In April 1966, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta invited East and Central Africa to Nairobi for what was officially called a summit of heads of state and government. It was a high-level exercise in pretending In attendance were Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere, Uganda’s Milton Obote, Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda, Rwanda’s Prime Minister Nkundadajengi, Somalia’s Prime Minister Abdul Razak, and Burundi’s Leopold Biha. Like having Africa in one room and Africa was not getting along.Malawi’s Hastings Kamuzu Banda declined to attend altogether. He sent his Commerce Minister instead diplomatic shorthand for “I will not sit in the same room with that man.” Banda and Nyerere were not on speaking terms, Tanzania having been accused of hosting Malawian dissidents with inconvenient political opinions.Sudan nearly boycotted the summit too. They objected to the presence of Milton Obote, whose Uganda they accused of sheltering Sudanese rebels. Khartoum eventually showed up but late, annoyed, and watching everyone carefully.Mobutu and Nyerere were also barely tolerating each other. Zaire accused Tanzania of funneling arms to rebels trying to rearrange Mobutu’s government by force. The smiles were tight and handshakes were brief.Burundi and Rwanda were locked in their own silent standoff. Reports at the time indicated thousands of Tutsi fighters from Burundi had been mobilized along the border, apparently rehearsing for an unfriendly visit to Rwanda.Somalia’s Prime Minister spent most of the summit perfecting the art of accidental avoidance because Ethiopia was in the room, and in the days leading up to the summit, Somali and Ethiopian troops had exchanged gunfire along their shared border so eye contact was discouraged.Fully aware that the slightest seating error could trigger a diplomatic incident. Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs treated protocol like bomb disposal. Delegations from hostile countries were not seated opposite one another. No accidental staring, No aggressive chewing and No symbolic coughs.The summit took place inside Mzee Kenyatta’s soundproof library at State House. There was no official agenda. Kenyatta, the host, had decided that structure might get in the way of survival. The press later reported that the main topic was the idea of an economic federation. This was ambitious, given that half the room was busy avoiding eye contact and the other half was silently accusing someone else of arming rebels.In a room, only two leaders could shake hands freely and speak openly with all others. One was the host, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, who had mastered the art of saying nothing in a way that sounded like wisdom and the other was Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, whose moral authority made him the only man everyone trusted not to take sides.Everyone else.... Ohh#KenyanStories