ADEKEYE ADEBAJO: Kenya strongman Daniel arap Moi ruled by a culture of fear
Daniel arap Moi, Kenya’s president from 1978 to 2002, died on February 4 at the age of 95. He was one of Africa’s most ruthless autocrats. Born in September 1924 into the country’s Kalenjin group, he attended Christian mission schools, before working as a teacher and joining the British-controlled Legislative Council in 1955.
Moi served as home affairs minister under founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, before becoming vice-president in 1967. After Kenyatta died in 1978, he assumed power, but — terrified by the influential Kikuyu clique — only slowly gained the confidence to run the country. He traversed Kenya promoting unity, released political prisoners, and announced a strategy of Nyayo, vowing to follow in Kenyatta’s footsteps...
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