Harambee House was inaugurated in 1961 as the Ministry of Works along Coronation Road, now Harambee Avenue. Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta liked its design so much that he had the Works Ministry relocated to give way to the Office of the President that remains situated at Harambee House to date. Kenyatta encouraged communities to work together to raise funds for all sorts of local projects, pledging that the government would provide their startup costs. The "Harambee" word was assimilated into the Swahili language from Hindi during the construction of the railway from Mombasa to Uganda. In February 2018, a petition was presented to the National Assembly and Senate, seeking to have the word ‘Harambee’ removed from the public seal on the claim that it represented a Hindu god.

Source: Standard Digital May 31, 2021 21:00 UTC