Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
C. M. G. Argwings-Kodhek
1923 – 1969
The first African barrister in Kenya, and the lawyer who defended the Mau Mau
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Kenya Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
The first East African called to the bar at the Inns of Court. He came home and took the cases nobody else would — defending Mau Mau suspects when doing so made a lawyer a suspect too.
Clement Argwings-Kodhek took degrees in law and social science and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, the first East African to qualify as a barrister at the Inns of Court in London and the first African barrister practising in Kenya.
He returned to a colony in the middle of the Emergency and built a practice defending Africans, including Mau Mau suspects, at a time when few would take the work. He became Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1963 and died in a car crash in 1969, in circumstances still disputed.
He returned to a colony in the middle of the Emergency and built a practice defending Africans, including Mau Mau suspects, at a time when few would take the work. He became Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1963 and died in a car crash in 1969, in circumstances still disputed.
- Wikipedia — C. M. G. Argwings-Kodhek
- Another World? East Africa and the Global 1960s — Argwings Kodhek (1923–69)
Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will check it.