Uhuru’s shocking admission about his father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday made a revelation about his father the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

Speaking at State House during the launch of the national policy on the eradication of FGM, President Kenyatta revealed that his father was pro-FGM.

He, however, maintained that he holds a different opinion and times have changed.

“Mimi nataka kushukuru sana wazee, unajuwa mambo mengine ni ngumu, mambo mengine hatutaki kuongea. Mambo mengine tumezaliwa na wazazi na walituambia umuhimu wa mambo ambayo walikuwa wanafanya. Na mimi ni mtu naheshimu sana wazee wetu, na sana sana utamaduni wetu. Lakini kama kitu ingine tunafika wakati na tunajiambia ya kwamba vile binadamu anaendelea kuwa more exposed, kuna mambo mengine tunasema hii haifai,” said Uhuru.

He adds: “lakini kuna kitu Babangu alifanya kwa sababu wakati huo ilikuwa yafaa, lakini sio kusema lazima mimi niifanye. Wajuwa ni vizuri watu kusema ukweli babangu alikuwa anasimamia hii mambo sana wakati yake. Lakini wakati huo walikuwa wanasimamia kwa kuwa walikuwa wanasema Mzungu amekuja kutunyanganya utamaduni wetu, lakini sasa tuko na uhuru wetu, sasa nguvu ni zetu.”

(We do not like to talk about some things but I will still say them. I have a lot of respect for the elderly and our cultural beliefs but the more we are exposed the more we learn. My father was one of the people who were in-charge of FGM in the olden days. His argument was that the colonialists had come to erode our culture. We are living in a different age and we cannot continue doing those things).

The President said FGM is an archaic cultural practice that assaults the wellbeing of individuals and society, and pitched for its complete eradication.

“FGM is a retrogressive practice whose continued existence in our country in actual fact assaults our individual and our national consciousness.

"The practice is inimical to our shared fundamental values as enshrined in our very own constitution that we as Kenyans passed,” the President said.

He called on Kenyans to shun destructive practices like FGM and embrace progressive cultural activities that bestow honour and dignity on women and girls.