Ronald Ngala
Independence-era political leader
He brought coastal priorities into the making of the republic.
- Theme
- Public Life
Ronald Ngala was a leading figure in the negotiations and political organising that preceded independence. As a leader of KADU, he advocated arrangements intended to protect regional interests within the emerging state.
His career records an important strand of the independence debate: how power should be distributed between the centre and Kenya's regions. His contribution should be read alongside the competing visions, alliances and compromises of that period.
Life and work
Ronald Gideon Ngala (1923–1972) was a Kenyan politician who was the leader of the Kenya African Democratic Union political party from its creation in 1960 until its dissolution in 1964.
Ngala was born in 1922 at Gotani in Giriama country. In 1929 the family moved to Vishakani near Kaloleni, which was to be Ngala's home for the rest of his life.
Ngala attended The Alliance High School and Makerere University College where he gained a teaching diploma. He worked as a teacher in Kenya's coastal region and later became headmaster of Mbale Secondary School in Taita-Taveta District.
Following these elections, Ngala, along with Tom Mboya, Oginga Odinga, Lawrence Oguda, Masinde Muliro, Daniel Arap Moi, Benard Mate and James Miumi formed the African Elected Members Organisation (AEMO) and signed a controversial press statement declaring Kenya's Lyttelton constitution on which they had been elected, void. One of the declarations of AEMO was that none of the African elected members of the legislative council would take any ministerial office. This constitutional crisis led to the first Lancaster House conference in 1960 at which the African delegation sought a new constitution for Kenya
At the Lancaster House conference, the ban on nationwide African political parties was lifted and the African delegation agreed to form the Kenya African National Union (KANU). Ngala was appointed to the committee which drafted KANU's constitution and at a meeting held on 14 May 1960, in Kiambu, he was elected as the party's treasurer in absentia which he declined having expected to be appointed the chairman. Daniel Moi also declined the assistant chairman slot. They later formed KADU.
After the formation of KANU, a number of smaller parties formed which represented the interests of minority tribes. At a meeting of the leaders of these parties held in Ngong on 25 June 1960, the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) was formed with Ngala as its leader, in opposition to KANU.
At the 1961 legislative council elections KADU led by Ngala won 11 seats to KANU's 19, however, the leaders of KANU refused to form any government until Jomo Kenyatta was released from house arrest. KADU under Ngala agreed to form a government and Ngala became Leader of Government Business and later Chief Minister.
Jomo Kenyatta was released from house arrest later in 1961 and became president of KANU. Under Kenyatta's leadership KANU won 83 of the 129 seats in the national assembly at the 1963 elections.
He went on to become one of KANU’s vice-presidents at the 1966 Limuru Conference in which Oginga Odinga was ejected from KANU.
The debates associated with Ngala's career remain part of understanding the republic's foundation: national unity had to be considered alongside the representation and security of communities within the new state.
This section adapts selected passages from Ronald Ngala by Wikipedia contributors. It is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected and edited passages, with additional editorial context; lists and reference markers omitted; punctuation and paragraph breaks adjusted. Photographs have separate licences.