At just 16, most teenagers prioritize playing PlayStation, spending time on social media, or hanging out with friends, but for a young Uhuru Kenyatta, life was already marked by privileges far beyond those of his peers.
Uhuru, the son of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, was privileged to own his first car at just 16 while attending St. Mary’s School.
In this segment, Times Digital Kenya takes a closer look at how Uhuru Kenyatta got his first car while he was barely a teenager.
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Early Life and Schooling
Born on 26 October 1961 to the founding president of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, and Margaret Kenyatta, Uhuru Kenyatta grew up in a wealthy family, spending much of his early life at State House. He grew up with three siblings: Muhoho Kenyatta, Christine Wambui Pratt, and Anna Nyokabi.
Uhuru attended St. Mary’s School in Nairobi, where he played for the school’s rugby team. While in school, Uhuru, the President’s son at the time, was an easy-going individual with an outgoing personality, and he made good friends despite being from Kenya’s first family.
He attended the school alongside the likes of Jimmy Kibaki (the son of Kenya’s third president, Mwai Kibaki), his cousin Jeff Koinange, as well as his future wife, Margaret Kenyatta.
After completing his secondary education, he studied Political Science and Economics at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
The Gift of the First Car
Uhuru Kenyatta, along with his younger brother Muhoho, often arrived at school in high-end Mercedes Benz cars with private number plates, according to a former classmate at St. Mary’s.
For Uhuru, this changed when he turned 16, while in the Upper Sixth Grade, as he was gifted a car by his father, President Jomo Kenyatta. The car, given to young Uhuru as a birthday gift, was a cream Mercedes Benz E-Class with the number plate KWT 185.
A local news outlet reports that, when he was gifted the car, he was old enough to drive and, as such, he often sneaked to Margaret Gakuo’s (his now-wife) home in Karen after they had started a relationship while still in school.
Additionally, Uhuru Kenyatta and Margaret’s brother, Maina Gakuo, went on outings in the Mercedes Benz E-Class.
