The Kiambu Mafia is a
pejorative
A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...
term referring to a small group of the
Kikuyu people primarily from the then
Kiambu District
Kiambu County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kiambu and its largest town is Thika. Kiambu County is the second most populous after Nairobi County. Kiambu County borders Nairobi and Kajiado Counties to the S ...
of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
(now Kiambu and a portion of
Thika District) who benefited financially and politically from
Kenya African National Union
The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 19 ...
(KANU) and
Kenyatta taking power at independence.
These individuals earned wealth primarily in parcels of land "awarded" or “sold” to them by the government. For many years they were the predominant indigenous group in the Kenyan economy, controlling
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
and
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s, and retaining heavy influence over the tertiary sector as it developed.
Due to the influence the Kiambu mafia had, they could acquire lands from peasants in
Central Province in exchange with bigger parcels of land in
Rift Valley Province
Rift Valley Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Bonde la Ufa) of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the Kenyan general election, 2013.
Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces i ...
.
The
plutocratic
A plutocracy () or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income. The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. Unlike most political systems, plutocracy is not rooted in any established ...
style adopted by the government of the day allowed them easy access to essential resources. Many of these individuals were well educated, having attended universities inside and outside Kenya. However it must be appreciated{{Says who, date=November 2010 that there are individuals associated with the Kiambu Mafia not from the Kiambu district.
When Kenyatta's health started to deteriorate, the Kiambu Mafia was concerned about their continuing influence and so they decided to plan the succession in the event Kenyatta died by trying to amend the constitution so that the Vice president would not automatically hold power till the election is held.
Charles Mugane Njonjo, who was one of the mafia, but differed with them due to his apparent interests in the presidency which the group members were not prepared to support, came out strongly opposing the succession talks by saying it was in fact treason to even imagine the death of a sitting president. Political analysts and historians are of the opinion that Njonjo considered Moi a weak politician and was of the view that it would be easier to take the presidency from him rather than any of the Kiambu mafia.
When Moi came into power in 1978, he abolished all the "tribal" movements but his main aim was the GEMA, many of whose members were part of the Kiambu mafia as he was not comfortable with the huge wealth and power its members controlled.
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20060908055601/http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v5/v5i1a1.htm
History of Kenya