Monday, July 14, 2008

RONALD G NGALA


Ronald Gideon Ngala (1923-1972) was a national politician. His career was marked by a realistic approach to politics and by a devotion to Kenya which allowed him to place his country's stability over his own political ambition.Mzee Ngala was born in the coastal town of Kilifi in the British colony of Kenya.


He was educated at Alliance High School and at Makerere University College, where he received a diploma in teaching. He then began a teaching career (1949-1954), rising to the positions of headmaster of the Buxton School (1955-1956) and of supervisor of schools (1957-1958).During the 1950s, national political parties were banned in the British colony, but regional parties were allowed in some areas. African and non-African groups were competing for the chance to influence Kenya's future. Ngala began his national career by being elected to the Legislative Council in 1957. In 1959, the Kenya National party, a multiracial grouping, was formed with Ngala its secretary. The party was generally opposed by the more radical members of the African community.

At the Lancaster House Conference of February 1960, the Africans sent a united delegation under the compromise leadership of Ngala. The conference was an attempt by the British to control Kenya's evolution to independence. But rivalries among African politicians remained. The leaders in the legislative council split into two parties, the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU). Ngala was chosen as treasurer of KANU, but he was dissatisfied with that minor post and went over to KADU, and was elected its president.In the elections of 1961 KANU, under the leadership of Oginga Odinga, won the popular vote and elected the most legislators.

Most Kenyans still regarded the independence movement leader Jomo Kenyatta as their leader even though the British held him in detention. After secret negotiations the British gave KADU the opportunity to form a government with the promise that Kenyatta would be released in four months. Ngala was appointed leader of "government business." But with the release of Kenyatta, Ngala soon was relegated to the background. Both KANU and KADU sought to win Kenyatta's approval. Ngala attempted to compromise to preserve African unity, but he proved unable to control his party, and Kenyatta became president of KANU.A new constitution in 1962 led to elections, won by KANU, and in May 1963 Kenyatta became prime minister of Kenya.

Ngala was leader of the opposition, but when KADU members began crossing to KANU out of loyalty to Kenyatta, it became clear that KADU had no future. In 1964, Ngala dissolved the party and joined KANU in what became a one-party state. Ngala became minister of cooperatives and social services in Kenyatta's government. He never again played a major role in the political life of Kenya, but he was remembered as one of its leaders in the fight for independence.

___________________


Elder Ngala Was Not One to Shy Away From a Duel

Weak-kneed: Three weeks ago, the younger Ngala, a joint Kanu vice-chairman, withdrew from the race for the party's nomination to run for the presidency when President Moi retires at the end of this year. Writer JOSEPH KARIMI looks at the days of his late father, Ronald Ngala.
That Ronald Gideon Ngala died under controversial circumstances literally summed up the political life he had led – often at loggerheads with colleagues who regularly stabbed him in the back at critical moments in his career.

Ngala was being driven to the Coast on December 12 (Jamhuri Day), 1972, when his car reportedly "ploughed" through a swarm of bees forcing it to swerve off the road and roll several times after the driver lost control. The minister was admitted to hospital with serious injuries and died on Christmas Day. He was buried at his Vishakani home in Kilifi District.
During the subsequent inquest, his driver denied the bees theory, saying he was avoiding a herd of wildebeest when he lost control of the car.
In real life, however, Ngala was a breed closer to the stinging bee than the timid wildebeest.
"Were it the elder Ngala who was in the 2002 presidential race, he would not have withdrawn from the race without a fight as his son Katana did in favour of Uhuru Kenyatta," a Mombasa resident said.
Three weeks ago, the younger Ngala, a joint Kanu vice-chairman, withdrew from the race for the party's nomination to run for the presidency when President Moi retires at the end of this year.

Francis Raymond, a retired Nation Coast Bureau Chief, said of the late Ngala: "The politician was a fighter and an orator who moved crowds. He was eloquent and very consistent in his address and would polish up his speech. He certainly was good presidential material."
Joseph Okoth Waudi, who has lived in Mombasa since the 1950s said that the elder Ngala was a religious man who rarely appeared in social places such as bars or discotheques.

