Editing Jomo Kenyatta (section)

==Return to Kenya==
===Presidency of the Kenya African Union: 1946–1952===

After British victory in World War II, Kenyatta received a request to return to Kenya in September 1946, sailing back that month.{{sfnm|1a1=Archer|1y=1969|1p=61|2a1=Murray-Brown|2y=1974|2pp=222–223|3a1=Maloba|3y=2018|3p=106}} He decided not to bring Edna—who was pregnant with a second child{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=223|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=106}}—with him, aware that if they joined him in Kenya their lives would be made very difficult by the colony's racial laws.{{sfn|Archer|1969|p=60}} On his arrival in Mombasa, Kenyatta was greeted by his first wife, Grace Wahu and their children.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=222–228}} He built a bungalow at [[Gatundu]], near to where he was born, and began farming his 32-acre estate.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=230}} Kenyatta met with the new Governor of Kenya, [[Philip Euen Mitchell]], and in March 1947 accepted a post on an African Land Settlement Board, holding the post for two years.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=232|2a1=Archer|2y=1969|2p=69|3a1=Arnold|3y=1974|3p=91|4a1=Maloba|4y=2018|4p=114}} He also met with [[Mbiyu Koinange]] to discuss the future of the Koinange Independent Teachers' College in Githungui, Koinange appointing Kenyatta as its Vice-Principal.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=229–230}} In May 1947, Koinange moved to England, leaving Kenyatta to take full control of the college.{{sfnm|1a1=Archer|1y=1969|1p=69|2a1=Murray-Brown|2y=1974|2p=230}} Under Kenyatta's leadership, additional funds were raised for the construction of school buildings and the number of boys in attendance rose from 250 to 900.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=230–231}} It was also beset with problems, including a decline in standards and teachers' strikes over non-payment of wages. Gradually, the number of enrolled pupils fell.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=231}} Kenyatta built a friendship with Koinange's father, a Senior Chief, who gave Kenyatta one of his daughters to take as his third wife.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=229–230}}
They had another child, but she died in childbirth.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=243}} In 1951, he married his fourth wife, [[Ngina Kenyatta|Ngina]], who was one of the few female students at his college; she then gave birth to a daughter.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=247|2a1=Archer|2y=1969|2p=67}}
[[File:Flag of the Kenya African Union.svg|thumb|left|In October 1951 Kenyatta selected colors for the KAU flag: green for the land, black for the skin of the people, and red for the blood of liberty.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=242}}]]

In August 1944, the [[Kenya African Union]] (KAU) had been founded; at that time it was the only active political outlet for indigenous Africans in the colony.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=226|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=113}} At its June 1947 [[annual general meeting]], KAU's President [[James Gichuru]] stepped down and Kenyatta was elected as his replacement.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=233|2a1=Archer|2y=1969|2p=70|3a1=Arnold|3y=1974|3p=99|4a1=Maloba|4y=2018|4p=117}} Kenyatta began to draw large crowds wherever he travelled in Kikuyuland,{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=233}} and Kikuyu press began describing him as the "Saviour", "Great Elder", and "Hero of Our Race".{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=234}} He was nevertheless aware that to achieve independence, KAU needed the support of other indigenous tribes and ethnic groups.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=225}} This was made difficult by the fact that many Maasai and [[Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania|Luo]]—tribes traditionally hostile to the Kikuyu—regarded him as an advocate of Kikuyu dominance.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=226}} He insisted on intertribal representation on the KAU executive and ensured that party business was conducted in [[Swahili language|Swahili]], the ''lingua franca'' of indigenous Kenyans.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=226}}

