Mwai Kibaki
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki (born 1931) ushered in an era of change upon his election, pledging to restore his country's economy and wipe out government corruption. Kibaki succeeded President Daniel arap Moi, under whom Kibaki served as vice–president. Moi took office in 1978 and remained in office for 24 years. Kibaki launched his campaign for the presidency in 1992, when the Kenyan constitution first allowed opposition parties to participate in the country's government. After two unsuccessful bids, Kenyans overwhelmingly elected him to the post in 2002.
Kibaki was born into a family of eight children on November 15, 1931, in Gatuyaini Village, Othaya division, Nyeri in Kenya's Central Province. He was the youngest son of Kibaki Githinji and Teresia Wanjiku. He and his family, members of the Kikuyu tribe, lived in a mud hut and supported themselves by herding cattle. Kibaki received his primary education at Gatuyaini village school and Karima mission school. In 1944, he progressed to Mathari School, now Nyeri High School, a boys' boarding school where he slept on a bed made from a wooden board and hay. There, he learned carpentry and masonry so that he and his fellow students could repair furniture and build materials for the school. He also learned to grow his own food. He continued his education at Man'gu High School, from which he graduated in 1950. During school holidays,
Kibaki worked on buses operated by the Othaya African Bus Union.
Began Political Career
Kibaki's academic performance at Man'gu High School earned him a scholarship to Makerere University College in Uganda, one of the top schools in Africa, although for a time he considered becoming a soldier. At Makerere, he served as chair of the Kenya Students Association and vice–chair of the Makerere Students' Guild. He graduated with honors in 1955 with bachelor's degrees in economics, history, and political science. Following graduation, he worked briefly as an assistant sales manager in the Uganda division of Shell Company of East Africa until he received a scholarship allowing him to study at the British school of his choice. He enrolled in the London School of Economics, graduating with distinction with a degree in public finance.
Kibaki returned to Makerere in 1958 as an assistant lecturer in the economics department. At the time, many Kenyans were fighting for independence from British rule. One of Kibaki's brothers had died in a guerilla uprising, known as the Mau Mau emergency, which was part of that struggle. Kibaki returned to Kenya in 1960 to lend his own efforts to the fight for independence, taking the secret oath of the Mau Mau guerillas, though not fighting like his brother. He helped found the Kenya African National Union (KANU) political party, which began ruling the country when it achieved independence in 1963. "Some friends and I visited the African Corner Bar along Race Course Road for a drink," Kibaki recalled in a 2002 issue of the Christian Science Monitor. "During our conversation . . . one of us suggested that we draw a constitution for the future. So, we borrowed stationery from the counter and started drafting. . . . The exercise eventually led to the birth of KANU." Kibaki married Lucy Muthoni, the daughter of a pastor, in 1942. The couple have four children: Judy Wanjiku, Jimmy Kibaki, David Kagai, and Tony Githinji.
Kenya was granted independence from Great Britain in 1963 and joined the British Commonwealth the following year. KANU leader Jomo Kenyatta became the country's first president, remaining in that post until his death in 1968. Kibaki became a powerful member of the KANU party, which from 1969 until 1992 was the only political party allowed in Kenya. By the 1980s, opposition to the government was considered a capital offense. Kibaki served as KANU's national executive officer from 1960 until 1962, when he was elected to Kenya's first legislative assembly. President Kenyatta appointed him assistant minister of economics, planning, and development in 1964, and two years later Kibaki was appointed minister for commerce and industry. In 1969, Kibaki was named minister of finance and he continued in that position under President Moi, who assumed the presidency following Kenyatta's death in 1978 and remained in the post for 24 years. Moi was one of Africa's longest–standing leaders, surpassed only by Gnassingbe Eyadema in Togo, Omar Bongo in Gabon, and Colonel Muammar el–Quaddafi in Libya, all of whom assumed power in the late 1960s. Moi named Kibaki his vice–president, a position he held for ten years until he was reassigned to the Ministry of Health. Kibaki continued to serve as a member of Parliament as well during this time.