At a time when parliamentary politics was relatively new to Africans, Ngala would address big rallies particularly after Kenya African Democratic Union (Kadu) was formed in 1960, with him as president. He had quit a teaching career that began in 1949 and rose to become the headmaster of Buxton Intermediate School between 1955 and 1956.
Born in Kilifi, Coast Province in 1923, the elder Ngala was educated at Alliance High School and later Makerere University College, where he graduated with a diploma in education. He joined active politics in 1958 when he was elected the legislative council member for Coast Rural in 1958.
Waudi, who is the proprietor of Cassablanca Night Club in Mombasa and the third African to be licensed to run a bar – Devil's Corner – said at that time the political agenda of liberation from colonialism was taking root, with councillors being prominent people who used to visit Town Hall to attend meetings or ceremonies.
Ngala's politics, however, resonated among the coastal communities as he advocated for majimboism (federalism), which espoused semi-autonomous regional or ethnic enclaves.

His policy was borne out of what he saw as a threat in the ever-increasing population of upcountry people who went to seek jobs and business opportunities along the 480km coastal strip.
To counter this, he formed the Coast African People’s Union, which called on "each African to stay in his own area" as a way of fighting "upcountry imperialism."
With pressure coming from the white settlers, an alliance with minority groups in the Rift Valley, who were wary of dominance by communities from central and western Kenya, came into being.
Ngala went on to chair the Lancaster House Conference held in January and February 1960, only to be disgusted by the prominence the press in London gave to Tom Mboya, one of the nine legislative council members.
In June 1960, representatives from minority communities resolved to form Kadu with the active assistance of key white members of the colonial government.
Ngala was elected President of Kadu, while Masinde Muliro was his deputy, Daniel arap Moi the chairman and Martin Shikuku the secretary-general.

The title of president for social organisations was abolished in the 1970s. Only the head of state could be referred to as president.
Kadu was in direct opposition to Kanu, which was formed in March 1960, with Jomo Kenyatta as its president, while he was still under restriction at Lodwar. James Gichuru was the acting president, while Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was the vice-president and Tom Mboya the secretary-general.
Although Ngala was designated as Kanu treasurer in absentia following a decision by African representatives that all district organisations be dissolved and their assets transferred to Kanu, he declined the position on return from a trip to the US. He said that the position was "too small for his political stature."
The misgivings drawn from the Lancaster House Conference that some political gangs were blocking his way to national leadership and a white settlers campaign that the safety of minority tribes after independence was not guaranteed perhaps informed this decision.
The divide-and-rule campaigners argued that dominant communities from central and western Kenya claimed the White Highlands from Europeans for themselves and would discount historical claims to the land by smaller communities.

Ngala's group favoured gradual decolonisation, which was a counter-move to Kanu's demand for "uhuru (independence) immediately."
The Lancaster House Conference had demanded immediate introduction of a "responsible government," the release of Kenyatta and other detained leaders, and an end to the state of emergency.
At the subsequent constitutional conference, in which Kenyatta participated, Britain stated its aims, which included the building of a democracy based on the Westminister model and a self-government under certain traditional conditions.
In March 1961, elections were held under the new constitution and Kanu won. However, the colonial government continued to support Kadu and a new constitution was introduced, increasing the African representative members in the Legislative Council (Legco) to 14, and the election of four Specially Elected Members from each of the three racial groups.
As Kenya moved towards independence, the Kenyatta group was determined to govern unchallenged, an end which they realised on November 3, 1964, when the House of Representatives approved a Bill to make Kenya a republic within the Commonwealth by December 12 of same year. Kadu minister Stanley Oloitiptip crossed the floor to join the government side as did many other Kadu senators, who were yet to approve the Bill, leaving Ngala a defeated man.
"If we had not crossed to Kanu, we would have watched Kadu groups cross the floor leaving very few members in isolation on the opposition bench," Ngala said later in an interview.
"To save my party under the circumstances, I and my colleagues had to take a quick and momentous decision," he added.

On joining Kanu, Ngala was to become one of Kanu’s vice-presidents at the 1966 Limuru Conference in which Odinga was ejected from Kanu.
His son, Katana, currently occupies the same seat following the controversial party elections held on March 18. Ngala went on to serve in various ministerial positions until his death in 1972, on the ninth anniversary of Kenya's internal self-government.

Were one to sum up his legacy, contemporary Kenyan political terms such as majimbo, opposition, defection, nominated Members of Parliament and one-party rule would be attributed to him in concert with others.
One thing that could still distress him in his sleep, however, is that the land problem at the Coast, where most people live as squatters, is yet to be resolved.

DAILY NATION

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

No comments: