Paul Ngei, Mau Mau rebel and cabinet minister

NAIROBI, Kenya – Paul Ngei, a former cabinet minister and one of the heroes of Kenya’s independence movement, died here on August 15, an official of the MP Shah Hospital said.

He was 81. He died after six days in the hospital’s intensive-care unit, the official said. Mr. Ngei had been in poor health for years.With Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, Ngei was one of the ‘Kapenguria 6’, who served prison terms in colonial days as leaders of the Mau Mau, a secret society of mostly Kikuyu tribesmen who in 1952 led a rebellion against white settlers and British colonial rule.The six were arrested on October 22 1952, on suspicion of being the leaders of the Mau Mau, whose violent revolt led the British authorities to declare a state of emergency that lasted for eight years.Although the Mau Mau uprising was finally put down, it pushed Britain toward finally granting independence to Kenya in 1964.Mr. Kenyatta became the nation’s first president.Ngei and the others were convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for being leaders of the Mau Mau, which had been banned by the British authorities.The day Ngei and the other five were arrested is a national holiday, named after Kenyatta, to commemorate heroes of the Kenyan struggle for independence who had been imprisoned or detained by the British colonial government.After his release in 1961, Ngei won election to a seat in the Kenyan Parliament, and after independence he served for 27 years as a minister in the cabinets of Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi, his successor.Among the posts he held were the portfolios for marketing, housing and social services, environment and lands and settlement.He was forced to leave his Parliament seat and cabinet post in 1991 after the Kenyan High Court declared him bankrupt.- Nampa-APMr. Ngei had been in poor health for years.With Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, Ngei was one of the ‘Kapenguria 6’, who served prison terms in colonial days as leaders of the Mau Mau, a secret society of mostly Kikuyu tribesmen who in 1952 led a rebellion against white settlers and British colonial rule.The six were arrested on October 22 1952, on suspicion of being the leaders of the Mau Mau, whose violent revolt led the British authorities to declare a state of emergency that lasted for eight years.Although the Mau Mau uprising was finally put down, it pushed Britain toward finally granting independence to Kenya in 1964.Mr. Kenyatta became the nation’s first president.Ngei and the others were convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for being leaders of the Mau Mau, which had been banned by the British authorities.The day Ngei and the other five were arrested is a national holiday, named after Kenyatta, to commemorate heroes of the Kenyan struggle for independence who had been imprisoned or detained by the British colonial government.After his release in 1961, Ngei won election to a seat in the Kenyan Parliament, and after independence he served for 27 years as a minister in the cabinets of Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi, his successor.Among the posts he held were the portfolios for marketing, housing and social services, environment and lands and settlement.He was forced to leave his Parliament seat and cabinet post in 1991 after the Kenyan High Court declared him bankrupt.- Nampa-AP