Daniel Kapkorios Toroitich arap Moi (D.K.T. arap Moi), was President of Kenya from 22nd August 1978 to 30th December 2002. If D.K.T. arap Moi made such “a mess of things” with the Kenyan economy, why didn’t the Kenya Shilling collapse like the Zimbabwe dollar?
Possibly the darkest hour of D.K.T. arap Moi’s rule, economically, was 1991/1992/1993/1994 when there was excess liquidity in the Kenyan economy that led to the hyper-inflation of the years 1993 & 1994. There are quite a number of people who will never forgive D.K.T. arap Moi for this. The legend goes that the then ruling party the Kenya African National Union (KANU), printed money to fund KANU’s high profile 1992 election campaigns, a legend that is believable. The Kenya Shilling to the US dollar hit 80 shillings in early 1993, and on the Black Market the rate was 100 shillings. By 1995 though, Finance Minister Musalia Mudavadi & Central Bank of Kenya Governor Micah Cheserem, had skillfully brought the rate to 50 shillings. By 2002, the excess liquidity had been mopped out of the Kenya economy. Of significance, KANU’s campaigns at the 1997 and 2002 elections were low key & low profile, a clear indication, if any, that “no money had again been printed.”
There are many positives about D.K.T. arap Moi’s rule though, that continue to be ignored. For example Sessional Paper No. 1 of 1986 i.e. “District Focus for Rural Development,” which far outshines & far outlives Jomo Kenyatta’s Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 on “African Socialism.” For example, the current headquarters of the Kisumu County Government, were constructed during Sessional Paper No. 1 of 1986 i.e. “District Focus for Rural Development.”
For 10 years i.e. 1990 to 2000, donor funding was suspended to Kenya, but as mentioned, the Kenya Shilling did not collapse like the Zimbabwe dollar. D.K.T. arap Moi repelled the Exchange Control Act in 1994, introducing Liberalisation. As a result of Liberalisation, new generations of Kenya businessmen & businesswomen came into being, and as a result of Liberalisation also, there are about 500,000 Kenyans today situated in different corners of the world. Since 2006, the Central Bank of Kenya has been stating that Kenyans abroad remit US $ 1 billion back to Kenya every year.
There were foreign exchange challenges between 1990 & 2000 as a result of the suspension of donor funding, but D.K.T. arap Moi’s Government skillfully compensated for foreign exchange shortfalls by introducing what were referred to then as Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificates of Deposits (FOREX-Cs). Kenya at large did not grind to a halt.
To his credit also, D.K.T. arap Moi in his time allowed & enabled the privatisations of Kenya Commercial Bank, National Bank of Kenya & Kenya Airways, his Government replaced the Income Tax Department with the more versatile Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) i.e. in 1995, his Government set up the Export Promotion Council (EPC), and the Investment Promotion Centre (IPC), his Government established the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), his Government established the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), his Government facilitated the entry into Kenya in the year 2000 of telecommunications giants Safaricom and (Kencell/Celtel/Zain/Airtel), his Government presided over a robust Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector e.g. the introduction to Kenya in the 1990s of e.g. the internet & Windows '95, and his Government presided over the entrenchment of the informal sector i.e. “Jua Kali.” “Jua Kali” right now is what is keeping Kenya afloat. Remove Safaricom from Kenya today, and yes we will feel the pinch for about six months before re-adjusting, but remove the informal sector (i.e. “Jua Kali”) from Kenya today, and Kenya will grind to a halt overnight.
Why do we Kenyans continue to ignore the above milestones of D.K.T. arap Moi’s rule and continue to refer to D.K.T. arap Moi’s rule as “24 lost years?” And for that matter, was Kenya under Mwai Kibaki (2002 to 2013) a “paradise,” and is Kenya today under Uhuru Kenyatta a “paradise,” to warrant us continuing to refer to D.K.T. arap Moi’s presidency as “24 lost years?” Have the last 17 years in Kenya i.e. 2002 to 2019, been “Heaven on Earth?”
D.K.T. arap Moi left office honourably on 30th December 2002, and has remained in the background minding his own business for the last 17 years, without “threatening” a comeback like Bakili Muluzi in Malawi, and without the drama that was witnessed in Africa in Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria and Malawi during the presidential transitions of the 1990s and the 2000s.
For example Bakili Muluzi succeeded Hastings Kamuzu Banda as President of Malawi in 1994. Muluzi and Banda “were not on talking terms thereafter.” Bingu wa Mutharika succeeded Bakili Maluzi as President of Malawi and Mutharika and Muluzi “were not on talking terms thereafter.” Bingu wa Mutharika died in office and was succeeded by Joyce Banda. Peter Mutharika (Bingu wa Mutharika’s brother), succeeded Joyce Banda as President of Malawi and Peter Mutharika & Joyce Banda “were not on talking terms thereafter,” and are still not on talking terms.
In Ghana John Kuffour succeeded Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings as President of Ghana and Kuffour and Rawlings “were not on talking terms thereafter.” Rawlings even boycotted attending Ghana’s 50th anniversary Independence Celebrations in March 2007. Even in neighbouring Tanzania, there has been drama i.e. in 1985, Ali Hassan Mwinyi succeeded Julius Nyerere as President of Tanzania, and Mwinyi and Nyerere “were not on talking terms thereafter.” Frictions persisted between Mwinyi and Nyerere during Mwinyi’s 10 year presidency with e.g. Nyerere feeling that Mwinyi was dismantling “Ujamaa” (Socialism) too fast.
In Nigeria Umaru Musa Yar Adua succeeded Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo as President of Nigeria and Yar Adua and Obasanjo “were not on talking terms thereafter.” Umaru Musa Yar Adua died in office and was succeeded by Goodluck Jonathan, and Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Obasanjo were also “not on talking terms.”
