ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 offers critical insights into the initial years of Daniel Arap Moi’s presidency, drawing attention to how he went about assembling his ruling coalition and the implications that had for the form and nature of the Kenyan state in the post-Kenyatta period. While real power remained with the Kenyatta coalition, Moi’s shrewd political manoeuvering to maintain power eventually resulted in his own ruling coalition. By 1988 Moi resorted to repression on a scale that was unprecedented, squashing dissent and surrounding himself with a patronage network. The chapter points to Moi’s vulnerability with the electorate, and his presidency descended into a dark period of capturing control of the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) party and arresting and convicting hundreds of people linked to underground movements in Kenya. This period was characterised by increased authoritarianism, with state institutions, including the judiciary, becoming instruments used to protect Moi’s authoritarian rule. By the mid-1980s Moi had managed to significantly undermine the independence of Parliament and subordinate it to the ruling KANU party. The period also included immense corruption and the private accumulation of wealth by Moi and his associates. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the 1992 elections that saw Moi victorious in an irregular election, which ultimately consolidated his legitimacy.
