I am honored to have been asked to contribute a few words about my father, Pio Gama-Pinto (Pio Pinto) to preface a new book of reflections on his work and legacy. The contributors to this volume are renowned thinkers and activists on the rights of oppressed peoples in Kenya and thus everywhere. Pio would have been surprised and humbled that such a group would ‘spill so much ink’ writing about him.

The evening of my father’s assassination I remember a huge bonfire in the front yard by the room he used as his office. I could make out figures, the heat from the flames making their silhouettes waver as they fed papers into the fire. ‘What did they burn?’ I asked my mother later. ‘All your father’s writings my dear.’ ‘But why?’ ‘Because they were afraid.’ ‘Was Papa afraid?’ ‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘but some things are more important than fear.’

His writings were lost. So, what remains of Pio are the stories of his actions and the actions themselves. And as the contributors here attest – there is a wonderful consistency in his actions that allows us to reconstruct his philosophy and his values, despite the destruction of his written work. This legacy of brave, selfless work for the improvement of the oppressed was deliberate, purposeful, tactical, and grounded in values of justice and equality. He sought no glory, no position. It was only on the urging of my mother, his wife Emma, that he put his name forward for the Special Selected Member of Parliament. In 1963 he was elected a Member of the Central Legislative Assembly and in July 1964 was appointed a Specially Elected Member of the House of Representatives.

He was as surprised as anyone that he won.

He used that position as a gadfly – stinging the powerful, not allowing them to get away with their corrupt dealings! That sealed his fate. I believe however, that had he lived, he would have continued buzzing and biting. He could not stand the hypocrisy of the new ‘elite’, knowing what the Forest Fighters, the men, and the women, sacrificed for an independent Kenya.

In October 2021, Emma Gama-Pinto, Pio beloved wife passed away. Not to subtract from Pio’s achievements, but a special note must be made of Emma, who never asked him to stop, never asked him to ‘choose’. She was as much a part of the ‘struggle’ in keeping Pio strong and focussed on his goal of freeing people from all forms of poverty: of mind, spirit and body.

We need heroes to inspire us when we tire. Pio and Emma are my heroes. Pio with integrity and humility, sacrificed all for country. Emma lived with such ferocity that she inspired many to aim beyond their self-perceived limits and achieve greatness.

I hope this book of reflections about Pio will inspire you to live your values with humility and ferocity!

Linda Gama-Pinto
Ottawa, August 30, 2021