However, possibly the greatest drama in Africa so far has been witnessed in Zambia. In 1991, Frederick Chiluba succeeded Kenneth Kaunda as President of Zambia, and Chiluba almost immediately put Kaunda under house arrest. Chiluba was succeeded by Levy Mwanawasa as President of Zambia, and Mwanawasa also similarly put Chiluba under house arrest. Mwanawasa died in office and was succeeded by Rupiah Banda. Michael Sata succeeded Rupiah Banda as Presdent of Zambia, with Sata impounding Banda’s passport, and with Banda having to plead many a time with Sata for his passport to be reinstated to e.g. enable Banda seek medical treatment in neighbouring South Africa. Michael Sata died in office and was succeded by Dr. Guy Scott, a White-Zambian. Edgar Lungu, the current Zambian President, succeeded Dr. Guy Scott as President of Zambia, and for once there was no drama in a presidential transition in Zambia i.e. Lungu and Scott appear to be “good friends,” and there have been “no complaints” so far from Dr. Guy Scott.
The drama above has not been witnessed at all in Kenya since 30th December 2002 when D.K.T. arap Moi left office as President of Kenya. The one dramatic incident that there was on 20th October 2003 i.e. Kenyatta Day, known today as Mashujaa Day. Less than one year after D.K.T. arap Moi left office, he attended Kenyatta Day 2003, a national holiday, a gesture that was in good faith, and a gesture clearly geared towards evolving a tradition in Kenya, similar to the admirable American tradition, where former US Presidents periodically appear at national functions in the US in goodwill gestures.
Kenyatta Day 2003 was held at Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya, and after the celebrations, D.K.T. arap Moi entered his vehicle to leave. The whole of Nyayo National Stadium, which was packed to capacity i.e. 30,000 people, spontaneously erupted into thunderous chants of “Nyayo!” “Nyayo!” “Nyayo!” the clarion call of D.K.T. arap Moi during his 24 year presidency. It was truly amazing, because not once during his 24 year presidency had D.K.T. arap Moi been so thunderously applauded. Less than one year after Mwai Kibaki and the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) took over from D.K.T. arap Moi and KANU, there was heavy disenchantment in Kenya, with the thunderous chants of “Nyayo!” “Nyayo!” “Nyayo!” signifying that the people of Kenya wanted D.K.T. arap Moi back in office, less than one year after he had left office on 30th December 2002. D.K.T. arap Moi has not attended any other national holiday in Kenya since Kenyatta Day 2003, except for Jamhuri Day 2013, when Kenya was marking 50 years of Independence, and even on Jamhuri Day 2013, D.K.T. arap Moi, got a thunderous applause from the 60,000 capacity Kasarani Stadium.
D.K.T. arap Moi turned 95 early this month on 2nd September 2019, and ironically all manner of “delegations” now pay “courtesy calls” on D.K.T. arap Moi at his Kabarak Home, bothering the grand old man of Kenya, as the “visiting delegations” fall over themselves for “selfies” and “photo ops” with D.K.T. arap Moi, many of these “delegations” comprising individuals who once shouted “Moi must go!” “Moi must go!” “Moi must go!” at the top of their voices.
What further vindicates D.K.T. arap Moi, even in 17 years of quiet retirement, is the fact that D.K.T. arap Moi vigorously advised & campaigned against the introduction of a new Kenyan constitution nine years ago in 2010. Nine years later in 2019, Kenya is in a fix, a desperate fix, a desperate BREXIT type fix.
The new Kenya constitution of 2010 created 47 counties led by 47 Governors. All 47 Kenyan counties are in financial strain and financial doldrums, are not generating meaningful revenues, are forever making frantic appeals to the Central Kenya Government for more funding, even going as far as recently presenting a petition to the Supreme Court of Kenya to intervene on behalf on the 47 counties, and whose only claim to governance i.e. the 47 counties, is to never ceasingly invite residents of Kenya’s 47 counties to purfunctory gatherings and assemblies known as “Public Participation,” as “enshrined in the new Kenya constitution of 2010” i.e. “Public Participation.”
There are few jobs, few openings and few opportunities in Kenya today, but there are nonsensical gatherings and assemblies known as “Public Participation.”
Currently in Kenya, there are moves for a constitutional referendum to bring changes to the new constitution of 2010, owing to how the new Kenya constitution of 2010 has become a financial drain and financial burden. The initiatives are spearheaded by what is known as Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), and “Punguza Mzigo” i.e. “Reduce the Burden.”
Since 2013 there have been four similar initiatives to alter the new Kenya constitution of 2010 i.e. “Okoa Kenya” (Save Kenya), “Pesa Mashinani” (More money to the counties), “Boresha Katiba” (Streamline the constitution), and “Punguza Mzigo” (Reduce the Burden) i.e. the “Punguza Mzigo” of 2019 is the 2nd “Punguza Mzigo” i.e. there had been an earlier attempt at “Punguza Mzigo.” Things are desperate in Kenya.
Even in D.K.T. arap Moi’s Kenya, there were no counties and/or devolution, but even with his “little formal education” D.K.T. arap Moi was still able to push Kenya one crucial step ahead with his Sessional Paper No. 1 of 1986 i.e. “District Focus for Rural Development” e.g. as mentioned above, the current headquarters of the Kisumu County Government, were constructed during Sessional Paper No. 1 of 1986 i.e. “District Focus for Rural Development.”
Was D.K.T. arap Moi “a leader to darkness & death,” or was he a progressive leader, a visionary? Why hasn’t Kenya transformed into “a paradise” over the last 17 years that D.K.T. arap Moi has been out of office?