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Charles Njonjo
1920sWhy they matter
Njonjo spent years building the powers that held Kenya's presidency together, then those same powers were turned against him.
As independent Kenya's first Attorney General, he helped concentrate authority in the presidency and steered the legal transition after Jomo Kenyatta's death in 1978. He backed Daniel arap Moi's succession, but by 1983 Moi's government publicly accused him of plotting to seize power as a foreign-backed "traitor," ending his career. A commission of inquiry investigated him before he was pardoned; he lived until 2022, dying at 101.