Uhuru family holds private commemoration for late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta

The late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. (Photo/Courtesy)

For the first time in 42 years, August 22 saw no bells tolling at Nairobi's Holy Family Basilica. The prayer sanctuary was virtually deserted. Like a ship sailing away in a dark, misty night, the commemoration of Jomo Kenyatta yesterday, the nation's founding President, passed without pomp. In the nearby Parliament Buildings, the parking lot was almost empty... no wreaths and no military pageantry.

Usually, a grand, nearly day-long ceremony, which also acts as a family get-together for the Kenyattas, chaperoned by the matriarch - Mama Ngina Kenyatta and her first son Uhuru Kenyatta - is celebrated in a stately manner. Yesterday, there was only what some security officers guarding Parliament described as "a private ceremony".