President Uhuru Kenyatta's multimillion home, built for his father and Kenya's first President Jomo Kenyatta, will be turned into a presidential museum.
The Ichaweri house, in Gatundu South, Kiambu County, was built by the Britons for Kenyatta, as compensation for confiscating his land, after he was jailed.
This is according to Kenya Gazette notice numbers 11053 and 11054 of 2019, published on November 22, 2019.
"In the exercise of the powers conferred by Section 4 (1) (k) of the Public Archives and Documentation Act, the Director of the Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service approves the home of the first president of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, at Ichaweri, Gatundu in Kiambu County as a permanent place of deposit of his historical records," the gazette notice read.
The homestead is located along Kenyatta Road with a unique V-shaped entrance and the family has set aside part of the land for the presidential library and museum and public policy institute.
Daily Nation, on Sunday, December 4, also reported that the founding father held Cabinet meetings and press conferences at the house, where Uhuru was brought up in.
Mzee Kenyatta also slept at the residence, instead of State House, Nairobi.
The home will be opened to members of the public, who will be able to access Kenyatta's history from when he was born until he died.
In 2017, Uhuru's eldest son, Jomo, with his wife Fiona Achola Ngobi, held their Itaara ceremony (viewing of grooms home by the inlaws) near the monumental homestead, ahead of their wedding in April 2018.
A report by The Standard in 2017, stated that it was at this home where over 600 school children unanimously chose Kenya’s National Anthem after Cabinet ministers were unable to select from three samples in 1963.
On August 22, 2019, Uhuru also halted public memorials for his father. According to the president, the 41st memorial service was the last, after his family made a unanimous agreement to make it private.