Founded Opposition Party
Kibaki left the KANU party in 1991 when it was declared that multiparty elections would be held the following year. By this time, Kenya had fallen into serious economic decline. The government had also become notoriously corrupt, with officials and bureaucrats alike routinely accepting bribes. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund suspended most of their loans to the country, alleging that President Moi had misallocated the money. "Mr. Moi's Kenya has become a land of stark contrasts: dire poverty and fabulous, mostly stolen, wealth; natural beauty and collapsing infrastructure. AIDS ravages the people, and the country's infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. Known for its luxury safaris in remote unspoiled regions, it is also a place where the bulk of the population gets by on less than a dollar a day," observed Marc Lacey in the New York Times. It was thought by many that changes needed to be made in the political infrastructure.
Kibaki founded the opposition Democratic Party on December 25, 1991 and, as the party's leader, began campaigning for the presidency. He placed third in the 1992 election and ran again in 1997, placing second among 15 candidates. Prior to the 2002 election, he organized a coalition of opposition parties, the National Rainbow Coalition, and pledged to improve the country's economy, wipe out corruption, and provide free primary education for all children. He gained widespread sympathy after suffering serious injuries in an automobile accident prior to the election, which required him to campaign in a wheelchair. "We don't want to be ruled anymore by those who dictate, declare orders, and issue instructions," he stated during the campaign, as quoted in a 2003 issue of New York Times Upfront. "We want to be ruled by the law."
Kibaki soundly defeated his Moi–backed opponent, Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of the first president, in the December 2002 election. "I can assure you, I will rise to the occasion," he remarked upon his victory, as quoted by Danna Harmon of the Christian Science Monitor. Kibaki was sworn into office on December 29 amid a jubilant celebration. "I am inheriting a country which has been badly ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude," he stated at his swearing–in, as quoted by Andrew England of the Associated Press. With Moi looking on, Kibaki reiterated his pledge to end government corruption. "The era of anything goes is now gone forever," he was quoted by Marc Lacey of the New York Times as having said. "Government will no longer be run on the whims of individuals."
Spearheaded Reforms
Following his election, Kibaki began to implement a broad array of reforms. He followed through on his promise to provide free primary education to all children, and cracked down on corruption in the nation's courts. He launched an investigation of the country's banking system as well, resulting in the resignation of the chief of the central bank and the country's top tax collector. In addition, he ordered an inquiry into a complex bank scandal known as the Goldenberg affair, in which the central bank paid out money for nonexistent export credits. He replaced the chief executive of the state–operated Kenya Power and Lighting Company, which had consistently lost money despite holding a monopoly and failed to keep the lights on in much of the country, and sought a law requiring all politicians, including himself, to track campaign spending and declare their earnings.
Unlike Moi, whose portrait appeared on Kenyan treasury notes and above cash registers, Kibaki vowed to place the nation's well–being over his own profile. "What is important is that we should have a stable currency, not whose picture is there," he remarked, as quoted in the New York Times. "A president should prove himself by things he's going to do that change the life of ordinary Kenyans, not by naming every street and every corner," Some observers pointed out, however, that even though reform seemed imminent, Kibaki could not distance himself completely from the corruption of his predecessors, under whom he had served for many years. "Even if its leaders are the same politicians who once plundered the state, Kenya is considered to be changing," remarked reporter James Astill in the London Guardian.
After his first 100 days in office, with the economy still flagging and corruption curtailed but not wiped out, Kibaki faced critics who challenged his resolve. "We have made promises and are in the process of keeping them," he said in a taped speech reprinted in the New York Times. "Where there are delays, these are sincere. We are not a government that makes promises it does not intend to keep." He insisted that his administration had restored the trust of the citizens. "The most important transformation in Kenya over the last one hundred days has been in the minds of the Kenyan people," he continued. "We have seen a renewal of their confidence in the future." Kibaki has stated that he will step down when his five–year term expires. He plans to retire to his farm and pursue his avid interest in golf.
Books
Newsmakers, Issue 4, Gale Group, 2003.
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations: World Leaders, Gale Group, 2003.
Periodicals
Associated Press, December 31, 2002.
Christian Science Monitor, December 30, 2002.
Guardian (London), December 30, 2002.
New York Times, December 30, 2002; April 10, 2003; December 31, 2002.
New York Times Upfront, February 7, 2003.
Online
"Mwai Kibaki–Profile," Official Website of State House, Kenya, http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke (January 20, 2005).
"Profile–Kenya's New Leader," BBC News Online, http://www.news.bbc.co.uk (January 20, 2005).
