Funeral Planning: British Involvement in the Funeral of President Jomo Kenyatta

Poppy Cullen

doi:10.1080/03086534.2016.1175737

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe funeral of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, offers revealing evidence of the intimacy and depth of Britain’s continuing relationship with this former colony 15 years after independence. First approached by leading Kenyans for assistance in planning the funeral in 1968, British policy-makers willingly became involved, and continued low-level preparations for this over the following decade. When Kenyatta finally died, in 1978, British advice and planning lay behind the central elements of a funeral which incoming president Daniel arap Moi used to publicly demonstrate his succession. Yet the story of the funeral also shows that the relationship was sometimes incoherent and drew on multiple, sometimes cross-cutting, personal ties and institutional links, both political and military; neither the funeral itself nor Kenya's politics worked to a script written by British officials.

Highlights

The funeral of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, offers revealing evidence of the intimacy and depth of Britain's continuing relationship with this former colony, fifteen years after independence
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, was seated only two places from Idi Amin – the president of Uganda and a man who had established himself in the British popular imagination as the embodiment of all that was wrong with postcolonial African leadership
Ministry of Defence (MOD) reduced the figure to £184 and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) offered £84.115 This provides an interesting ending to the story of British involvement in the funeral: though keen to get involved, East Africa Department (EAD) felt themselves more alive to the political complexities, and were concerned not to be seen as leading this process

Summary

Introduction

The funeral of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, offers revealing evidence of the intimacy and depth of Britain's continuing relationship with this former colony, fifteen years after independence.

Results

Conclusion