ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the last decade of Daniel Arap Moi’s regime, from 1992 until 2002, and the battles in the political space between the ruling party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the opposition. In this decade there was a distinguishable shift in the character of the ruling elite, with the predatory instincts becoming more pronounced as they reacted to a changing political environment and as they increasingly begun to view democratisation as a threat to their political fortune and with it their material wealth. The 1992 elections spread panic and uncertainty within KANU, who won by a minority vote, and in response the state was informalised and patromonialised to facilitate easy access to state institutions and resources. Furthermore, Moi set about the process of undermining the multi-party system and closing the political space altogether. The period leading up to the 1997 elections was fraught with protests and violence, and the impact these disruptions had on the 1997 elections and how Moi and the ruling KANU fought to retain control of the country through widespread electoral misconduct. Although Moi and KANU secured victory, the chapter narrates how the next decade was all about the scramble to anoint Moi’s successor. The chapter examines Moi’s unpopular choice of Uhuru Kenyatta, which resulted in the resignation of several leaders of the ruling KANU, and the formation of a united opposition in the National Rainbow Alliance, which defeated KANU in the 2002 elections.
