Tom Joseph Odhiambo Mboya, Nairobi, Kenya

Tom Joseph Odhiambo Mboya (August 15, 1930 - July 5, 1969) was a Kenyan politician during Jomo Kenyatta's government. In 1957, he became dissatisfied with the low number of African leaders in the Legislative council and decided to form his own party, the People's Congress Party. At that time, Mboya developed a close relationship with Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana who, like Mboya, was a Pan-Africanist. In 1958, during the All-African Peoples' Conference in Ghana, convened by Kwame Nkurumah, Mboya was elected as the Conference Chairman at the age of 28. He was assassinated on July 5, 1969 in Nairobi. His red jacket is a PCP party symbol. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.