Archives:Kenyan History!

Ka.boy ka.cute was UHURU back then.
He rubbed shoulders with royalty even back then. Pictured here tagging along with 'The Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah, King of Kings, Elect of God, H.I.M., His Imperial Majesty', Emperor Haile Selassie of Abbysnia(mordern day Ethiopia).
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Rais Mwai Kibaki wakiwa na AG Amos Wako Kenya ilipopata katiba mpya mwaka wa 2010. Wakenya na wageni mashuruhi walimiminika kwa wingi kwenye bustani ya Uhuru, Nairobi kushuhudia 'promulgation' ya katiba mpya ya Kenya.
 
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9The apparent calmness in this first photo - taken in 1995, belies the fracas that broke out moments later.

Lawyer Paul Muite (in tie) and other officials of Safina party had escorted detainee Koigi wa Wamwere’s mother (foreground) to Kamiti prison. She intended to see her son. They spent some at the entrance of the prison arguing with a Prisons officer.

“No, I cannot let you in to visit Koigi”, the prisons officer maintained. “I have instructions from higher authorities not to let any Safina party members in”, he said.

Additional officers, who were armed with rungus and anti-riot equipment, were deployed to the gate to bolster security from inside the prison.

Koigi’s visitors, who included lawyer Mirugi Kariuki, felt trapped between two hostile forces when KANU youthwingers started massing up outside the prison.

A few minutes later the security backup team from inside the prison was inexplicably withdrawn. Just then the youthwingers descended on Koigi’s mum, kin, team of lawyers and media crew.

A number of cars including Paul Muite’s and that of the Nation Media Group, were pelted with stones. Not even foreign journalists were spared. The youthwingers descended on a female BBC reporter with blows and whips.

When lawyer Mirugi Kariuki rushed to shield her, he was beaten until he lost consciousness at a maize farm adjacent the prison.
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Jointly with his brother Charles Kuria and Capt. (Rtd) Njuguna Ngengi, Koigi was in October of 1995 sentenced to four years in prison and six lashes of the cane for attempted robbery.
 
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Tarehe 25, mwezi wa pili, 1992. Wangari Maathai aliongoza kina mama kwenye mgomo/maandamano ambapo walipiga kambi kwenye bustani ya Uhuru Park, Nairobi, wakafunga kwa siku tano! Kina mama hawa chini ya vuguvugu la Free Political Prisoners walikuwa wanataka Dikteta Moi na serikali yake wawaachilie huru wanao 52, ambao walikuwa wafungwa wa kisiasa. Koigi Wamwere, Mirugi Kariuki, Kinuthina Rumba na wengine walikuwa wamekamatwa na kutupwa korokoroni bila kufikishwa mahakamani. Siku ya tano hiyo serikali ya KANU ilifanya kitu cha ajabu mno. Polisi walifika Uhuru Park na rungu, vitoa machozi hadi na machine gun, kuwafurusha kina mama hao na wakenya wengine ambao walikuwa wamefika hapo kuwaunga mkono. Waangari Maathai na kina mama wenzake wakafikia maamuzi ya kufanya tendo la 'guturama'(kikikuyu). Ambapo kina mama huwa wanavua nguo hadharani mbele ya wanao kama laana kwao kwa kuwadhulumu au kuwakosea heshima.
 
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Hezekia Rabala Ochuka, (Julai 23, 1953 - Julai 9, 1987) alikuwa Mkuu wa Jeshi la anga la Kenya, ambaye alitawala Kenya kwa karibu masaa sita baada ya kupanga na kutekeleza mapinduzi dhidi ya rais Daniel arap Moi.
Hezekia Ochuka alikuwa kitovu cha jaribio la Agosti 1, 1982, ambalo rais wa wakati huo Daniel Arap Moi alinusurika chini ya siku moja. Akiwa Kijana wa miaka 29 alikuwa katika kitengo cha daraja la pili la chini katika jeshi.
Hezekia alikuwa mwenyekiti wa "Baraza la Ukombozi la Watu" ambalo walipanga kuchukua nafasi ya Rais Moi. Ujuzi na uhusiano wa kijeshi wa Hezekia ulifanya iwezekane kwake kuunda mgawanyo wa kijeshi juu ya Serikali ya Kenya. Hezekia hakufanikiwa katika jaribio lake la kuipindua serikali ya nchi yake; lakini aliweza kudhibiti nchi yote ya Kenya kwa masaa sita.
 
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President Kenyatta was at Mombasa Airport to see his wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta off to Nairobi after a short stay in Mombasa where the president was on a working tour. Also in the picture are the President's two sons Muhoho (right) and Uhuru (left) on September 7, 1974.
 
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Let me see how many of you guys are conversant with socio-economic and political organization of Kenyan communities.
In maasai land, what does it mean when a man enters his homestead and finds a spear at his doorstep?
 
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Undated photo of the teenage Johnstone Kamau ( Jomo Kenyatta ) carrying a randa.
Watu hutoka mbali!
 
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Bill Gates visited Eldoret town back in 2009 where many viewed him as an ordinary mzungu who was touring Kenya to sample the country’s beauty and serenity.

Resident mingled with the Microsoft Company founder freely without knowing he was then the richest man on the planet.

Mr Gates clad in a checked shirt, khaki trousers and brown leather shoes, alighted from the Toyota and walked to the chemist to inquire about anti-malaria drugs.

The unassuming billionaire passed many people unnoticed, as he arrived in the town where he was supporting hundreds of people on anti-retrovirals under his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
 
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The vintage black and white photos were taken in the 1960s when Raila was studying on a scholarship at the technical Herder Institute, University of Leipzig in East Germany.
 
