Bruce Roy McKenzie EGH (1 January 1919 – 24 May 1978) was a South African-born Kenyan politician. He was the

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

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

during the presidency of

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigenous ...

, to whom he was an adviser. He is alleged to have been an agent for British, South African or Israeli intelligence by various people. He was assassinated on the orders of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n dictator

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

Early life

McKenzie was born in 1919 in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

. He joined the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

in 1939, and was seconded during World War II to Britain's

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and the Royal Australian Air Force with which he saw action in North Africa, commanding 458 Squadron RAAF and subsequently

17 Squadron SAAF 17 Squadron SAAF is a squadron of the South African Air Force. It is currently a transport/utility helicopter squadron. * First formed: 1 September 1939 * Historic aircraft flown: Junkers Ju 52/3m, Blenheim V, Lockheed Ventura GR V, Vickers Wel ...

, in the Mediterranean and European theatres. Following his air force service, he emigrated to Kenya in 1946 and became a prominent farmer in

Nakuru Nakuru is a city in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitant ...

Political career

In Colonial Kenya he was a member of the legislative Council, known as Legco from 1957-63 and held the post of Minister for Agriculture in 1959-60 and Minister for Land Settlement 1962-63. Post Independence in 1963 he was an appointed member of the House of Representatives (KANU) in 1963 and appointed Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry. He was instrumental in implementing the policy of buying land back from settlers, funded by the British Government, and transferring ownership to Kenyans.

Post-political career activities

It is alleged that in January 1976, McKenzie was involved in the kidnapping of two German and three Arab suspected terrorists wanted by Israel for an attempted missile attack on an

El Al El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural ...

airliner taking off from the airport of Nairobi. The five were secretly transported to Israel and later sentenced to long prison terms. In late June 1976, during

Operation Entebbe Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe Raid or Operation Thunderbolt, was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. A week earl ...

, McKenzie persuaded Kenyan President Kenyatta to permit

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

to collect intelligence prior to the operation, and to allow the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

access to the Nairobi airport. Before the operation, McKenzie assisted a Mossad agent who flew a small plane to Entebbe to take aerial photographs of the airport installations and parked fighter jets which were destroyed by the Israeli troops in the raid. On 24 May 1978, McKenzie was killed when a bomb attached to his aircraft exploded, as he departed a meeting with Amin. Some sources allege that Ugandan President

ordered Ugandan agents to assassinate MacKenzie in retaliation for his involvement with the Entebbe rescue. Some report that the bomb was concealed inside either a mounted antelope head, or a carved wooden statue in the form of a lion's head, which McKenzie had been presented as a gift from Idi Amin just prior to the flight. Other sources have suggested various other possible causes for the bombing, including that another person, also aboard the plane, may have been the target."Mossad, McKenzie, Idi Amin: The strange mix,"
May 26, 2019, '' The Citizen,'' retrieved September 2020 AUTION: THAT WEB PAGE INFECTED WITH A VIRUS at time of retrieval"Mystery behind Bruce McKenzie’s death lingers on,"
June 2, 2019, '' Kenyan Digest,'' retrieved September 2020. Later, Israel's Chief Director of

Meir Amit Meir Amit ( he, מאיר עמית, 17 March 1921 – 17 July 2009) was an Israeli politician and cabinet minister. He served as the Chief Director and the head of global operations for Mossad from 1963 to 1968, before entering into politics an ...

, had a forest planted in Israel in McKenzie's name. McKenzie was survived by his wife, Christina, three sons and two daughters.

References

External links

The Making of Idi Amin
Pat Hutton and Jonathan Bloch, ''New African'', February 2001.

''Workers' Daily'', 2 April 2002, extract from an article published by ''The Monitor'' (Uganda) on 31 March 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Bruce 1919 births 1978 deaths People from Umgungundlovu District Municipality Ministers of Agriculture of Kenya Government ministers of Kenya South African Air Force personnel South African World War II pilots Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Assassinated Kenyan politicians Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Kenya Alumni of Hilton College (South Africa) South African people of Scottish descent South African emigrants to Kenya Kenyan people of Scottish descent Operation Entebbe People murdered in Kenya Deaths by explosive device