Posted
on October 20, 2013
Today
is a national holiday that celebrates all those who contributed to
Kenya's independence.
October
20 used to be called Kenyatta Day for the first president of the
independent Kenya.
The date was chosen to commemorate the
detention of Jomo Kenyatta and five other “freedom fighters.”
I
discovered that some people have strong negative feelings about
Kenyatta, who did many good things but also many bad things, and they
were very happy that the name of the holiday was changed. Others
disagree; they point out that the name Kenyatta is an important name
in Kenya's history, and they argue that it should have continued as
the holiday name. (Jomo Kenyatta's son Uhuru Kenyatta is the current
president of the nation!) Some people think that the holiday should
be expanded and renamed Mau Mau Week, after the freedom fighters of
the 1950s who were ruthlessly put down by British troops. Apparently there is some disagreement about whether or not Kenyatta was a member of Mau Mau.
Speaking
of names...
Kenya-the-nation
is named for Mount Kenya, which is the second highest mountain in
Africa, after Kilimanjaro. Even though this 17,000-foot mountain is just south of the equator, there are 11 small glaciers on its flanks,
and it was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. The name of
the mountain used to be Kirinyaga, which means “mountain of
whiteness,” but the British colonizers couldn't say that name
properly, so it was simplified to Kenya.
Jomo
Kenyatta must have created his name from his nation's name, because
he was born Kamau wa Ngengi. And at the time of his birth, his nation
was called British East Africa!
Learn more about Kenya in this and this other earlier post.
Also
on this date:
Plan Ahead:
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