In Kenya after independence, Eliud Timothy Mwamunga was a shrewd politician who successfully navigated the country’s tumultuous political landscape to hold positions in Presidents Kenyatta and Moi’s Cabinets. Later on, he co-founded the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP), which was crucial in propelling Kibaki to the position of third president of Kenya.
Rich landowner in a constituency rich in minerals, cash crops, and wildlife, Mwamunga courted the Kenyatta and Moi administrations by playing low-key politics at a time when the careers of combative and abrasive politicians were brutally cut short through detention, removal from the Cabinet, or rigging out of Parliament. Mwamunga also rose above other political greenhorns in Taita-Taveta and the Coast.
Mwamunga, a lawyer, created history by holding the position of MP for 20 consecutive years, not just in the Voi constituency but also in the greater Taita-Taveta. Not a single one of his predecessors or successors, including Adiel Kachila, Darius Mbela, Boniface Mganga, and Basil Mwakiringo, was able to hold office for more than two terms.
On July 21, 1935, Mwamunga was born in Ishamba, at the base of the Taita Hills. He was raised in a region rich in natural resources, including cash crops (mangoes and sisal), fruits (mangoes), minerals (rubies), and animals (since the Tsavo National Park is close by). After attending Ishamba Primary School, he subsequently enrolled in Alliance and Shimo-la-Tewa Secondary.
After completing his higher education at Makerere, he studied law at the University of Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam was the best legal school in the region, if Makerere was the educational Mecca of East Africa. During the height of the independence movement, Mwamunga taught in a number of Coast Province schools after earning her law degree. The State of Emergency had been proclaimed in 1952, the Mau Mau conflict was in full swing, and leaders were organizing political parties to push for independence.
Ronald Ngala was the leader of that political movement at the Coast and a big inspiration to the young instructor. Ngala was instrumental in the fight for independence because he opposed the marginalization and exploitation of the Coast people.
A young Mwamunga was inspired to teach at the Coast and later become the Taita-Taveta County Clerk by some of the thrilling political events of the freedom struggle, independence, and the birth of the young nation, including the independence constitutional conferences in London, the elections in 1963 that pitted Kanu against Kadu, and the dissolution of Kadu in 1964.
Mwamunga mixed socially with politicians and civic leaders in her capacity as town clerk. Additionally, he traveled across Taita-Taveta and saw firsthand how much his people needed basic necessities. He also realized at that time what part he might play in helping the Taita people.
He ran for and won the Taita-Taveta parliamentary seat in 1969 at the age of 34. During his initial tenure in Parliament, Mwamunga spearheaded many development initiatives and cultivated valuable relationships with proponents of agriculture, animal conservation, and mineral exploration, encompassing affluent Kenyans and foreigners who could use the region’s abundant natural resources.
