Analyst Drops Matiang’i Preference & Opens Door to Another Leader for Presidency in 2027 Race

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta Kenya's founding president and Paul Ngei were good friends.Paul Ngei, a prominent politician and one of the Kapenguria Six detained with Kenyatta during the colonial era later became a cabinet minister in independent Kenya. While they were still detained together in the 1950s.

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta once intercepted communication between his daughter Margaret Kenyatta and Paul Ngei.

When Ngei and Mzee were imprisoned at Kapenguria, they both wrote to Margaret often and one day their letters were mixed up and Kenyatta got a hold of what Ngei had penned Margaret.

The letters were written in flowery language, full of neat Kiswahili phrases. According to biographical accounts including from historian Jeremy Murray-Brown, Jomo Kenyatta accidentally intercepted or came across one of these letters meant for his daughter.

According to biographer Jeremy Murray-Brown in his book on Kenyatta and various Kenyan media retellings from The Standard and Kenyans.co.ke Kenyatta turned to Ngei and said something along the lines of:

He confronted Ngei playfully but pointedly, saying something along the lines of:

"Hi, what are you going to say now? I've caught you! You've kept quiet for a long time, and here you are, a son-in-law, yet you never said a thing—hey?"

Despite the awkward discovery, it didn't damage their relationship long-term. Ngei remained a close ally and served in Kenyatta's cabinet after independence like as Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Tourism.