Mau Mau’s Children: The Making of Kenya’s Postcolonial Elite

Appendix: Cohort Profiles

147 Ap­ pen­ dix Co­ hort Pro­ files The pro­ files below rep­ re­ sent ap­ prox­ i­ mately 10 per­ cent of my for­ mer stu­ dents. I have in­ cluded them to re­ veal how their life pat­ terns bear much sim­ i­ lar­ ity and yet are no­ tice­ ably dif­ fer­ ent, each life with its own tra­ jec­ tory. David e (b. 1947): born in Rift Val­ ley, the old­ est son of un­ ed­ u­ cated par­ ents (father b. 1922, ­ mother b. 1924) who ­ worked as squat­ ters on ­ white-settler farm.­ David’s ­ mother first of ­ father’s six wives (mar­ riages: 1945, 1946, 1948, 1956, 1964, 1970). This ­ mother de­ tained; ­ father, wives and chil­ dren re­ pa­ tri­ ated to Cen­ tral Prov­ ince and ­ housed in Emer­ gency vil­ lage near Gia­ kanja. Began pri­ mary ed­ u­ ca­ tion dur­ ing Emer­ gency, fin­ ished 1962, and ad­ mit­ ted to Gia­ kanja class II 1963–66. Fin­ ished sec­ ond in class (Div. I CSC 1966). A level com­ pleted at Ken­ yatta Col­ lege, then ­ started ca­ reer at a na­ tional bank; left after one year to join East ­ African Rail­ ways be­ cause they of­ fered a com­ puter train­ ing ­ course in Great Brit­ ain. Re­ mained at East African Rail­ ways (Kenya R.R. after 1977) as prin­ ci­ ple ­ systems an­ a­ lyst until 1980, when he ­ shifted to Brit­ ish ­ American To­ bacco in the pri­ vate sec­ tor for ­ higher wages and bet­ ter ben­ e­ fits. Took early re­ tire­ ment in 1994 to farm in the Rift Val­ ley with ­ father and sib­ lings on land that they had pre­ vi­ ously ­ worked as squat­ ters. Mar­ ried 1970 (three sons, two daugh­ ters), all re­ ceiv­ ing ed­ u­ ca­ tion (two with uni­ ver­ sity de­ grees, rest still in­ school). In­ vest­ ment in Rift Val­ ley land on which he plans to build a large dairy busi­ ness will en­ able him to ed­ u­ cate his chil­ dren to uni­ ver­ sity level and enjoy a com­ fort­ able life­ style. Dick­ son (b. 1947): ­ primary-school-educated ­ father (b. 1908, d. 1966) and un­ ed­ u­ cated ­ mother (b. 1920), who was first of four wives, had six chil­ dren (four girls, two boys), all ed­ u­ cated (one Std. 8, one Form 2, two Form 4, one uni­ ver­ sity). Fam­ ily was ex­ empt from being ­ forced to Emer­ gency vil­ lage be­ cause ­ father was 148 Appendix head­ man of local com­ mu­ nity. Did very well on Std. 4 and 8 leav­ ing exams, was ad­ mit­ ted to Gia­ kanja class II 1963–66 (Div. I CSC 1966). At­ tended A level at a na­ tional ­ school, then at Make­ rere Uni­ ver­ sity 1969–72, earn­ ing a BEd (En­ glish, his­ tory, ed­ u­ ca­ tion). ­ Taught at three ­ teacher train­ ing col­ leges, ris­ ing to po­ si­ tion of prin­ ci­ ple lec­ turer at Ka­ gumo Col­ lege in his home area. Mar­ ried musi­ cian/ music ­ teacher in 1978; four chil­ dren (three boys, one girl) all pres­ ently in ­ school (kin­ der­ garten ­ through Form 4). His plans are for each to re­ ceive uni­ ver­ sity ed­ u­ ca­ tion. Will re­ tire at age 55 with govern­ ment pen­ sion and in­ come from rents on build­ ings he owns. Esau (b. 1942): par­ ents with no ed­ u­ ca­ tion (father b. 1906, ­ mother b. 1910), who mar­ ried in 1928; his ­ mother was his ­ father’s sec­ ond of three wives. ­ Father­ worked in the Rift Val­ ley as a mi­ grant la­ borer. Esau and twin sis­ ter (d. 1987) had five other sib­ lings (four broth­ ers, one sis­ ter); the old­ est two broth­ ers went to the for­ est in 1952, later sur­ ren­ dered and were de­ tained for rest of Emer­ gency. Esau and rest of fam­ ily ­ forced into Emer­ gency vil­ lage, where his ed­ u­ ca­ tion, begun in 1950, ­ stopped. ­ Mother and chil­ dren were des­ ti­ tute, and his loy­ al­ ist rel­ a­ tives ne­ glected them and would not pay his ­ school fees. Re­ sumed ed­ u­ ca­ tion in 1959, his older em­ ployed ­ brother paid fees. Fin­ ished ele­ men...