Former President Daniel arap Moi’s life is one of the most improbable political success stories of our time. The hapless herder boy from a hardscrabble Baringo village became a dedicated schoolteacher, then a wily politician who rose to become Kenya’s ruthless second president. Tall and imposing, he was never without his signature ivory rungu, signifying his regal ability to crush dissent.
Moi was the self-declared ‘Professor of Politics’, a fitting title for the master manipulator of people and ethnic tensions. He turned a moribund Kanu into a formidable take-no-prisoners political machine.
Moi the dictator presided over an era of uncompromising state control, one-party politics and human rights abuses. Kenya, he said, was not yet ready for multiparty democracy. Eventually, however, he reluctantly yielded to Western pressure for multiparty politics, at least on paper. After a 24-year reign, Moi left a legacy of incurable ethnicity, nepotism, corruption and an economy on its knees.
Still, Moi was loved and respected by beneficiaries of his political favours and actions, such as building many schools. He introduced the 8-4-4 education system, youth and women’s empowerment programmes and expanded healthcare. His populist free milk programme and some other initiatives proved unsustainable. His was also a time of international pride. The changeover from Kenyatta to Moi was a first in Africa where no country had enjoyed a smooth political transition.
But the strongman was feared and loathed by many, especially those thrown into his dungeons for dissent and opposition. Some never came out. Some disappeared. There were spies. Fear was in the air. In his later years, however, he was painted as the beneficent elder statesman and politicians trooped to his Kabarak home to pay homage, kiss the ring and seek his blessings.
When his predecessor Mzee Jomo Kenyatta died, on August 22, 1978, Moi, the athletic long-serving deputy, got 90 days as acting President. When he was confirmed, in an election in which he was the sole candidate, he chose Nyayoism as his motto, declaring he would follow in the footsteps of Kenyatta.
Moi’s motto was Peace, Love and Unity.
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