Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali

Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali visited Kenya in February 1980. The main purpose of his visit was to persuade Kenya and other African states to boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow after the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan in 1979. The United States had – under the administration of President Jimmy Carter – decided to boycott the Moscow games. Carter, in an offer to have a few countries on board denouncing the Soviet Union’s activities, picked Muhammad Ali to go on a five-country visit to persuade African leaders to blacklist the Moscow Olympics. Ali was against the Soviet Union’s activities in Afghanistan and he was a notable figure in Africa, so for Carter this move was key and brilliant. While in Kenya, Ali called on the country’s second President Daniel Arap Moi and was hosted at State House, Nairobi. Kenya did end up supporting the US boycott. Ali also put on a “show fight” against Muhammed Abdullah Kent, the only Kenyan who dared to enter the ring with this legendary boxer. The crowd only chanted, ‘Ali! Ali! Ali!’. Ali knocked out Kent in the fourth round, but not before Kent had also put down the Champ briefly! Muhammed Ali died in June 2016, having suffered from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson’s disease. “I am an African, and my proper name is Muhammad Ali. There is greater dignity in my new name.” (Ghana, 1964). Kenya's renowned photojournalist Mohamed Amin, also known as 'Six Camera Mo' was best known as a great frontline photojournalist, but he spent more time documenting wildlife, beauty, culture, people and leaders than anything else. Mo managed to use his cameras for more than a generation to bring East Africa’s most powerful stories into world view.