To attract support from Kenya's Indian community, he made contact with [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], the first [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] of the new Indian republic. Nehru's response was supportive, sending a message to Kenya's Indian minority reminding them that they were the guests of the indigenous African population.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=233}} Relations with the white minority remained strained; for most white Kenyans, Kenyatta was their principal enemy, an agitator with links to the Soviet Union who had the impertinence to marry a white woman.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=227}} They too increasingly called for further Kenyan autonomy from the British government, but wanted continued white-minority rule and closer links to the white-minority governments of South Africa, [[Northern Rhodesia]], and [[Southern Rhodesia]]; they viewed Britain's [[Attlee ministry|newly elected Labour government]] with great suspicion.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=226–227}} The white Electors' Union put forward a "Kenya Plan" which proposed greater white settlement in Kenya, bringing Tanganyika into the British Empire, and incorporating it within their new British East African Dominion.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=237}} In April 1950, Kenyatta was present at a joint meeting of KAU and the [[East African Indian National Congress]] in which they both expressed opposition to the Kenya Plan.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=241}}

By 1952, Kenyatta was widely recognized as a national leader, both by his supporters and by his opponents.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=181}} As KAU leader, he was at pains to oppose all illegal activity, including workers' strikes.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=229}} He called on his supporters to work hard, and to abandon laziness, theft, and crime.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=244|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=119}} He also insisted that in an independent Kenya, all racial groups would be safeguarded.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=244}} Kenyatta's gradualist and peaceful approach contrasted with the growth of the [[Mau Mau Uprising]], as armed guerrilla groups began targeting the white minority and members of the Kikuyu community who did not support them. By 1959, the Mau Mau had killed around 1,880 people.{{sfn|Leman|2011|p=32}} For many young Mau Mau militants, Kenyatta was regarded as a hero,{{sfn|Lonsdale|2006|p=98}} and they included his name in the oaths they gave to the organisation; such oathing was a Kikuyu custom by which individuals pledged allegiance to another.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=123}} Kenyatta publicly distanced himself from the Mau Mau.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=121}} In April 1952, he began a speaking tour in which he denounced the Mau Mau to assembled crowds, insisting that independence must be achieved through peaceful means.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=243|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2pp=115, 118|3a1=Assensoh|3y=1998|3p=58|4a1=Maloba|4y=2018|4p=123}} In August he attended a much-publicised mass meeting in Kiambu where—in front of 30,000 people—he said that "Mau Mau has spoiled the country. Let Mau Mau perish forever. All people should search for Mau Mau and kill it."{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=248–249}} Despite Kenyatta's vocal opposition to the Mau Mau, KAU had moved towards a position of greater militancy.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=241}} At its 1951 AGM, more militant African nationalists had taken senior positions and the party officially announced its call for Kenyan independence within three years.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=242}} In January 1952, KAU members formed a secret Central Committee devoted to direct action, formulated along a [[Clandestine cell system|cell structure]].{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=242}} Whatever Kenyatta's views on these developments, he had little ability to control them.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=243}} He was increasingly frustrated, and—without the intellectual companionship he experienced in Britain—felt lonely.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=124–125}}

===Trial: 1952–1953===

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote="We Africans are in the majority [in Kenya], and we should have self-government. That does not mean we should not take account of whites, provided we have the key position. We want to be friendly with whites. We don't want to be dominated by them."|source= —Kenyatta, quoted by the ''[[Daily Express]]'', September 1952{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=120–121}} }}

In October 1952, Kenyatta was arrested and driven to Nairobi, where he was taken aboard a plane and flown to [[Lokitaung]], northwest Kenya, one of the most remote locations in the country.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=253–254, 257}} From there he wrote to his family to let them know of his situation.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=257}} Kenya's authorities believed that detaining Kenyatta would help quell civil unrest.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=258}} Many white settlers wanted him exiled, but the government feared this would turn him into a martyr for the anti-colonialist cause.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=257|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=60}} They thought it better that he be convicted and imprisoned, although at the time had nothing to charge him with, and so began searching his personal files for evidence of criminal activity.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=258}} Eventually, they charged him and five senior KAU members with masterminding the Mau Mau, a proscribed group.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=259}} The historian John M. Lonsdale stated that Kenyatta had been made a "scapegoat",{{sfn|Lonsdale|1990|p=403}} while the historian A. B. Assensoh later suggested that the authorities "knew very well" that Kenyatta was not involved in the Mau Mau, but that they were nevertheless committed to silencing his calls for independence.{{sfn|Assensoh|1998|p=62}}

