C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek was named Assistant Minister for Defense by Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta in 1963. He was elevated to the position of Minister of Natural Resources in 1966 and then of Foreign Affairs in 1967. He was a real freedom movement hero, setting an excellent example for the younger generation with his selfless sacrifice, tenacious resistance, and unwavering courage.
Argwings-Kodhek served as Siaya’s first Member of Parliament for Gem from 1963 until the country’s independence in 1969. He practiced human rights law in Nairobi and was bitten by the political bug not long after returning to Kenya from London, where he had received his legal degree.
He was called “a hot head” by the colonial authorities for his human rights advocacy and defense of Mau Mau liberation fighters, including Waruru Kanja (who went on to become the MP and cabinet minister of Nyeri Town) and other nationalists. In order to compete with Mboya’s Nairobi People’s Convention Party, CMG founded the Nairobi Congress Party when he was employed in Nairobi. Chiedo Moa Gem was the initials CMG, which he received from his parents as a memento of one of their ancestors.
In his Dholuo tongue, Kodhek utilized the initials as a political moniker. “Fried (or cooked up) in Gem” is the direct translation of Chiedo Moa Gem. However, his detractors falsely claimed that, while he was a student, the British had indoctrinated him.
Argwings-Kodhek, who was born in Malanga, Gem location, in 1923, attended King’s College Budo, Uganda, after first attending St. Mary’s Yala. CMG came from the same family as his successors, Prof. B. A. Ogot, the husband of Grace Ogot, the Gem MP from 1985 to 1992, and Isaac Omolo Okero, the MP and Cabinet Minister from 1969 to 1979. After Budo, Moi and CMG met while he was a teacher at Kapsabet Boys High School.
After that, Argwings-Kodhek was awarded a scholarship to study teaching in England; however, the colonial authorities disapproved of his interest in law. His scholarship was cancelled after a year, and his father had to sell a large number of cows to cover his tuition.
He was admitted to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn after receiving his bar qualification. This was a fantastic accomplishment, and he was able to continue practicing law in England at a respectable salary. However, he shocked his coworkers when he told them he was going to Kenya. On the eve of independence, Argwings-Kodhek was one of the first native Kenyans to become a lawyer. He was on the same level as Njonjo, Jean Marie Seroney, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Tinderet MP from 1963 to 1975.
After he got back home, the colonial administration hired him to work as a legal assistant in the office of the Registrar-General, where he would work with Njonjo, Seroney, and Mareka Gecaga. Later, Gecaga resigned to become chairman of British American Tobacco Kenya Ltd. However, CMG left his position to work as a Mau Mau lawyer, sometimes for little or no compensation. He was viewed as a Mau Mau lawyer by the colonial authority, who were enraged with him for this. However, to Africans, he served as evidence, if any was required, of the European myth that black people were only suited for low-paying jobs. The colonial hate of Argwings-Kodhek was heightened by the fact that he was married to a European woman.
