The General in Brief
We enjoyed a lovely dinner of barbequed goat at this favorite local eatery, called Texas
- He is brother to five, father to ten, grandfather to forty-four, and great-grandfather to twenty-one children. He is husband to one, and he just celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary.
- He was born in late 1920 or early 1921 in an Eastern province of Kenya. Despite childhood hardships battling hunger and poverty, he worked hard to receive an education and became a primary school teacher.
- In 1952, The General took the oath and joined the Mau-Mau Rebellion. He fought in the forests near Mt. Kenya in 1953 and remained there until his arrest and detainment in December 1955. After being released from the detainment camp, he was sent to a rehabilitation center, where he studied agriculture. He began to work in the timber business.
- In 1961, The General became Regional Secretary for KADU, one of the two competing political parties. In 1962, he accepted an invitation from Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah to attend a conference of KenyaÕs political party leaders in Accra. Ghana hosted eight delegates, four from KANU and four from KADU. This was The General’s first trip out of the country.
- Following Kenyan independence and the election of Jomo Kenyatta (KANU candidate) in 1964, The General returned to his first profession as a primary school teacher. The British colonial forces had deemed former Mau-Maus terrorists and prohibited them from teaching prior to independence.
- He retired from teaching in 1983 to run his large tea and coffee farm, which his wife had taken care of. He founded the largest and most successful farmers’ cooperative, the South Imenti SACCO (Savings And Credit Cooperative Organization). He hosts foreign dignitaries visiting to inquire about the successful operation of this organization. The cooperative funds the education of many local school children. It also established the Meru Institute of Professional Studies, pioneering computer literacy and professional accounting certification. It is affiliated with the Kenyan Methodist University and offers their courses in the region. The General’s knowledge of founding and running this Cooperative could benefit many struggling rural areas if recorded and shared with the general populace.
- The General was ordained an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He served as a delegate to the church’s National General Assembly and Finance Committee for many years. He remains a part of the local church governing body.
Reflections on The General
The following is an excerpt from my journal on the day, October 6th, I met The General:
From the moment I made eye contact with The General, I knew we would be very close. He had the deep, trusting eyes that were so familiar to me in my Granddad. The fact that The General had dark, penetrating eyes and that my Granddad had blue, forgiving eyes held no bearing – I knew his eyes. I looked at this 84 year old man, who’d seen so much in his life, but had the passion to see more – who’d seen so much bad in people but still looked for the good – who’d worked so hard but was thankful for what he had – who’d led an amazing life but remained humble – who was relatively rich in the community but continued to live the simple life that was comfortable to him – who was entitled to anything he wished but expected nothing – who gave so much without demanding anything in return – who’d seen bad parts of his country’s history but appreciated the capacity of people and situations to change – who was intelligent but could relate to anyone – who loved so much – I looked at him and saw my Granddad. In those three days that I spent with The General, I felt as if Granddad was by my side.
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