International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Tom Odhiambo Mboya was Kenya's consummate politician. First as a labor leader, then as a member of the legislative council, and finally as the minister for economic planning and development, Mboya was a diligent advocate for the rights of the Kenyan people in pre- and post-colonial Kenya. Mboya was born on August 15, 1930 on a sisal estate called Kilima Mbogo (mountain of buffaloes) a few miles east from Thika. In accordance with Luo custom, he was named Odhiambo to signify the time of his birth (“evening”), and his last name, Mboya, was a traditional family name from his mother's family. Though both his parents were illiterate, his father, a farmhand, had realized the importance of education and was determined to give his children what he never had. He also viewed their education as an investment in his own future. Like most children in colonial Kenya, Mboya began his education at a mission school where the main curriculum consisted of prayer recitals and catechism. When he reached the age of 9, his father sent him to another mission school in Kabaa, Kamba District, run by Irish fathers, where he could learn to read and write. He stayed with the school catechist who was from the Kamba tribe and imbibed their customs and learned the language. Once finished, he went to St. Mary's mission school at Yala, in Central Nyanza, where he was an average student, preferring singing and debating ... log in or subscribe to read full text