Thread by @historykenya101

The origin of prolonged conflict between Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, British and the Israeli.

What followed this 1964 incident led to spread of propaganda and fake news by the Britons and Israelis in Kenya.

*****thread*****

At the dawn of Kenya’s independence, Home Affairs Minister Oginga Odinga deported Ian Henderson. This was in 1964.

Henderson, who spoke fluent Gîkûyû, was a white CID police officer in the colonial administration.

He was famous for leading the team of native police officers and informers who tracked, and finally captured, Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi Waciuri.

In 1964, Oginga’s Ministry was in charge of the police. That time the mood in the independent Kenya was different.

Africans were in charge & leaders in govt faced pressure to deport certain European civil servants “in the public interest”.One such civil servant was Henderson.

The Prime Minister and Oginga’s boss, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was keen to portray a reconciliatory image because months earlier, he had assured white settlers in Nakuru that his government would not pursue revenge.

Henderson was no settler....but according to Oginga in his book "Not Yet Uhuru", Africans “could not understand at all how we could tolerate Henderson’s continued presence in Kenya”.

They wanted him deported. "We will forgive, but not forget”, he told them.

Oginga promptly deported Henderson & “two Europeans who were making a practice of anti-African talk in public places"

When the matter was brought to him,Mzee was non-committal

“Mzee was in a dilemma”,recalled Oginga

The PM, he added,instructed him to “take the matter in hand”

Following the deportation, Oginga was left on his own to fend off accusations by British expatriates that in deporting Henderson, he acted independently.
It may not have been clear what Mzee directed him to do. But it was clear that Oginga was angered by the accusations.

In Nov 1964,British news accused Oginga of smuggling into Kenya arms from communist countries.The VP -in-waiting was not going to have it easy with the British. It was from that time onwards that Oginga never had it with the British press & the Western media for that matter.

The Israelis also viewed Oginga as anti-western and this could be from the reports fed to them by Bruce McKenzie (Kenya's 1st Minister for Agriculture ) who doubled up as a British and Israeli spy.