Author Bio: Jomo Kenyatta was the 1st President of Kenya (12 Dec. 1964 - 22 August 1978) and the first Prime minister of Kenya (1 June 1963 - 12 Dec. 1964). He was also a chairman of KANU (Kenya African National Union). He was a very influential statesman in Africa. He followed a moderate pro-Western and anti-Communist economic philosophy and foreign policy. He also oversaw Kenya’s acceptance into the United Nations as well as the independence of Kenya.
Date/Context: This was the speech at the African Union meeting at Nyeri, July 26, 1952. Many people are mistaking the Kenya African Union for the Mau Mau. The Kenya African Union, later called the Kenya African Nation Union, was devoted to break rule from British Kenya. Many protests and riots were occurring in British Kenya in the 1950’s and many KAU leaders were imprisoned. Guerrilla warfare tactics finally of the Land and Freedom army led to the conclusion the the KAU were Mau Mau but Kenyatta later explains that only the Mau Mau were an organization of violence while the KAU was not.
Summary: This speech was given to the Kenya African Union by Jomo Kenyatta who explains how the KAU is not the Mau Mau in the respect of violence. He also explains the many goals and expectations of the KAU such as increased wages for people of all social status and equality in a working aspect (salary). He tells of the laws that the KAU will put forth once it has taken over Kenya (robbery, thieving and murder will be against the law). He later emphasizes in his speech the importance of the prohibition on alcohol. He says “It is harming to our country and making people fools and encouraging crime”. He wraps up his speech with a summary of what he said plus a obligation to the people not to drink alcohol and be peaceful to the Royal Commission comes to Kenya from Great Britain.
Key Quotation: “K.A.U is not a fighting union that uses fists and weapons”.
ReplyDeleteDefining Characteristics: After thoroughly reading through this speech and the PDP, I have noticed three main points that should be marked as important. First off, the Kenya African Union is not the Mau Mau and those Kenyans want to ensure that nobody is confused between the two groups. Another point made would be about what Kenyatta wants to accomplish in the future. For example, he explains that if the Kenyans come together as one, they can gain the right to elect their own representatives. The third important point would be the ban on alcohol for anyone in the Kenya African Union. Overall, the PDP explains those exact goals of the Kenya African Union and how they are going to reach those goal very precisely and smoothly while mentioning only the important facts.
Feedback: Joel’s interpretation of this speech is right on point and is a great summary of Jomo Kenyatta’s thesis. First off, I think that Joel focused in on the key points in this speech and outlined them the perfect way in the summary. For example, Joel’s mentioning of the alcohol prohibitance was a key point in the speech and he incorporated it very smoothly into the paragraph. Secondly, Joel included a quote from the speech to provide evidence to the reader of his findings. This is a great factor to include in any writing piece and makes Joel a more reliable writer. The final feedback point on the PDP would be to have a more variety of sentence structure. In the Author Bio, Joel started almost every sentence with “He…” and it makes the paragraph sound a little choppy. Overall, the content of the PDP was great and made the reading of Kenyatta’s speech must easier to understand. The only thing I would alter would be the style of writing for some parts, but in general Joel did a fantastic job and deserves a round of applause.