Enthusiast who brought the first vehicle to Kenya

The first motor car in Kenya was a De Dion Bouton which was lowered from a steamship in December 1903 in Mombasa, into the hands of its proud owner George Wilson, an Australian road engineer.

At the time, the De Dion Bouton was the best selling motor car worldwide, producing 400 cars and 3,200 engines in 1900. Built in France, the car was propelled by an 8cv single cylinder four stroke petrol engine.

Received with much applause in Mombasa, there were just a few niggling problems. The car could not be started for two days as there was no petrol or petrol stations to supply the combustible fluid. Its petrol had to be offloaded from the ship, in four- gallon tins, similar to the kerosene debes that were the vogue at the time.

In the meantime, Wilson, ably assisted by his wife, had to study an instructions manual to discover where to put the oil and grease and how to adjust the various brass levers on the steering wheel to get the spark and fuel mixture just right.

It soon became evident that Kenya had only one major road or, more accurately, a glorified ox-cart track between Mombasa and Mumia (today’s Mumias). There were no garages and the car was notoriously unreliable, breaking down with unparalleled frequency.

There is something about men and machines, especially of the chariot variety — an insatiable desire to go faster and farther than the chap next door. The greater the challenge, the more man is driven to outdo his adversary.

Kenya, with its hostile terrain and lack of infrastructure provided just the right challenge and it was in this environment that the motor industry developed. More earth roads were built chiefly between administrative centres notably, Nairobi-Fort Hall (Murang’a), Lumbwa-Kericho, Voi-Taveta and Machakos-Athi River.

To demonstrate the road’s attraction to early motorists is the fact that it took another 23 years, after the arrival of the first car, before a petrol vehicle completed the journey from Mombasa to Nairobi.

This achievement is credited to the one-armed John Douglas and Syd Downey on a Harley Davidson motorcycle in 1926 speeded up by the presence of lions enroute, and later the same year Galton-Fenzi matched them in a Riley car. There were many cars in Nairobi before then but they had all been transported by rail from Mombasa.

Fuelled by the popularity of the legendary Ford Model T (Tin Lizzie), the vehicle population in Kenya had reached 1,000 by 1919. Up to this time there was no requirement for a driving test, no highway code, no road tax and no insurance.

Seeing the need for order in the burgeoning motor industry, Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi (1881-1937), an automobile enthusiast and adventurer, helped to found the East African Automobile Association — forerunner of today’s Automobile Association of Kenya — in September 1919.

He was the prime mover of motoring in Kenya opening up countless road routes across the length and breadth of the country. He helped bring sanity to motoring on our roads and in motorsports.

In 1923, he began negotiating for loan cars which he could test under East African conditions. He received several cars under this arrangement amongst which was a Riley 12/50 with which he pioneered the Nairobi-Mombasa route.

Erected at the junction of Kenyatta Avenue and Koinange Street is the Galton-Fenzi Memorial —also referred to as the Nairobi Military Stone.

The memorial was erected in honour of Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi for his pioneering achievements for the motoring industry in Kenya.

It features an obelisk bearing the names and distances — in miles and kilometres — of various towns and cities including Nairobi to Mombasa, Nairobi to Dar es Salaam to Malawi, and Nairobi to Khartoum routes.

The point at which it is erected is said to have been the focal point from which all distances from Nairobi were measured and happens to be right next to the General Post Office. An orb with etchings of a rising sun, quarter moon and shining stars sits on top.

The monument was renovated in 1992 with the help of Barclays Bank of Kenya.

Today, the memorial is heavily caged off to prevent vandalism, but masking its true beauty in the process.

While the motor car revolutionised mobility and development, the entirely new social possibilities were not lost on the Happy Valley Set, not least of which was the facility for a perfect getaway for a Me and Mrs Jones (sang by Billy Paul) expedition.

It became fashionable to drive to the orgies in Wanjohi Valley, Nanyuki or Ol Donyo Sabuk over the weekends.

The name Galton-Fenzi features quite regularly in the Happy Valley circles, not delivering tutorials on motor vehicle maintenance as one might expect, but indulging after some long journey exploring new routes!

Interestingly, his grave is at the same cemetery as that of the consummate playboy, Lord Errol, at St Paul’s Church Kiambu.