From Goa to Kenya: A Story of Quiet Legacy and Lasting
Impact
Robina
Bosibori Abuya
Driving Climate Action & Green Growth | Linking Energy,
Nature, and People | Building Impactful Partnerships
By Robina Abuya
Kenya’s history is often told through grand political
movements, independence struggles, and visionary leadership. But beneath that
visible surface lies a quieter, less celebrated story—that of the Goans of
Kenya. Goans are people from Goa, a region on the western
coast of India that was a Portuguese colony until 1961.
A community that journeyed from the Portuguese colony of Goa
in India to the heart of East Africa, and contributed immensely to
Kenya’s colonial and post-independence development, often without fanfare.
This is a story of migration, identity, service, and
legacy—and of how that legacy lives on, quite literally, in the soil of Nairobi’s
City Park Cemetery.
🇮🇳✈️🇰🇪
A Journey of Opportunity and Purpose
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, as the British colonial
administration expanded in East Africa, they sought educated, English-speaking
professionals to run schools, hospitals, and civil offices. Goans,
shaped by a Portuguese colonial education system and strong Catholic
traditions, were ideal for these roles.
The first wave of Goans arrived in Mombasa, Nairobi,
and other towns as early as the 1890s, especially during the building of
the Uganda Railway.
They were distinct from other Indian migrants (mainly Hindus
and Muslims from Gujarat or Punjab) due to their Portuguese colonial
background, Catholic faith, and Western-style education.
They arrived as clerks, teachers, nurses, accountants, and
legal assistants—quickly becoming the professional middle class of the
colonial era.
🎭 Community, Culture, and
Contribution
The Goans established vibrant social institutions: Goan
Institutes, churches, and clubs where Western classical
music, jazz, sports, and educational excellence flourished. Despite being a
minority, they made outsized contributions to Kenya’s public service,
particularly in education and healthcare.
They navigated a complex racial hierarchy—classified as
“Asians,” with limited political power but significant professional influence.
Their focus remained on education, work, and building close-knit communities
grounded in cultural pride.
📉 After Independence: A
Crossroads
With Kenya’s independence in 1963, Goans, like many other
Asians, faced difficult decisions. Some acquired Kenyan citizenship. Many,
fearing marginalisation, left for the UK, Canada, Australia, or returned
to India.
Yet others stayed—quietly continuing to teach, heal, and
serve. Their children became Kenyan doctors, lawyers, architects, and civil
servants. Their legacy remains embedded in institutions we interact with daily,
even if their names are less known.
🕊️ City Park Cemetery:
Where Their Stories Rest
In the serene greenery of Nairobi’s City Park Cemetery,
the Goan section serves as a historical anchor for this community.
Here lies Pio Gama Pinto—Kenyan journalist, activist,
and freedom fighter—whose assassination in 1965 made him one of the first
political martyrs of independent Kenya. Beside him lies his father, A. F. da
Gama Pinto.
Pio Gama Pinto's grave at City Park Nairobi
Nearby is the Murumbi Peace Memorial Garden,
dedicated to Joseph Zuzarte Murumbi, Kenya’s second Vice President, born
of a Goan father and Maasai mother. A lover of art and culture, Murumbi helped
preserve Africa’s heritage at a time when few others thought it mattered. He is
buried alongside his wife, Sheila Murumbi, among sculptures and
flowering trees.
For years, these graves were neglected. But thanks to
community-led restoration efforts by C12 Nairobi, the Murumbi Trust,
and Friends of City Park, these final resting places have been
transformed into peaceful, dignified memorials. Not only do they honor the
dead—they teach the living.
Monument at Murumbi's grave
🧭 The Quiet Builders of a
Nation
The Goans of Kenya didn’t often make headlines, but they
helped write the fine print of Kenya’s history. They were the teachers
who inspired, the nurses who cared, the civil servants who kept systems
running. And in the story of Kenya, that matters deeply.
Because the past lives not just in monuments or policies,
but in quiet legacies laid gently into the earth.
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