Mzee Jomo Kenyatta gifted his son Uhuru Mercedes Benz 190 E when he was still a student at St Mary’s School. The German machine literally got him his wife Margaret.
Uhuru’s father died when he was 17 years old, just a year earlier he had been gifted his first car when he joined the upper Sixth grade.
Since joining St Mary’s School in Nairobi while in Grade 3, Uhuru and his brother Muhoho Kenyatta were chauffeured to school in high-end Mercedes Benz cars with private registration numbers.
A former schoolmate of the President noted that Uhuru and his siblings were also taught how to interact with other common students in school.
They would open their own doors, carry their own bags to class, attend the assembly with other students and queue for lunch.
However, Uhuru started driving himself to school when he joined the upper Sixth Grade at the age of 16 years.
Uhuru’s late father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta gifted him his first car – a cream Mercedes-Benz 190 E with the number plate KWT 185.
Students at St Mary’s School, popularly known as Saints, were allowed to drive and park their personal cars in school once they got to upper 6th.
When a young Uhuru was hunting for his future wife Margaret Gakuo, he drove to Karen suburbs in his Mercedes.
Uhuru and Margaret relationship started in the late 1970s when both were high school students though in different school. Their love blossomed in 1980s.
It happened that Uhuru and Margaret’s brother Maina were schoolmates at Saints. Maina introduced Uhuru to his young sister Kenya’s 4th president seized the opportunity to win himself his future wife.
Margaret is of Kenyan and German descent, she is the daughter of late Dr. Njuguna Gakuo – the first African Managing Director of Kenya Railways.
She was brought up in the leafy Karen suburb, the Rhino Park side which is serene, tranquil and deeply forested but with not-so good roads.
Accessing Margaret’s home was a challenge, especially during rainy season. It was always a bumpy ride for Uhuru when he drove his Mercedes to Karen to sneak in and out his lover.
During rainy days, Uhuru veered off into ditches or got stuck in the mud, as it was the case with other motorists using that road.
The road was in a deplorable condition but government did not take care of it because very few people lived in Karen then and especially deep inside the forested areas like where Margaret’s home is.
Decades later the road which is off Dagoretti Road is being expanded and tarmacked, coincidentally by President Uhuru’s administration.
Uhuru wasn’t deterred by the bad road to Margaret’s Karen home, he pursued her until they wedded in 1989 at the Holy Family Basilica.
The Mercedes-Benz 190 E with the number plate KWT 185 which won him Margaret holds a special place in Uhuru’s heart, the German machine is still in the president’s possession.
