Jomo Kenyatta was born in Ngenda, Kenya in 1891. A member of the Kikuyu tribe, he was named Kamau wa Ngengi and later christened Johnstone Kamau by Scottish missionaries. He adopted the name of Jomo Kenyatta in the 1920's taking his first named from the Kikuyu word for "burning spear" and his last name from the beared belt that he often wore. Kenyatta became active in Keynan politics in the early 1920's as a member of the nationalist Kikuyu Centrant Association. By the end of the 1920's be becam...