Kenya's ex-President Moi took Kenya through tough times
The presidential motorcade is speeding towards Meru. As pupils, we are thronging the nearby roadside singing and dancing, dressed in our Sunday best, others donning their school uniforms.
Some of us are wielding placards bearing a message that is innocent enough: ‘Karibu Mzee:’ literally ki-Swahili for Welcome, Sir!
It is indeed the kind of reception which politicians crave for when touring the countryside – and President Daniel arap Moi is no exception!
Everyone is eager to catch a glimpse of the sage. The motorcade abruptly stops after students block its way. The President shoots out of the sunroof of the shiny Mercedes 600 presidential limousine, and addresses the surging, pressing crowd off the cuff for about ten minutes.
He then sinks back under the sunroof, resurfaces moments later with a huge wad of currency notes that he hands to the headmaster, saying the money is for us with which to hold a party at some future date.
That was Kenya’s former President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi: an awe-inspiring old man. Those are some of the recollections I still have of him today, many years after that incident.
Those were my school days. When Moi took over from Kenya’s founding President Jomo Kenyatta in 1978, I was a mere toddler and – for me at the time anyway – a State President was a demigod.
However those in the know say that Daniel arap Moi rose through the ranks from being a primary school teacher to the highest Office in the land: the Presidency. Born in Sacho in 1924, Moi took up politics – and ended up as President of Kenya Republic from 1978 to 2002.
Moi was educated in Mission and Government schools. He became a teacher at the age of 21 years. As Kenya began to move towards political independence in 1963, he was appointed Education Minister in the transitional government.
When the two major political parties Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) and Kenya African National Union (KANU) merged – and Moi having established himself as a prominent Kalenjin leader – the stage was set for him to take off to the next levels: a Government minister, vice president – and, finally, the Presidency.
Too naïve – and deemed harmless
In 1966 – when the-then vice president, Joseph Murumbi, resigned citing health reasons after some five months into the office – it came as a surprise to many since Moi was considered naïve and lacking in political clout, much unlike the ‘Kapenguria Seven.’
On the other hand, Tom Mboya was considered to be a firebrand. Naysayers – especially the Kikuyu – hanged on to the hope that Moi was a pushover, and when the time came, he would be easy to overthrow from state power.
Upon President Kenyatta’s death in August 1978, Moi became the second President of Kenya. He began his Presidency by cultivating a populist image, travelling throughout Kenya, addressing public rallies, and associating himself with popular policies – such as free milk for school children.
The straw that broke the camel’s back
One fateful morning in August 1982, the world almost caved in for the Moi regime. A section of the military – the Kenya Air force – attempted to unseat him. The national radio station was commandeered to announce to shocked Kenyans that the government was in the hands of the armed forces.
The timing was right. A larger section of the army was out on detachment in Lodwar. Fighter jets loaded with bombs were intent on bombing important government establishments including the state house. It never came to be. Hours later, Moi was reinstalled by a loyal army. The pilots escaped to Tanzania but were returned to Kenya by the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Administration.
From that coupé attempt, Moi wizened up. He changed from the kind of President that Kenyans loved to a cautious man bent on self-survival. A self-professed ‘Professor of Politics,’ Moi mastered how to divide people apart on tribal lines, reward allies with plum government jobs, land and other goodies – and used fiat on those dissenting. The executive became his voice – and, by extension, becoming authoritarian.
President Moi was re-elected unopposed in 1983, and again in 1988 – and the economy went kaput!
In December 1991, Moi agreed to repeal the pertinent legislation and ushered in a multiparty politics. Opposition political parties sprouted up, but many lacked in ideology. They were simply ethnocentric – and this still remains today. During the 1992 presidential election marked by rigging, violence and vote splitting, Moi won re-election, beating three other presidential candidates hands down.
Kenyans became politically fatigued
There were riots all over the place. Political opponents were detained. The popular ‘Nyayo House’ became a torture chamber. Employment became scarce, university students took to the streets – and, generally, a repressive atmosphere prevailed that limited opposition party activities.
The more the Moi regime made things harder, the more Kenyans became hardened. The 1992 and 1997 elections were a sham.
In 2002, however, political parties united – and that brought to an end 24 years of ‘Moism.’
Remembering him with nostalgia
Now retired and an old man of 95 years, Moi’s faculties are still intact. He can still articulate matters of national importance.
Last week, after being taken ill and taken to a Nairobi hospital the social media went viral, with a majority of Kenyans wishing him well.
He was a no-nonsense president who was loved and hated in equal measures.
He built schools, colleges and universities.
During his last tenor in the State House – and owing to the emotions whipped up by the political opposition and impending changes – some Kenyans had taken upon themselves to regard him as obsolete; something which he isn’t. Once in a while, Moi gives a word or two to the nation that is still coherent and wise.
In the beginning of September this year, the former second Kenyan President celebrated his birthday at a private function in his Kabarak home with family only. Turning 95 is not a mean feat.
The old man has continued to be a beacon to many Kenyan leaders and it is not unusual for leaders of all walks of life to flock to his Kabarak home to pay him respects.
At 95, Mzee Moi has not been in active politics in the recent past. But he is still in the limelight, mainly on account of the delegations that he has been receiving at Kabarak.
As political realignments shape up by the day, at the centre of the President Uhuru Kenyatta succession politics has been Mzee Moi, considered in his heyday a ‘Professor of Politics.’
It is whispered in political circles that key contenders in the 2022 presidential race do seek the former Head of State’s blessings – and rightly so…
Cheers, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi!