The trial took place in [[Kapenguria]], a remote area near the Ugandan border that the authorities hoped would not attract crowds or attention.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=258|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=134}} Together, Kenyatta, [[Bildad Kaggia]], [[Fred Kubai]], [[Paul Ngei]], [[Achieng Oneko]] and [[Kung'u Karumba]]—the "[[Kapenguria Six]]"—were put on trial.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=258}} The defendants assembled an international and multiracial team of defence lawyers, including [[Chaman Lall]], [[H. O. Davies]], [[Fitz Remedios Santana de Souza|F. R. S. De Souza]], and [[Dudley Thompson]], led by British barrister and Member of Parliament [[Denis Nowell Pritt]].{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=259}} Pritt's involvement brought much media attention;{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=259}} during the trial he faced government harassment and was sent death threats.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=260|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=142}} The judge selected, [[Ransley Thacker]], had recently retired from the [[Supreme Court of Kenya]];{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=259}} the government knew he would be sympathetic to their case and gave him £20,000 to oversee it.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=129}} The trial lasted five months: [[Rawson Macharia]], the main prosecution witness, turned out to have perjured himself; the judge had only recently been awarded an unusually large pension and maintained secret contact with the then colonial Governor [[Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale|Evelyn Baring]].{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=65}} The prosecution failed to produce any strong evidence that Kenyatta or the other accused had any involvement in managing the Mau Mau.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=262}}

In April 1953, Judge Thacker found the defendants guilty.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=274|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=143|3a1=Maloba|3y=2018|3p=129}} He sentenced them to seven years' [[hard labour]], to be followed by indefinite restriction preventing them from leaving a given area without permission.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=276|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=143|3a1=Maloba|3y=2018|3p=129}} In addressing the court, Kenyatta stated that he and the others did not recognise the judge's findings; they claimed that the government had used them as scapegoats as a pretext to shut down KAU.{{sfnm|1a1=Slater|1y=1956|1p=14|2a1=Murray-Brown|2y=1974|2p=274}} The historian Wunyabari O. Maloba later characterised it as "a rigged political trial with a predetermined outcome".{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=129}} The government followed the verdict with a wider crackdown, banning KAU in June 1953,{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=255}} and closing down most of the independent schools in the country, including Kenyatta's.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=255}} It appropriated his land at Gatundu and demolished his house.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=136}}

Kenyatta and the others were returned to Lokitaung, where they resided on [[Remand (detention)|remand]] while awaiting the results of the [[appeal]] process.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=278}} Pritt pointed out that Thacker had been appointed magistrate for the wrong district, a technicality voiding the whole trial; the Supreme Court of Kenya concurred and Kenyatta and the others were freed in July 1953, only to be immediately re-arrested.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=278}} The government took the case to the [[East African Court of Appeal]], which reversed the Supreme Court's decision in August.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=278}} The appeals process resumed in October 1953, and in January 1954 the Supreme Court upheld the convictions against all but Oneko.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=279}} Pritt finally took the case to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council|Privy Council]] in London, but they refused his petition without providing an explanation. He later noted that this was despite the fact his case was one of the strongest he had ever presented during his career.{{sfnm|1a1=Slater|1y=1956|1pp=26, 252|2a1=Murray-Brown|2y=1974|2p=279|3a1=Arnold|3y=1974|3p=140|4a1=Maloba|4y=2018|4p=135}} According to Murray-Brown, it is likely that political, rather than legal considerations, informed their decision to reject the case.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=279}}

