The Honourable Paul Joseph Ngei (18 October 1923 -15 August 2004) was a Kenyan politician who was imprisoned for his role in the anti-colonial movement but went on to hold several ministerial positions.

Early life

Paul Ngei was born at Kiima Kimwe near Machakos township, Kenya. He was the grandson of paramount chief Masaku after whom the town and the district were named. The family moved from Kiima Kimwe to a new settlement at Kangundo Division in a small village called Mbilini in 1929. This was a mountainous area with good rainfall for agriculture. His father had been converted to Christianity by the Africa Inland Mission.

Paul Ngei attended primary school at DEB Kangundo from 1932, intermediate school at Kwa Mating'i in Machakos town from 1936, and Alliance High School in Kiambu District. He then joined the army in the King's African Rifles (KAR) for a four year stint. After that he enrolled at Makerere University in Uganda as a journalism student from 1948-1950.

Anti-colonial activism

The anti-colonial movement gathered mometum in Kenya in the 1940s. A political upsurge led to the Mau Mau rebellion, which involved several tribes: the Luos, Nandis, Maasai, Kamba, Kikuyus, Merus and Embus.

The declaration of a state of emergency in October 1952 led to the arrest of Ngei, Jomo Kenyatta and others. earned "The Kapenguria six" included Fred Kubai, Bildard Kaggia, Achieng Oneko and Kungu Karumba. The last surviving member of the Kapenguria Six, Mr Oneko, died on June 9, 2007 . Kenyatta Day, a national holiday in Kenya, is held in Kenya to commemorate the detention of the six on October 20, 1952 .

They were released nine years later, in 1961, two years before Kenya gained independence .

Paul Ngei's history generates much interest when examined within the context of these post-World War II protest politics that eventually ushered independence to Kenya. These were protest politics characterised by party politics and violence as was manifested by the Mau Mau rebellion. Ngei lived and actively participated in both of these facets of Kenya's historical trajectory.

Ngei comes from the Akamba people of Kenya who were the driving force for the first political protest against the British in 1937 led by Samuel Muindi Mbingu.

Government positions

Paul Ngei served through out the Jomo Kenyatta government from 1964-1978 as a cabinet minister and in the post-Kenyatta government led by President Daniel arap Moi from 1978-1990 where he held several ministerial positions. In 1990 he was ruled bankrupt by court and consequently had to give up his parliamentary seat .

Funeral

Paul Ngei died in August 2004 at the age of 81 after suffering from serious diabetes. A mausoleum was built in Mbilini, Kangundo, the constituency he had served for 27 years, by the Kenyan government and unveiled in 2006.

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