Sir Amar Nath Maini (31 July 1911 – 1999) was a Kenyan lawyer who became a prominent politician in

British Uganda The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Bri ...

, and the first Mayor of Kampala.

Biography

He was born in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

East Africa Protectorate East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britai ...

in 1911 to

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Punjabi

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

parents who had migrated to East Africa from

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was educated at the Government Indian School in Nairobi and the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

.Marco Surveys, 1967, Who's who in East Africa, p.28 Thereafter he studied law and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

. On completion of his studies, Maini returned to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and practiced as a barrister in Nairobi for a number of years. He served as a Member of Nairobi's Municipal Council between 1933 and 1939. In 1942, he moved to

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda where he soon became active in Ugandan politics and served as a member of the Kampala Township Authority and chairman of the Kampala Municipal Council. He was a member of Uganda's Legislative Council for seventeen years between 1944 and 1961. During this time he served as the Minister of Corporations and Regional Communications between 1955 and 1958, and Minister of Commerce and Industry between 1958 and 1961. Regarded as one of the ablest men in Uganda at the time, the appointment of an Asian minister was met with considerable African opposition. In 1950 he became the first Mayor of Kampala, and remained in the post until 1955. He was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's 1957 New Year Honours for public service in Uganda. In 1961 he became the first East African born Speaker of East African Central Legislative Assembly. On retirement in 1969, he migrated to the United Kingdom and passed away in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in August 1999 at the age of 88.Thomas Lionel Hodgkin, Elizabeth Hodgkin, Michael Wolfers, Thomas Hodgkin: letters from Africa 1947-56, HAAN, 2000, p.174 He was the father of Sir Ravinder Maini.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maini, Amar 1911 births 1999 deaths Kenyan people of Asian descent Kenyan people of Indian descent 20th-century Kenyan lawyers Punjabi people British Kenya people Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of Jamhuri High School Members of the Middle Temple Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Kenyan people of Punjabi descent Mayors of Kampala