A petition filed to the Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage is looking for the stays of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s founding father and first president, to be relocated from Parliament Grounds in Nairobi to his ancestral dwelling in Gatundu, Kiambu County.
The petition dated July 29 and signed by John Mweha Kariuki, a neighborhood chief from Kiambaa Constituency, argues that Kenyatta’s present resting place contradicts each constitutional and cultural rules.
“This is a honest, non-partisan enchantment to the Government to provoke a dignified, consultative, and culturally delicate course of,” the petition states.
“Relocating Mzee’s stays to Gatundu would replicate our cultural reverence and promote a way of rootedness amongst residents.”
Kenyatta, who led Kenya from independence in 1963 till his dying in 1978, was buried at a state mausoleum adjoining to Parliament Buildings.
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Reasons for Relocation of Kenyatta’s Body
Kariuki contends that this location is “symbolically and constitutionally reserved for the Legislative arm of Government,” which he believes creates an institutional battle given Kenyatta’s position because the Head of the Executive.
The petition lists seven core causes for the proposed relocation, together with religious alignment, nationwide reconciliation, and devolution of historic reminiscence.
It additionally acknowledged the assumption, although undocumented, that Kenyatta might have most well-liked to be buried in his homeland in accordance with Kikuyu traditions.
“Among many African communities, the failure to look at ancestral burial traditions for elders is believed to convey misfortune or unrest,” the petition notes. “This act of cultural restoration would symbolically convey stability, therapeutic, and nationwide concord.”
Kariuki additional requires the creation of a National Heritage Site in Gatundu, which he says would function a middle for schooling, cultural reflection, and tourism.
He recommends that the federal government convene a nationwide consultative discussion board together with the Kenyatta’s household, non secular leaders, the National Museums of Kenya, and cultural elders to debate the method.
Constitutional Provisions
The petition invokes a number of constitutional provisions to assist the request, together with Article 11 on cultural heritage, Article 33 on freedom of expression, and Article 44 on cultural rights.
It additionally confirmed the symbolic significance of respecting ancestral lands below Article 60 of the Constitution.
“I imagine that relocating the stays of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta to his ancestral dwelling would honor our traditions, right a historic inconsistency, and reaffirm our identification as a individuals rooted in cultural values,” Kariuki writes.
The doc has been formally copied to President William Ruto, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, the Judiciary, the Kenyatta household, county governments, and nationwide media shops.
