ABSTRACT
Criticism of the Moi government began to be voiced by Western nations, particularly the United States. Although the structure of government remained in place when Daniel arap Moi became Kenya's second president, in fact a new political era had begun. The first five years of the Moi presidency encompassed a period of relative goodwill, a time of economic decline and political unrest, and an upheaval surrounding the attempted coup detat of August 1982. The main political question in late 1982 was whether the Moi regime would be able to ease the stress by addressing the country's most pressing socioeconomic issues and allowing the return of some open dissent. Moi charged Mwakenya with masterminding the 1982 coup attempt, and by early 1987 more than a hundred persons had been detained for subversive behavior, including arms smuggling along Kenya's western border. International criticism of Moi's methods of dealing with political opponents became increasingly frequent.