===Imprisonment: 1954–1961===

[[File:The National Archives UK - CO 1069-166-109.jpg|thumb|upright|Tanganyikan children with signs demanding Kenyatta's release]]

During the appeal process, a prison had been built at Lokitaung, where Kenyatta and the four others were then interned.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=280|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=135}} The others were made to break rocks in the hot sun but Kenyatta, because of his age, was instead appointed their cook, preparing a daily diet of beans and [[posho]].{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=280|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=136}} In 1955, P. de Robeck became the District Officer, after which Kenyatta and the other inmates were treated more leniently.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=283–284}} In April 1954, they had been joined by a captured Mau Mau commander, [[Waruhiu Itote]]; Kenyatta befriended him, and gave him English lessons.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1pp=283, 284|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=139}} By 1957, the inmates had formed into two rival cliques, with Kenyatta and Itote on one side and the other KAU members—now calling themselves the "National Democratic Party"—on the other.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=291|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=138}} In one incident, one of his rivals made an unsuccessful attempt to stab Kenyatta at breakfast.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=294–295}} Kenyatta's health had deteriorated in prison; manacles had caused problems for his feet and he had [[eczema]] across his body.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=289|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=137}}

Kenyatta's imprisonment transformed him into a political martyr for many Kenyans, further enhancing his status.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=181}} A Luo anti-colonial activist, [[Jaramogi Oginga Odinga]], was the first to publicly call for Kenyatta's release, an issue that gained growing support among Kenya's anti-colonialists.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|pp=93, 199}} In 1955, the British writer [[Montagu Slater]]—a socialist sympathetic to Kenyatta's plight—released ''The Trial of Jomo Kenyatta'', a book which raised the profile of the case.{{sfnm|1a1=Arnold|1y=1974|1p=145|2a1=Leman|2y=2011|2pp=27, 34}} In 1958, Rawson Macharia, the key witness in the state's prosecution of Kenyatta, signed an affidavit swearing that his evidence against Kenyatta had been false; this was widely publicised.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=161}} By the late 1950s, the imprisoned Kenyatta had become a symbol of African nationalism across the continent.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=96}}

His sentence served, in April 1959 Kenyatta was released from Lokitaung.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=296|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=140}} The administration then placed a restricting order on Kenyatta, forcing him to reside in the remote area of [[Lodwar]], where he had to report to the district commissioner twice a day.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=296|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2pp=140, 143}} There, he was joined by his wife Ngina.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=296}} In October 1961, they had another son, [[Uhuru Kenyatta|Uhuru]], and later on another daughter, Nyokabi, and a further son, Muhoho.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=320}} Kenyatta spent two years in Lodwar.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=297}} The Governor of Kenya, [[Patrick Muir Renison]], insisted that it was necessary; in a March 1961 speech, he described Kenyatta an "African leader to darkness and death" and stated that if he were released, violence would erupt.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=153–154}}

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This indefinite detention was widely interpreted internationally as a reflection of the cruelties of British imperialism.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=144}} Calls for his release came from the Chinese government,{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=145–146}} India's Nehru,{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=155–156}} and Tanganyika's Prime Minister [[Julius Nyerere]].{{sfnm|1a1=Arnold|1y=1974|1p=204|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2p=152}} Kwame Nkrumah—whom Kenyatta had known since the 1940s and who was now President of a newly independent Ghana—personally raised the issue with British Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]] and other UK officials,{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=147–149}} with the Ghanaian government offering Kenyatta asylum in the event of his release.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=147}} Resolutions calling for his release were produced at the [[All-African Peoples' Conference]]s held in [[Tunis]] in 1960 and [[Cairo]] in 1961.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=96}} Internal calls for his release came from Kenyan Asian activists in the [[Kenya Indian Congress]],{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=169}} while a colonial government commissioned poll revealed that most of Kenya's indigenous Africans wanted this outcome.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=176}}

