2016/05/03 by Poppy Cullen · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact #African history and culture studies #Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics #History #Ancient history #Political science #Law
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/03086534.2016.1175737
openalex publication_date 2016/05/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
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 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.