The family of the founding president of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, has been in the public eye for decades, and each member has attracted public interest.
However, apart from Jomo Kenyatta himself, his wife Mama Ngina and son Uhuru Kenyatta have been the most prominent, while others have chosen to live away from the limelight.
One such example is Peter Magana, a son of Jomo Kenyatta, who has lived a low-key life even during the periods when his father and later Uhuru served as Kenya’s president.
In this segment, Times Digital Kenya explores Magana’s life and his rare visits to Kenya in the past and recent years.
Peter Magana Kenyatta, Uhuru’s British brother
Born to Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Edna Clarke on August 11, 1944, at Worthing Hospital in West Sussex, England, United Kingdom, Magana is the only child of the couple.
Edna, Peter Magana’s mother, married Kenyatta in 1942 as his second wife, at a time when the latter was working part-time and giving lectures in the United Kingdom.
Two years later, the couple were blessed with a baby boy, Peter Magana, before their marriage ended in 1946 when Jomo Kenyatta returned to Kenya, where he married another wife.
Peter Magana stayed with his mother in the United Kingdom, where he grew up and was educated.
When his father took power as Kenya’s first president, Magana was offered a government job in an effort to lure him to move to Kenya, but he chose to remain in the United Kingdom.
While in Britain, he pursued a career in journalism, working with the BBC as a presenter and producer for several years before retiring.
Rare Public appearances in Kenya
Despite being a member of the Prominent Kenyatta family, Peter Magana has only made a few appearances in the country over the years.
In 2013, he attended his younger brother Uhuru Kenyatta’s inauguration ceremony, marking his first public appearance.
He also attended Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s commemoration service in 2019 during Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency. At the event, he was pictured alongside Jomo Kenyatta’s third wife, Mama Ngina, and her son Uhuru. Since then, Peter Magana has not appeared at any other public events in Kenya.