By this point, it was widely accepted that Kenyan independence was inevitable, the British Empire having been dismantled throughout much of Asia and Macmillan having made his "[[Wind of Change (speech)|Wind of Change]]" speech.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=287–288}} In January 1960, the British government made its intention to free Kenya apparent.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=299}} It invited representatives of Kenya's anti-colonial movement to [[Lancaster House Conferences (Kenya)|discuss the transition]] at London's [[Lancaster House]]. An agreement was reached that an election would be called for a new 65-seat Legislative Council, with 33 seats reserved for black Africans, 20 for other ethnic groups, and 12 as 'national members' elected by a pan-racial electorate.{{sfn|Assensoh|1998|p=62}} It was clear to all concerned that Kenyatta was going to be the key to the future of Kenyan politics.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=51}}

After the Lancaster House negotiations, the anti-colonial movement had split into two parties, the [[Kenya African National Union]] (KANU), which was dominated by Kikuyu and Luo, and the [[Kenya African Democratic Union]] (KADU), which was led largely by members of smaller ethnic groups like the Kalenjin and Maasai.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=300|2a1=Assensoh|2y=1998|2p=59|3a1=Maloba|3y=2018|3p=204}} In May 1960, KANU nominated Kenyatta as its president, although the government vetoed it, insisting that he had been an instigator of the Mau Mau.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=300}} KANU then declared that it would refuse to take part in any government unless Kenyatta was freed.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=303}} KANU campaigned on the issue of Kenyatta's detainment in the [[1961 Kenyan general election|February 1961 election]], where it gained a majority of votes.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=303|2a1=Kyle|2y=1997|2p=49}} KANU nevertheless refused to form a government, which was instead created through a KADU-led coalition of smaller parties.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=303|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=184|3a1=Kyle|3y=1997|3p=50|4a1=Assensoh|4y=1998|4p=59}} Kenyatta had kept abreast of these developments, although he had refused to back either KANU or KADU,{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=304}} instead insisting on unity between the two parties.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=304|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=185}}

===Preparing for independence: 1961–1963===

Renison decided to release Kenyatta before Kenya achieved independence. He thought public exposure to Kenyatta prior to elections would make the populace less likely to vote for a man Renison regarded as a violent extremist.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=182}} In April 1961, the government flew Kenyatta to [[Maralal]], where he maintained his innocence of the charges but told reporters that he bore no grudges.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1pp=304–305|2a1=Kyle|2y=1997|2p=50|3a1=Maloba|3y=2018|3pp=182–183}} He reiterated that he had never supported violence or the illegal oathing system used by the Mau Mau,{{sfn|Kyle|1997|p=50}} and denied having ever been a Marxist, stating: "I shall always remain an African Nationalist to the end".{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|pp=304–305}} In August, he was moved to Gatundu in Kikuyuland, where he was greeted by a crowd of 10,000.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=306|2a1=Kyle|2y=1997|2p=51|3a1=Maloba|3y=2018|3p=191}} There, the colonial government had built him a new house to replace that they had demolished.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=186}} Now a free man, he travelled to cities like Nairobi and Mombasa to make public appearances.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=307}}
After his release, Kenyatta set about trying to ensure that he was the only realistic option as Kenya's future leader.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=149}} In August he met with Renison at Kiambu,{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=307|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=152|3a1=Maloba|3y=2018|3p=191}} and was interviewed by the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Face to Face (British TV series)|Face to Face]]''.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=307}} In October 1961, Kenyatta formally joined KANU and accepted its presidency.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=308|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=159|3a1=Maloba|3y=2018|3p=209}} In January 1962 he was elected unopposed as KANU's representative for the [[Murang'a|Fort Hall]] constituency in the legislative council after its sitting member, Kariuki Njiiri, resigned.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=308|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2pp=151–152}}
[[File:Malcolmmacdonald.jpg|thumb|right|Kenyatta became close friends with the last British Governor of Kenya, Malcolm MacDonald, who helped speed the process of independence.]]

