How James Gichuru's 'good nature' worked out for him

James Gichuru, Kenya’s first Finance minister, was neither an aggressive nor ambitious politician, despite being a leading nationalist.

His ambitions seemed to lie more in commercial success and a quiet life than in the hardy limelight of political eminence.

One little point served to prove this. While many delegates at Pan-African conferences described their professions as “petitioner”, “Freedom fighter” or “nationalists”, Gichuru always wrote “farmer” as his profession in the hotels visitors’ books. This was in reference to a small coffee farm he owned with his father.

Born in 1914 in Thogoto, Kiambu, his parents were among the first Kenya Africans to become Christians, having been converted at Church of Scotland Mission, Kikuyu.

As was the case with most African families that associated with early missionaries, all Gichuru’s siblings were in steady professions. One of his brothers, Dr Kimani Mbuthia, was among Kenya’s first medical doctors.

MAU MAU LINK

Mbuthia had been selected alongside Jaramogi Oginga Odinga to study medicine at Makerere, but when they were summoned to Nairobi, Jaramogi turned down the course in favour of training as a teacher at the same institution.

Gichuru however chose to follow his father’s footsteps and trained as a teacher at Makerere.

He taught at his alma mater, Alliance High School, before later on becoming the headmaster of Church of Scotland Mission School in Kikuyu.

His interest in politics saw him become the first President of Kenya African Union (KAU) in 1943 while still a headmaster.

He held the position until 1947 when he stepped down in favour of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta who had just returned from Britain.

He continued teaching until 1950 when the colonial government appointed him Chief of Dagoretti location, with his father working under him as headman.

Because of his connections with KAU, which was being linked with the Mau Mau, the government felt he was not a satisfactory civil servant and dismissed him on the eve of the State of Emergency in 1952.

KANU

In 1954, despite his dismissal, he joined 23 Kikuyu chiefs and elders to sign a declaration condemning the activities of Mau Mau.

This loyal gesture however did little to convince the colonialists, who arrested him in 1955 and placed him under restriction in Kiambu district.

In 1960, Gichuru emerged from obscurity of emergency restriction to assume the presidency of Kanu solely on the strength of his earlier association with Kenyatta.

Without any parliamentary experience, he found himself thrust into the harness of a lead horse with the politically aggressive Jaramogi and Tom Mboya on his side.

As Kanu’s president, he initially tried to avoid ultra-nationalism and moderation, and neither provoked contention nor initiated any policy within the party.

His biggest weakness was his easy-going demeanour which made him a target for manipulation.

The Colonial Governor also noted this, saying that Gichuru had a tendency of reflecting the “opinion of the person he last spoke to”.

Both Jaramogi and Mboya knew how important the Kikuyus were to their political ambitions, and for this reason, they were competing for Gichuru’s support which was only second to Kenyatta’s.

MODERATE POLICY

In March 1960, in the run up to the formation of Kanu, Jaramogi won him over and together they announced the formation of the short-lived Uhuru party without involving Mboya.

But by September 1960, Mboya — using his access to American scholarships and funds — had managed to bring Gichuru to his side.

Courtesy of Mboya, two of his children, Gitau Gichuru and Njoki Gichuru, left for further studies in the United States.

Njoki studied in Rutland Massachusetts while Gitau attended Concord High School and Goddard College.

Together with Mboya, Gichuru pursued a moderate policy within Kanu which gave guarantee to immigrant races after independence and opposed nationalisation of land on the grounds that it would drive away investors.

They also visited various European countries to assure businessmen and to attract foreign capital.

This made Jaramogi to describe them as foreign stooges who had sold their souls to the imperialists.

ALLEGATIONS

However, to the British, Gichuru was the best possible man to tackle the task of reassuring Britain about the future of Kenya because of his new qualities of statesmanship and political insight.

They even saw him as a forerunner and a possible replacement of Kenyatta who was still in detention.

In October 1960, after meeting him and Mboya in London, the Colonial Secretary wrote: “I liked him a good deal and he seems to me the most hopeful African leader in Kenya I have met.”

In response, Governor Renison wrote: “We shall have to see whether Gichuru can stay permanently on top in spite of the greater political and world experience of Mboya.”

Such meetings resulted in Jaramogi accusing them of conspiring with the Colonial Secretary to have Kenyatta detained indefinitely.

These allegations formed part of the smear campaign by Jaramogi, Munyua Waiyaki, Dr Gikonyo Kiano and Dr Njoroge Mungai against the two in the run-up to the 1961 elections.

Gichuru responded by suspending Jaramogi from Kanu, accusing him of trying to wreck the party by carrying out a smear campaign and sabotaging official party candidates in his open support for rival candidates. With only three weeks before the General Election, the Kanu Governing Council, in a desperate attempt to maintain unity, summoned all the parties concerned to a meeting on February 3, 1961.

COMMUNISM

According to a confidential transcript of the meeting, Gichuru defended himself saying: “Mr (Jaramogi) Odinga’s campaign against me is not something which has come as a surprise.

"Not long ago, although he denied it then, Mr Odinga’s office distributed a document which stated that the Secretary-General of Kanu and myself were parties to a secret document aimed at extending the restriction of my leader, Jomo Kenyatta.”

He also accused Jaramogi of issuing statements indicating that Kanu was following a Communist line without his approval.

“What is wrong with our Jaramogi?” he asked. “Does he want to exchange his proud title for Ja Russia (Russian) or something else?” Mboya followed with a prepared speech in English lasting around 15 minutes, which he later translated into Kiswahili himself.

Jaramogi claimed that his suspension was unconstitutional and denied that he was a Communist.

RELEASE

After almost eight hours of accusations, retractions and denial, the three were ordered to leave the meeting as the council deliberated on the rift.

When they were summoned back, three hours later, Gichuru was so intoxicated that he could hardly utter a word. Jaramogi’s suspension was subsequently declared null and void.

Kenyatta returned from detention the following year, and for the second time Gichuru stepped down for him.

After independence, Kenyatta had earmarked Gichuru as a possible successor but his deteriorating health and lack of enthusiasm made him a non-starter.

Gichuru, who died in 1982, variously served as Finance and Defence minister.

The writer is a journalist and researcher based in London