Clement Michael George Argwings-Kodhek (26 October 1923 – 29 January 1969), also known as Chiedo Moa Gem Argwings-Kodhek, was a Kenyan attorney and politician. He served in the government and cabinet of

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He played a significant role in the ...

, Kenya's first president, for six years, during which time he held the post of member of parliament for the

Gem Constituency Gem Constituency is an Constituencies of Kenya, electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of six constituencies of Siaya County. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections. It had a population of 179,792 based on the 2019 census repor ...

and the portfolios of Minister of Natural Resources and the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Early life and education

A member of the Kagola Ojuodhi clan, Argwings-Kodhek was born in Nyawara,

Nyanza Province Nyanza Province (; ) was one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces before the formation of the 47 counties under the 2010 constitution. Six counties were organised in the area of the former province. The region is located in the southwes ...

. He was educated at St. Mary's School in Yala, and St. Mary's College in Kisubi, Uganda, where he sat for his Cambridge School Certificate in 1936. From 1937 until 1940 Argwings-Kodhek attended

Makerere College Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...

, graduating from there with a teaching degree. After graduation, Argwings-Kodhek taught at Kapsabet Boys High School and in the Rift Valley. In 1947, Argwings-Kodhek won a scholarship from the Kenyan colonial government to study in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Though sent to study the social sciences, Argwings-Kodhek's interests lay with the law, and he lost his scholarship when he switched to that subject, forcing his family to sell their assets in order to finance his education. After graduating from

University of South Wales The University of South Wales (USW) () is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The ...

, Argwings-Kodhek was called to the bar at

Lincoln’s Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England ...

, becoming the first East African to qualify as a barrister at the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...

in London.

Legal career

In 1952, Argwings-Kodhek returned to Kenya with his first wife, Mavis Tate. Though he was offered a position in the Department of the Attorney General, he rejected the low salary — which was a third of that of his white peers — and went instead into private practice. A close associate of several members of the

Kenya African Union The Kenya African Union (KAU) was a political organization in colonial Kenya, formed in October 1944 prior to the appointment of the first African to sit in the Legislative Council. In 1960 it became the current Kenya African National Union (KAN ...

(KAU), Argwings-Kodhek began taking briefs for KAU members charged with participating in the

Mau Mau rebellion The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...

. Soon he was in such high demand among accused Mau Mau participants that Kenya's white settler population called him 'the Mau Mau lawyer'. Many of the defendants who sought Argwings-Kodhek's services lacked the means to pay his fees. As a result, Argwings-Kodhek took their cases as ' paupers' briefs,' the low fees for which usually only covered his costs. His status as colonial Kenya's only Black lawyer exposed him to repeated harassment by police officers, who regularly requested his documentation and occasionally inhibited his access to areas affected by the state of emergency declared by the British. This harassment culminated with his

disbarment Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal conduc ...

in 1957.

Political career

Though national political parties were prohibited under the state of emergency proclaimed by the British, Argwings-Kodhek circumvented this ban in 1956 by establishing the Nairobi District African Congress. He was instrumental in the formation of the

Kenya African National Union The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 19 ...

(KANU) in March 1960, and he won election to the colony's

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

in the 1961 general election, serving on it until it replaced by the new

Parliament of Kenya The Parliament of Kenya is the bicameral legislature of Kenya. It is based at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi and consists of two houses. The upper house is the Senate, and the lower house is the National Assembly. See also * Politics of K ...

upon Kenya's independence in 1963. In the

1963 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya Colony between 18 and 26 May 1963. Voters elected members of the House of Representatives and Senate. The election was the last before independence later in the year. The result was a victory for the Kenya A ...

, Argwings-Kodhek won election to the country's new

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

as the representative for

. Appointed by Prime Minister

as Assistant Minister for Defence, Argwings-Kodhek served in that office until he was promoted in 1966 to head the Ministry of Natural Resources. In 1968, he was named Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, serving in that office until his death in a

car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...

in January 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Argwings-Kodhek, C 1923 births Luo people Alumni of Cardiff University People of the Mau Mau rebellion Kenya African National Union politicians Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Government ministers of Kenya 1969 deaths Alumni of St. Mary's School, Yala