Charles Njonjo, Jomo Kenyatta’s powerful Attorney-General

Charles Mugane Njonjo. [File, Standard]

The son of the Senior Chief Josiah Njonjo, Charles Mugane Njonjo was born at Kabete, Kiambu, on January 23, 1920, in a family of four brothers and four sisters. Three of the sisters are alive. While his detractors have always spoken of Njonjo as the man with the colonial hangover and hates everything African, the former Attorney-General dismisses such views.

He recounts: “My cousins and I loved spending evenings at our grandmother’s hut to listen to her folk stories. At times, I even spent nights at her smoky hut with the strong smell of goats. She pampered us, gave us what we thought was the greatest food. In her place, we enjoyed the freedom that only a grandmother can allow. I occupied a special place in her heart. Being my father’s eldest son, I was named after her husband (my maternal grandfather) and she often addressed me as such.”