Kenyatta traveled elsewhere in Africa, visiting Tanganyika in October 1961 and Ethiopia in November at the invitation of their governments.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=192–193}} A key issue facing Kenya was a border dispute in [[North Eastern Province (Kenya)|North East Province]], alongside Somalia. Ethnic Somalis inhabited this region and claimed it should be part of Somalia, not Kenya.{{sfnm|1a1=Arnold|1y=1974|1p=175|2a1=Kyle|2y=1997|2p=52}} Kenyatta disagreed, insisting the land remain Kenyan,{{sfn|Arnold|1974|pp=174–175}} and stated that Somalis in Kenya should "pack up [their] camels and go to Somalia".{{sfn|Branch|2017|p=104}} In June 1962, Kenyatta travelled to [[Mogadishu]] to discuss the issue with the Somalian authorities, but the two sides could not reach an agreement.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=176}}

Kenyatta sought to gain the confidence of the white settler community. In 1962, the white minority had produced 80% of the country's exports and were a vital part of its economy, yet between 1962 and 1963 they were emigrating at a rate of 700 a month; Kenyatta feared that this white exodus would cause a [[brain drain]] and [[Labour shortage|skills shortage]] that would be detrimental to the economy.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=66}} He was also aware that the confidence of the white minority would be crucial to securing Western investment in Kenya's economy.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=309}} Kenyatta made it clear that when in power, he would not sack any white civil servants unless there were competent black individuals capable of replacing them.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=187}} He was sufficiently successful that several prominent white Kenyans backed KANU in the subsequent election.{{sfn|Murray-Brown|1974|p=308}}

In 1962 he returned to London to attend one of the Lancaster House conferences.{{sfnm|1a1=Arnold|1y=1974|1p=159|2a1=Kyle|2y=1997|2p=55}} There, KANU and KADU representatives met with British officials to formulate a new constitution.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=152}} KADU desired a federalist state organised on a system they called ''[[Majimbo]]'' with six largely autonomous regional authorities, a two-chamber legislature, and a central Federal Council of Ministers who would select a rotating chair to serve as head of government for a one-year term. Renison's administration and most white settlers favoured this system as it would prevent a strong central government implementing radical reform.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=209–213}} KANU opposed ''Majimbo'', believing that it served entrenched interests and denied equal opportunities across Kenya; they also insisted on an elected head of government.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=215}} At Kenyatta's prompting, KANU conceded to some of KADU's demands; he was aware that he could amend the constitution when in office.{{sfnm|1a1=Arnold|1y=1974|1p=152|2a1=Maloba|2y=2018|2pp=217–218}} The new constitution divided Kenya into six regions, each with a regional assembly, but also featured a strong central government and both an upper and a lower house.{{sfn|Arnold|1974|p=152}} It was agreed that a temporary coalition government would be established until independence, several KANU politicians being given ministerial posts.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=220}} Kenyatta accepted a minor position, that of the Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs and Economic Planning.{{sfnm|1a1=Murray-Brown|1y=1974|1p=308|2a1=Arnold|2y=1974|2p=159|3a1=Kyle|3y=1997|3p=56|4a1=Maloba|4y=2018|4p=220}}

The British government considered Renison too ill at ease with indigenous Africans to oversee the transition to independence and thus replaced him with [[Malcolm MacDonald]] as Governor of Kenya in January 1963.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|pp=222–223}} MacDonald and Kenyatta developed a strong friendship;{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=230}} the Briton referred to the latter as "the wisest and perhaps strongest as well as most popular potential Prime Minister of the independent nation to be".{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=234}} MacDonald sped up plans for Kenyan independence, believing that the longer the wait, the greater the opportunity for radicalisation among African nationalists.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=239}} An election was scheduled for May, with self-government in June, followed by full independence in December 1964.{{sfn|Maloba|2018|p=240}}