Mzee Jomo Kenyatta paved the way for all that is great in Kenya today

Hussein Abdalla, a 77-year-old resident of Shauri Moyo, remembers the day he received news of the death of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the country’s founding father. He was at his place of work at Kariokor Market, selling his wares, when the one o’clock Voice of Kenya (VOK) radio bulletin broke the sad news.
A wave of shock, uncertainty, disbelief and grief engulfed Kariokor Market, Mr Abdalla vividly remembers. “People huddled in groups of three, four and five speaking in low tones when we received the sad news that day. So revered was Mzee Kenyatta that we could not see Kenya without him,” Abdalla remembers that day, 38 years ago.
Abdalla knew Mzee Kenyatta, Kenya’s founding President, from a distance.
Those who knew him at close range and those who had the opportunity to work with him respected Mzee Kenyatta as a great man of enormous influence and outstanding ability. One such person is Major (Rtd) Marsden Madoka, who served the nation’s founding father as an Aide-de-Camp (ADC).
Major Madoka says Mzee Kenyatta was fatherly, loving, caring and a person who appreciated what people did for him and for the nation. But he was also thorough and a stickler for perfection and discipline, Maj Madoka says.
Interviewed at his Karen home, the retired soldier says “Mzee was very thorough. He interviewed me himself for the job. In the past the ADCs were not interviewed. They were appointed by the Army Commander and told to go. But this time, Mzee insisted on interviewing his candidates.”
He adds: “I was the tenth one to be interviewed and he picked me. That, in itself, was a great privilege to me but it also went a long way in saying how thorough Mzee was.”
Maj Madoka points out that although he was initially awe-stricken, working for the Head of State, Mzee Kenyatta treated him like a son. Through the confidence he showed in him, Madoka felt comfortable working for Mzee Kenyatta.
And as he continued to serve as ADC, other qualities of the founding father emerged. Madoka learned that although people feared him, Mzee Kenyatta was a very patient and understanding person. He was also a person who respected the views of other people.
Days passed very fast, and the initial six-month period that was set for ADCs to serve the Head of State in those days passed. Because Mzee Kenyatta liked him, he asked Madoka to stay another six months.
But Madoka — who was then in his 20s — wanted to go back to the barracks, develop his army career and get promoted. He hinted to Mzee Kenyatta, who had grown quite fond of him, that he wanted to go back to the army.
It was difficult for Mzee Kenyatta to let go a person he had come to like, but because the founding father respected the views of other people, he allowed Madoka to go back to the army.
“So you can see that Mzee was understanding and he respected the views of others including those serving under him. He gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted,” Madoka says.

Mzee Kenyatta valued friendship. Madoka recalls that the late Paul Ngei had been fired for some mistake he had made, but Mzee did not want to relieve him of his duties because they had been in detention together.
“There was that bond of friendship between the two of them. Mzee did not quite want to let him go. So you can see he is a man who cared for his friends, for the people who had helped him. That is one aspect that many people were not quite appreciative of,” Madoka says.
But he maintains it is unfortunate that people misunderstood Mzee Kenyatta. Contrary to the perception many people had, Mzee was not harsh. He was actually a very kind and understanding person.
Madoka concludes: “Occasionally, of course, in some public barazas Mzee would say some harsh words but as President, Mzee addressed the issues which faced the nation.”