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KENYAN first female pilot and model Ms Gaudentia Aura died today
 
SIMBA WANYIKA ORIGINAL:

After the death of George Peter Kinyonga on December 25, 1992 and that of his brother Wilson Peter Kinyonga three years later on August 1995, many revelers thought it was the end of an era for the Original Orchestra Simba Wanyika.

The Kinyonga brothers born in Tanga, Tanzania, moved to Kenya in 1972 as members of Arusha Jazz Band. This was after an earlier stint with Jamhuri Jazz Band of Kombo Mkwana and Kenyan Ally Magombeni that led them to form Arusha Jazz Band.


Jamhuri Jazz Band was based in Tanga in the late 1960s. The group’s main competitor was Atomic Jazz Band that featured John Kijiko and Mbaraka Mwinshehe Mwaruka. Jamhuri Jazz band was famed for songs like Shingo la Upanga, Simba Mwituni, Wasiwasi Ondoa and Shangazi Naombai Taiiti.

The brothers then left Jamhuri Jazz Band for Arusha Jazz that later renamed to Simba Wanyika. This band performed at famous Nairobi night spots like Garden Square and recorded various albums before shifting to Mombasa due to tough economic conditions.

THE FAMOUS SIMBA WANYIKA SONGS:

The band is remembered for songs like: Halleluhya, Shilingi Yauwa Tena Mauwa, Barua Ya Mapenzi and Sina Makosa (I’ve done nothing wrong), now a worldwide hit that has been covered by many top musicians including the Vits Band.

“Their (Simba Wanyika) music is greatly loved by a cross section of fans in East and Central Africa and has a soft spot for the Kiswahili loving East Africans,” says Thomas Mokaya, the Executive Director of Vits Jazz Band.


Vits Jazz Band based in Nakuru, has formed the core of its business by mostly doing public performances of Simba Wanyika songs and other Swahili original songs from East Africa.

Mokaya says Simba Wanyika’s music is full of teachings of day to day life experiences.

Wilson, the elder Kinyonga brother, was more versatile in compositions and playing the guitar while George, was better in melody, vocals and arrangements.

Wilson and George were the band leaders of the Original Orchestra Simba Wanyika band. Without a doubt, their music has survived the test of time.

Their music is a living testimony for upcoming Kenyan artistes who base their composition on what the duo sang during their heydays in the sixties to nineties. Those old enough to remember know Original Orchestra Simba Wanyika music was synonymous with the two most popular radio stations in East Africa - Sauti Ya Kenya (Voice of Kenya, now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s Idhaa Ya Taifa) in Nairobi and Radio Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.

HOW SIMBA WANYIKA INSPIRED OTHER BANDS:

Simba Wanyika was once East Africa’s most exciting musical band. The Tanzanian born brothers made their fame and fortune mostly in Kenya with a string of hit songs.

Their popular lyrics is what has made bands like Vits Band form a basis of some of their music that they perform at public functions.

“We must go with the demands of our fans although we are not limited to copyright songs of that band or any other,” Mokaya says.

Vits Jazz Band members include Mokaya who is the band leader and Director, comedian “Prof” Herman Kago (a talent on Churchill Live), key board specialist Bosco Mutua who is also assistant director, Shadrack Mutua (drummer), Tony Mukaya (lead guitarist), Patrick Angatia (base guitarist) and vocalists Jared Ogugu, Tisha Muhambe and Victor Challa.

To-date, most upcoming bands who are unable to compose original songs, borrow their style of beats or from other bands that used to play the copyrights of Lingala Maestro, the late Franco Luambo Luanzo Makiadi of TP OK Jazz Band from the Democratic Republic of Congo.





LIFE AND TIMES OF THE MEMBERS OF SIMBA
WANYIKA:


In the book Maisha Yangu na Bendi za Wanyika, former band member Abbu Omar describes his association with two brothers (George and Wilson) as inseparable.

In Omar’s book, he reveals controversies and sibling rivalry between the two talented brothers, which led to their separation and the formation of Orchestra Jobiso Band between 1979 and 1980. They later reunited under Original Simba Wanyika.

Their expertise led to the offshoots of different bands from Original Simba Wanyika, which include Les Wanyika, Super Wanyika and Wanyika Stars, Orch Vina Vina, Golden Sound, Sigalame System, Everest Kings, Mavalo Kings, Les Moto Moto and Mas System who are still admired by the upcoming artistes.

To reinforce the band, the Kinyonga brothers recruited ‘Prof’ Omar Shaban, Tom Malanga, Joseph Just and Elis John to their outfit.

Unknown to many fans, it was George Peter who arranged the vocals of the original Sina Makosa song, which guitarist and composer ‘Prof’ Omar Shaban had composed with Simba Wanyika band before it split in November 1978 to form Les Wanyika.

Most Swahili rhumba bands of the 1980s and 1990s had at least a musician who had passed through one of the Simba Wanyika offshoots.

Sina Makosa was the first big hit by Les Wanyika released in 1978. It is also a favourite hit of the Vits Band.

The lead vocalist of Sina Makosa was Issa Juma Singano.

Others were John Ngereza, Tom Malanga, Rashid Juma, Tchou Tchou Betanga and Phoney Mkwanyule.

Omar’s book tells how the fan base shifted from Simba Wanyika to Les Wanyika and other splinter groups.

Fast forward. At Vits Band, Mokaya says there is no rivalry between members as his main objective is to mentor talent. A year after starting Vits, Mokaya quit Tamasha Jazz Band to focus on his new band – Vits.
 
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