Thomas Johnson Kuto Kalume was a Kenyan politician and the first clergyman to be elected Member of Parliament (MP) in the history of the

National Assembly of Kenya The National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya (formerly House of Representatives) is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Kenya. Between 1966 and 2013, it served as a unicameral house. In 2013 ( 11th Parliament), it became the lower ...

. Kalume was a composer and co-producer of the

Kenyan national anthem "" (, ) is the national anthem of Kenya. History "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"'s lyrics were originally written in Kiswahili, the national language of Kenya. The commission responsible for its creation included five members and was headed by the Kenya ...

, which was recorded in English and Swahili in September 1963 and inaugurated at Uhuru Gardens on December 12, 1963 during Kenya's independence celebrations. The anthem bears an original African traditional tune from the Pokomo tribe in the coast. Kalume was born in Dagamra division of Bate location near the historical tourist town of

Malindi Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban centr ...

. He belonged to the Kambe tribe, Taka clan from

Kilifi Kilifi is a town on the coast of Kenya, northeast of Mombasa by road. The town lies on the Kilifi Creek and sits on the estuary of the Goshi River. Kilifi is the capital of Kilifi County and had a population of 122,899 during the 2009 census. ...

, part of the larger Mijikenda ethnic community which has traditionally occupied the coastal region of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. Kalume, attended the prestigious Alliance High School, Kikuyu and proceeded to obtain a bachelor's degree in Divinity from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He later graduated with a master's degree in Theology from

New York Theological Seminary The New York Theological Seminary (NYTS) was an American private non-denominational Christian seminary in New York City. It was founded in 1900 as the Bible Teacher's College. It ceased operating as an independent seminary on July 1, 2024. Throu ...

. He undertook the task of translating the Bible's New Testament directly from the Hebrew scriptures to Swahili. Kalume was elected Member of Parliament in the

1969 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya on 6 December 1969, the first since independence in 1963. The country had become a de facto one-party state after President Jomo Kenyatta had banned the Kenya People's Union on 30 October, with Kenyatta's Ke ...

to represent Malindi North Constituency. He distinguished himself as an able, knowledgeable and conscientious representative of the people on many development issues leading to significant improvements in agriculture, education, health and infrastructural facilities.Kenya National Assembly Official Records (Hansard) February 6 - March 20, 1970 Kalume died on March 15, 1975, leaving behind a widow, Mama Rebeca Florence Naswa Kalume and nine children, six boys and three girls.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalume, Thomas Johnson Kuto Year of birth missing 1975 deaths Alumni of the University of London Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) National anthem writers Kenyan Protestant ministers and clergy