported to have been the key concerns that caused Muhoho to reconsider his beliefs and ask for the special dispensation which was granted.
In 1976, the 40-year-old Muhoho tied the knot with lawyer Jean Njeri Koinange.
