Manilal Ambalal Desai (1878 – 26 July 1926) was an Indian born activist and journalist who played a prominent role in Kenyan politics during the 1920s.
Desai was born to a family of landowners in Surat, part of the Bombay Presidency of British India.
In 1915, he emigrated to Kenya, then known as the East Africa Protectorate, to work as a law clerk with Harrison, Salmon and Cresswell.
[1] The following year, together with Jeevanjee, he represented the Indian community in a delegation to London for an audience with the Duke of Devonshire.
[1] Whilst on an official tour to Tanganyika to raise funds, he suffered a heart attack and died on 26 July 1926.