In 1962, shortly after being released from custody in Kapenguria, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta visited Paul David Kibuyi at his Givavei home in the now Vihiga County.
Kibuyi was the founder of the Africa Israel Nineve Church, which was by then the only indigenous church having the backing of the colonial masters.
According to Pastor Enos Mboya, the head of Education Department at the church, this was a vital meeting.
“Mzee Kenyatta wanted to have a word with the church founder who was very influential in the Western Kenya,” said Mboya.
Independence
Kenya was preparing for independence in 1963, and Pastor Mboya says some of the symbols of national unity which included the national flag was to be designed.
And the clergy says it was during this visit that Kenyatta was impressed by the church’s flag, and inquired what all the colours meant.
Mboya says according to the church founder, the green colour at the top stood for the life in the universe provided by God to man.
The white stood for the peaceful coexistence among the people of God, with the red part showing the blood of Jesus that was shed as he suffered to save man.
“After this revelation, Mzee Kenyatta was thrilled, and asked how this could be contextualized in the Kenyan scenario,” said Mboya.
He argued that Mzee Kenyatta then borrowed the idea, and modified it to create the Kenyan flag which has the green, white, red and black colours.
In the Kenyan flag, the black represents the black Kenyans who fought for their freedom.
The green represents the land of Kenya full of life, while red stands for the blood that Kenyans shed during the fight for independence.
The white on the other hand stands for peace and prosperity that Kenyans yearned to achieve after independence.
“So what Mzee Kenyatta did was to add the black, and the emblem at the middle of the flag,” said Mboya.