A photo claiming that a section of Kenyans or politicians contributed Ksh1 to purchase Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s car has gone viral on social media, eliciting debate.
The image indicated that a Harambee (fundraiser) was conducted to purchase a car for Kenya’s first President.
Dubbed Ngari (Gari) ya Kenyatta - translated to Kenyatta’s car, the sum amount of only one shilling was reportedly paid to the independence party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU), Fort Hall, currently known as Murang’a County.
The receipt shared was for the amount allegedly paid on December 1, 1961, while Kenyatta was in exile in Lodwar and just a few months before he was released and sent to Kikuyuland.
“Yes, a one shilling contribution from every Kenyan in 1961 to buy premier-to-be, Jomo Kenyatta, a car. Jomo Kenyatta, the patriarch of the family,” a post read on Twitter.
A Google Reverse Search of the image indicated that it was shared only once on Kenyan List, an online forum where users can engage in conversations.
“All over the mountain, our peasant parents paid the one shilling equivalent to buying four cans of beer a day for one month, or a piece of land or ten cows. The car was purchased and registered under a number plate KHA 1.
“Our parents took that to mean Kenyatta Home Again or Kenya One,” a user alleged.
Reverse search by WeVerify did not indicate any shares. The same applied to Microsoft Bing, TinEye and Yandex reverse searches. The origin of the photo could not be traced.
Nonetheless, reports linked the photo to the first car Mzee Daniel Moi, Kenya’s second President and friends organised to purchase for Kenyatta in 1961 as aforementioned.
Lee Njiru, a personal aide to the late Moi detailed that the idea to buy the car was discussed after KANU officials visited Kenyatta in detention.
“I remember in 1959 when he was in detention, Mzee Moi, Henry Cheboiwo and others, went to visit him and they knew that Kenyatta would one day become President.
“So when he was released, Moi had organised with friends to buy him a car. So they bought him a car whose registration number was KHA, which is Kenyatta Home Again,” Njiru stated in a past interview.
Other officials who visited Moi included Njoroge Mungai and Dr. Munyua Waiyaki.
Kenyatta’s Automobiles
Jomo Kenyatta is reported to have bought a Rolls Royce Phantom V at the London Motor Show during the third Lancaster Conference in October 1963.
Worth £7,305 by then, (currently £95,184.15 factoring in inflation) was one of the most expensive cars on UK display. Current conversion indicates that the car would trade at Ksh14 million in 2021.
He was also gifted three high-end cars by the United States of America business community, a Lincoln Continental, a Rolls Royce and a Mercedes 300SE.
“Over a nine-month period in 1963, Kenya’s Prime Minister Kenyatta acquired three of the most expensive limousines in the world (a Lincoln Continental, a Mercedes 300 SE and a Rolls Royce - the price of these totals USD55,000),” famous Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, in his biography Artur Domoslwaski, wrote.
Currently, trading indicates that the amount translates to Ksh107,952,108 (USD963,600).
