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Julius Gikonyo Kiano

Dr. Julius Gikonyo Kiano was a prominent Kenya politician and career corporate Director whose active political life occurred uninterrupted in the period 1958 to 1979 and whose corporate service spanned 1980 to 2003. He was an elected member of the Kenyan Parliament from 1958 in the pre-independence period, continuing after independence in 1963 up to 1979. He served as a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of the Republic of Kenya, as well as in the early cabinet of Daniel Arap Moi, the second President of Kenya. After losing his Mbiri (renamed Kiharu) parliamentary seat in the 1979 Kenyan general election to Kenneth Matiba, Kiano remained an active member of the ruling KANU political party. After leaving parliamentary politics Kiano spent 23 years serving on the Board of Directors of several major state owned corporations in Kenya, most notably the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation from 1991 to 2003.

Besides politics, Dr. Kiano made several other significant achievements in his life and career. He is widely acknowledged as being the first Kenyan African to earn a doctorate degree, having graduated in 1956 with a PhD degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He subsequently became the first African Lecturer at the Royal Technical College, Nairobi (now the University of Nairobi) before being elected as an African representative to the pre-independence Legislative Council in 1958. In 1960 he was a member of the Kenyan delegation to the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference in London that drafted the Kenyan constitution prior to independence. Kiano also worked with the late Kenyan politician Tom Mboya in organizing the airlift of Kenyan students to universities in the USA in 1960 and 1961, many of whom later became prominent Kenyan leaders. As Minister for Commerce and Industry in the 1960’s and 1970’s, Kiano was noted for his efforts in promoting African small scale business and in championing the Africanization of the commercial sector in Kenya. Dr. Julius Kiano additionally had wide experience in international affairs particularly as head of Kenya’s delegations to the Lomé Convention, Group of 77 and UNCTAD Conferences in the 1970’s. In 1993 he was one of the founders of the Kenya United States Association and served as its Chairman.

Early Years and Education

Julius Gikonyo Kiano was born on 1st June 1926 to an ethnic Kikuyu rural peasant family in a village in present day Muranga County, Kenya. He attended Alliance High School, Kenya from 1942 to 1945, after which he was admitted to Makerere College (now University) in Uganda in 1946. In 1949 he was admitted to Antioch College, Ohio, USA where he completed his BA Economics in 1952. He then enrolled in the same year at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, where he completed his MA in Political Science in 1953. Between 1953 and 1956 he undertook his PhD in Political Science at University of California, Berkeley. As a student Kiano had benefited from community fundraising support in Kenya and from fellowships and work programs when attending American universities.

Early Career, Political and Government Service

Kiano was among the relatively few Kenyans to have received post graduate education prior to the country’s independence. This fact coupled with an ambition to play a prominent role in the country’s public affairs led him to a leadership career in politics and government. Notable positions he held were:

Lecturer in Economics and Constitutional Law, Royal Technical College (now University of Nairobi) 1956 to 1958

Elected Member of the Kenya Legislative Council 1958 to 1963 representing Central Province South Constituency

Elected Member of the Kenya National Assembly 1963 to 1979 representing Mbiri Constituency

Minister for Commerce and Industry 1963 to 1966

Minister for Labour 1966 to 1968

Minister for Education 1968 to 1969

Minister for Local Government 1970 to 1973

Minister for Commerce and Industry 1973 to 1976

Minister for Water Development 1976 to 1979.

International Service

Highlights of Dr. Kiano’s international service include:

Leader of Kenya delegation to UNCTAD (1964 and 1976),

Chairman, African Ministers of Industry Conference 1975,

Leader of Kenya delegation to ACP and Lomé Convention 1975

Rapporteur General, Group of 77 Conference, Manila, Philippines 1975

Leader of Kenya delegation in the Governing Council of UNEP 1977 to 1979

President, UN Conference on Desertification, August to September 1977

Member of the Executive Committee, Association of African Development Financial Institutions, 1982 to 1984.

Honors

Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (EGH) 1967

Honorary Doctor of Letters (D.LITT.) University of Nairobi 1997

Corporate Service

Dr. Kiano served in the following capacities after the end of his political career:

Managing Director, Industrial Development Bank, Kenya 1980 to 1984

Chairman of the Board, National Oil Corporation of Kenya, 1984 to 1990

Chairman of the Board, Kenya Oil Refineries, 1990 to 1991

Chairman of the Board, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, 1991 to 2003

Family Life

Julius Gikonyo Kiano was married for the first time in 1956 to an American bride Ernestine Hammond, a Nursing graduate of University of California, Berkeley, with whom he settled in Kenya and had four children. This marriage, however, ended in 1966 following their separation and deportation of Mrs. Ernestine Kiano from Kenya by the Kenya Government. In 1966 Dr. Kiano began a second marriage (formalized in 1970) to Jane Mumbi with whom he had a further two children. His marriage to Mrs Jane Mumbi Kiano was to last 37 years until his demise. During the marriage Mrs. Jane Kiano became a prominent women’s leader in Kenya and served for 11 years as Chairperson of the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation (a women’s welfare movement in Kenya). Dr. Kiano passed away on 8th August 2003 from heart illness at the age of 77 years.

References

1. Quest for Liberty Gikonyo Kiano Biography with Irungu Thatiah and Jane Kiano. Longhorn Publishers 2013.
2. History of Kenya / Republic of Kenya, The Cabinet / A look at the late Dr. Julius Gikonyo Kiano. YouTube - KBC Channel 1.
3. Gikonyo Kiano: New Kikuyu Leader? By S Hempstone 1958 Africa Special Report; New York Vol. 3 (Jan 1, 1958).
4. Julius Gikonyo Kiano - Champion of African small-scale business, Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board. https://cabinets.kenyayearbook.co.ke
5. “As first Kenyan PhD holder, Kiano gave us a craving for education”. Daily Nation, August 02, 2013 updated July 02, 2020. https://nation.africa/kenya/news
6. Julius Gikonyo Kiano, University of Nairobi, https://www.uonbi.ac.ke>files 1 Dec 1997
7. Dr. Kiano, United Nations Archives and Records Management Section search, search.archives.un.org.