Daniel arap Moi

Daniel Toroitich arap Moi (1924–2020) served as the second president of the Republic of Kenya from 22 August 1978, succeeding Jomo Kenyatta upon the latter's death, until 30 December 2002. A former schoolteacher from the Tugen sub-group of the Kalenjin, Moi entered colonial-era politics through the Legislative Council in 1955 and later led the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) before its 1964 merger into the Kenya African National Union (KANU). He served as vice president under Kenyatta from 1967.

Moi's presidency is associated with the doctrine of Nyayo ("footsteps"), signalling continuity with Kenyatta. After a failed coup attempt by junior air force officers on 1 August 1982, his government amended the constitution to make Kenya a de jure one-party state under KANU. The 1980s saw expanded use of detention without trial, the dissolution of tribal welfare associations, and the controversial mlolongo (queue-voting) system in the 1988 KANU primaries.

Sustained domestic pressure from the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD), church leaders, and donor conditionality — including a 1991 suspension of aid by the Paris Club — forced repeal of Section 2A of the constitution in December 1991, restoring multipartyism. Moi nonetheless won the 1992 and 1997 elections against a divided opposition. His tenure was marked by the Goldenberg export-compensation scandal (exposed in the early 1990s and later investigated by the Bosire Commission), ethnic clashes in the Rift Valley, and the 7 August 1998 al-Qaeda bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi.

Constitutionally barred from a third elected term, Moi backed Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU's candidate in 2002, but the National Rainbow Coalition's Mwai Kibaki won decisively, producing Kenya's first peaceful transfer of power. Moi died in Nairobi on 4 February 2020 and received a state funeral.