The passing of former Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi, at the age of 95, reminds you of an era in which political leaders ruled for a long time. Moi was Kenya’s second President, from 1978 to 2002. His twenty-four-year presidency was preceded by an eleven-year term as the Vice-President to Kenyan founding father Jomo Kenyatta. Moi was Kenya’s longest-serving President and Vice-President. This record is unlikely to be broken as Kenya, now, has fixed terms for elected Presidents.
Moi was among Africa’s last “Big Men,” adept at managing political contradictions. Known as the doctor of politics, he worked his way up the political ladder and emerged as a strong dictator. Trained as a teacher, he joined politics after Kenya became an independent nation, in 1963, and became the Minister of Home Affairs.
Once Kenyatta fell out with his ambitious Vice-President, Jaramogi Odinga Odinga, a Luo chieftain, he appointed Moi as the Vice-President in 1967. His main qualification was that he was a “political lightweight,” an unassuming man from among the smallest tribes, the Kalenjin.
When Kenyatta, who was from the dominant Kikuyu tribe, passed away in 1978, Moi had been Vice-President for eleven years. However, he did not have the political confidence to be a successor of the President. In fact, he went into hiding, allowing the party leaders of KANU to see if the Vice-President could be prevented from becoming the President. A lack of consensus led to Moi assuming office, which he did not leave till 2002.
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