2002: Swearing-in, end of KANU rule, retirement of
Moi
On 29 December 2002, still nursing injuries from the motor vehicle accident
and in a wheel chair, Mwai Kibaki was sworn-in as the third President andcommader
in chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kenya. At his inauguration, he
stressed his opposition to government corruption: "Government will no
longer be run on the whims of individuals." he said
Thus ended four decades of KANU rule, KANU having hitherto ruled Kenya since
independence.
Kenya's 2nd President, Daniel Arap Moi, who had been in power for 24 years
since 1978 as an African Big man Political Science President, also began his
retirement.
Leadership style
President Kibaki's style was that of a low key publicity averse but highly
intelligent and competent technocrat. This contrasted sharply with the hitherto
populist buffoonish strongman big-man style of his predecessor and of many
other African leaders.
He, unlike his predecessors, never tried to establish a personality cult;
never had his portrait on every unit of Kenya's currency; never had all manner
of streets, places and institutions named after him,; never had state
sanctioned praise songs composed in his honour; never dominated news bulletins
with reports of his presidential activities - however routine or mundane; and
never engaged in the populist sloganeering of his predecessors.
President Mwai Kibaki meets with Adm. William J. Fallon,
Commander of U.S. Central Command
His style of a seemingly aloof withdrawn technocrat or intellectual did
however make him seem out of touch with the street, and his seemingly hands-off
leadership by delegation style made his governments, especially at cabinet
level, seem dysfunctional.
2003: free primary education
In January 2003, Kibaki introduced a free primary education initiative,
which brought over 1 million children who would not have been able to afford
school the chance to attend.
[ The initiative received positive
attention, including praise from Bill Clinton, , who would travel to Kenya to
meet Kibaki.
2005: constitutional referendum, the NARC fallout
and government of national unity
The 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum was held on 21 November 2005. The
main issue of contention in the Constitution review process was how much power
should be vested in the Kenyan Presidency. In previous drafts, those who feared
a concentration of power in the president added provisions for European-style
power-sharing between a ceremonial President elected via universal suffrage and
an executive Prime Minister elected by Parliament. The draft presented by the
Attorney General Amos Wako for the referendum retained sweeping powers for the
Presidency.
Though supported by Kibaki, some members of his own cabinet, mainly from the
LDP wing led by Raila Odinga, and the main opposition party KANU, mobilised a
powerful NO campaign that resulted in a majority of 58% Kenyan voters rejecting
the draft.
As a consequence of, and immediately after, the referendum loss, on 23
November 2005, Kibaki dismissed his entire cabinet in the middle of his
administration's term, the aim being to purge all Raila allied ministers from
the cabinet. About his decision Kibaki said, "Following the results of the
Referendum, it has become necessary for me, as the President of the Republic,
to re-organise my Government to make it more cohesive and better able to serve
the people of Kenya". The only members of the cabinet office to be spared
a midterm exit were the Vice President and Minister of Home Affairs, Moody
Awori, , and the Attorney General whose position is constitutionally protected.
A new cabinet of Kibaki loyalists, including MPs from the opposition, termed
the Government of National Unity (GNU), was thereafter appointed, but some MPs
who were offered ministerial positions declined to take up posts.
A report by a Kenyan Commission of Inquiry, the Waki Commission,
contextualises some issues. They reported that Kibaki, after agreeing to an
informal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create the post of Prime
Minister, reneged on this pact after being elected. They cite criticism of
Kibaki neglecting his pre-election agreement, leaving the public to identify it
as an attempt by the Kibaki Government to "keep power to itself rather
than share it."
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kenya"