Former Kenyan President Jomo Kamau Kenyatta is believed to be the son of Omukama Chwa II Kabalega of the Bunyoro Kitara Empire.
It is believed that between 1899 and 1901, while on his way to exile in the Seychelles, Omukama Kabalega was shot and later hospitalized at Gatundu military hospital for treatment, where he befriended a certain Kikuyu nurse who was taking care of him. He later impregnated her, and she bore a son who was put in the custody of his uncle. The child would later become Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya after independence.
Before Omukama Kabalega was moved to the Seychelles, he had requested his friend Olenena, who was then a chief of the Masai, to look after the child when it was born since he believed that all his children had been killed by the British. Olenena gave him the Masai name Jomo.
According to Retired Kenyan judge, Justice Benna Lutta, after Uganda’s independence celebrations in 1962, Prime Minister Milton Obote arranged for his large Kenyan delegation to visit Hoima District, but what transpired at Omukama Tito Owiny’s palace left all the guests bemused.
“When Obote asked us Kenyans to visit Hoima, we all assumed it was just another event of the festivities. We got there at about one o’clock, had lunch, and enjoyed various entertainment activities. At about 6 p.m., Sir Tito Owiny, the Bunyoro King, invited us all to enter the palace. I don’t think anybody else has said this. And the people who were there are all dead,” said Justice Benna.
“When we got inside the palace, Sir Tito faced President Kenyatta and told him, ‘Go straight there; that is your father’s chair. Go and sit on your father’s chair. And it was not an ordinary chair. It was a throne, very ornate. Kenyatta did not ask any questions or hesitate in any manner. He strode majestically there and sat on the throne. It was as if he knew everything,” said Benna.
“But first, a man called John Kakonge was the one interpreting the proceedings. They were crowning Kenyatta as the King of Bunyoro. The Kenyan delegation sat bemused, not understanding what was going on. But Kakonge was translating, saying Kenyatta is being crowned King of the Bunyoro. It went on and on. Women danced to a loud cultural sound from Drum beating. After all this, Sir Tito said to Kenyatta, You are not going back to Kenya because you are now the King of Bunyoro then Kenyatta replied, But I am also going to be King in Kenya I remember those words very clearly,” said Benna.
The Resemblance
There is no doubt that there is surely a striking resemblance between the late Omukama Kabalega and former Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, both in physical appearance and in traits. Both were fearless warriors, and should we say that Kenyatta inherited his hatred for British colonialists from his father, who had fought and resisted these imperialists until they forced him into exile?
