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  Belafonte’s first visit to Kenya, In his own words from his book.   As the images of the funeral (of John F. Kennedy) reverberated in all our minds and a new president inherited the challenge of passing the Civil Rights Bill, I flew to Africa for a celebration full of joy and promise: Independence Day for Kenya. With me, I brought Miriam and several musicians, though not Millard Thomas, who sadly had died of cancer. Miriam and I were received like visiting royalty. We sat in the reviewing stand as tribe after tribe paraded. On one side of us was Jomo Kenyatta, the country’s first prime minister who vowed that tribal rivalries would be buried and forgotten in the new republic. On the other was Prince Philip, representing the British Crown. At some point, the British flag was lowered and the Kenyan flag was hoisted up to take its place. Carefully, the British flag was folded and handed over to Prince Philip, who put it on his lap. I was within earshot of him as he turned...

  JOHN F. KENNEDY AND THE STUDENT AIRLIFT At a key point in the 1960 presidential campaign, a dynamic young leader from Kenya named Tom Mboya visited Senator John F. Kennedy. Mboya led a campaign of his own that would eventually bring hundreds of African students to America for higher education, including Barack Obama Sr., President Obama's father. Kennedy's decision to support the effort became an issue in the election and possibly a factor in his narrow victory. American Education for African Students Senator John F. Kennedy and Tom Mboya first met in 1959 at a conference on international affairs. Just 28 years old, Mboya was a labour leader and rising political star in Kenya's liberation movement. At the time, he was on a speaking tour of North America seeking scholarships for Kenyan and other East African students whose opportunities for higher education under colonial rule were severely limited. Kennedy expressed interest in Mboya's initiative. Tom Mboya...

  RIP HARRY BELAFONTE (1-3-1927 == 25-04-2023)   For just a few minutes in 1963, I had the privilege and honour to shake hands with the great Harry Belafonte in Nairobi. The late Pius Menezes who was responsible for bringing many, many international celebrities to Kenya had asked me to come and join him for a cup of tea at his shop in the old Ambassador Building (quite new in 1963). I used to meet him there quite regularly. The moment I stepped in the doorway, I almost fell to the floor … there standing in real life was the great Harry Belafonte. I was over every planet in the universe. Pius had invited Harry and the South African superstar Miriam Makeba to Kenya’s independence celebrations. Later in the week Pius and Quitty held a reception for all of Pius’ international guests at the Goan Gymkhana. That magical moment with Harry Belafonte has lived with me all of my life. Here is a report of that time: BY DENNIS MCDOUGAL (Los Angeles times) JUNE 23, 1985...

  Jack Ensoll, pioneering editor passes on Saturday, August 11, 2012 — updated on July 04, 2020   Courtesy of the Nation Nairobi.   Jack Ensoll, one-time editor of the Kenya Weekly News and later the Sunday Post. I think this tribute is by the late Gerard Loughran, one of the finest journalists who blessed the Kenya media scene with his brilliance.:   I learned with great sadness last week of the death of an old friend from bygone Kenya – Jack Ensoll, one-time editor of the  Kenya Weekly News  and later the  Sunday Post . His name and the titles of those papers will mean nothing to the vast majority of Kenyans today but, in the hectic years preceding Uhuru, they were active combatants in the fiery debate about what sort of country independent Kenya should be.   Jack fought vigorously, if naively, for a rainbow-hued, multi-racial future, arguing that significant power should be apportioned to Europeans in the new constitution since ...

  THE LAST HUNT By Jack Ensoll (Elspeth Huxley and Jocelin Grant’s Pioneer Scrapbook) We met at Marindas, 9000 feet up on the old Barnett place and I remembered how John Barnett had complained as reedbuck played hide-and-seek around a few acres below a copse. Always the same, this time of year, out of one wheat field and into another. Then the wheat was beginning to stand high and was the signal for the end of another Molo season. Now it was just a slight green bloom on the brown land under a leaden sky, and I leaned from the saddle and picked everlasting flowers as moved off to draw. Kariuki put the hounds into covert beside a stream and before long we heard the brassy summons of the Gone Away, the music of a good pack running, the rumble of fast cantering horses and the crack as they took their fences. Our pilot took us straight uphill, up one of those labouring, high-altitude hills, and we checked in at the woodland at the top. Now and then the panting and rustle of a houn...

  I HAVE always been a fan of the late Elspeth Huxley from the very first time I read the Flame Trees of Thika. And thanks to the Macmillian Library, I read many of her other books. I first went to the library as a child and I was told that Indians were not allowed there. However, just before I chucked a U-turn, someone (a lady) tapped me on the shoulder and told me it was OK but if I came back again I would have to bring a letter from my parents. I said I would, even though my parents could not read or write. Anyway, I had lots of friends who were much older than me and who could write such a letter. I first became enamoured with the written word when I was a child at St Teresa’s Boys’ School and for the rest of my time in Kenya, the Macmillan would satisfy my almost daily appetite for reading. Later when I became a journalist, the Macmillan was also handy in helping me research material for my stories for the Nation. Here are some yarns from Elspeth Huxley’s memorable Pioneers ...

  By Ivy D'Souza IN MOST places in Africa where there was a Goan club there were always men’s and women’s hockey teams to be found, especially in the main centres. Sport, music, dance and whatever social activities took your fancy were to be found.   Tanga, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Arusha/Moshi all had healthy sports teams and programs. Memories have gone walkabout into the heavens and names, dates, events and other info is hard to come by.    Below is one story, however much it might be lacking in all the facts.  Ivy D’Souza went to St Joseph’s Convent School, Dar es Salaam from 1946-1954. She was at the same school for all her education. She played netball, hockey and rounders at school. “There were no other sports for girls in those days. Loved hockey the best. Due to financial constraints left school in Form 2 (Standard X) 1955 and did a Typing Course. I also learnt...