Daniel arap Moi

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Daniel arap Moi bigraphy, stories - President of Kenya

Daniel arap Moi : biography

2 September 1924 –

Daniel Toroitich arap Moi

Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as "Nyayo", a Swahili word for "footsteps", as he often said he was following the footsteps of the first Kenyan President, Jomo Kenyatta.

Criticism and corruption allegations

In 1999 the findings of NGOs like Amnesty International and a special investigation by the United Nations were published which indicated that human rights abuses were prevalent in Kenya under the Moi regime.

Reporting on corruption and human rights abuses by British reporter Mary Anne Fitzgerald from 1987–88 resulted only in her being vilified by the government and finally deported. Moi was implicated in the 1990s Goldenberg scandal and subsequent cover-ups, where the Kenyan government subsidized exports of gold far in excess of the foreign currency earnings of exporters. In this case, the gold was smuggled from Congo, as Kenya has negligible gold reserves. The Goldenberg scandal cost Kenya the equivalent of more than 10% of the country’s annual GDP.

Half-hearted inquiries that began at the request of foreign aid donors never amounted to anything substantial during Moi’s presidency. Although it appears that the peaceful transfer of power to Mwai Kibaki may have involved an understanding that Moi would not stand trial for offences committed during his presidency, foreign aid donors reiterated their requests and Kibaki reopened the inquiry. As the inquiry has progressed, Moi, his two sons, Philip and Gideon (now a member of Parliament), and his daughter June, as well as a host of high-ranking Kenyans, have been implicated. In bombshell testimony delivered in late July 2003, Treasury Permanent Secretary Joseph Magari recounted that in 1991, Moi ordered him to pay Ksh34.5 million ($460,000) to Goldenberg, contrary to the laws then in force. William Karanja, World Press Review correspondent. From the October 2003 issue of World Press Review (Vol. 50, No. 10)

In October 2006, Moi was found, by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, to have taken a bribe from a Pakistani businessman to award monopoly of duty free shops at the country’s international airport in Mombasa and Nairobi. The businessman Ali Nasir claimed to have paid Moi 2 million US$ in cash to obtain government approval for the World Duty Free Limited investment in Kenya. World Duty Free Company Ltd. v. Kenya (4 October 2006)

On 31 August 2007, the Guardian published a secret report that laid bare a web of shell companies, secret trusts and frontmen that his entourage used to funnel hundreds of millions of pounds into nearly 30 countries.. Guardian. 31 August 2007. Retrieved on 6 September 2011.

Stepping down and retirement

Moi was constitutionally barred from running in the 2002 presidential elections. Some of his supporters floated the idea of amending the constitution to allow him to run for a third term, but Moi preferred to retire, choosing Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first President, as his successor. Mwai Kibaki, was elected President by a two to one majority over Kenyatta, which was confirmed on 29 December 2002. Kibaki was then wheelchair bound having narrowly escaped death in a road traffic accident on the campaign trail.

Moi handed over power in a poorly organised ceremony that had one of the largest crowds ever seen in Nairobi in attendance. The crowd was openly hostile to Moi.

After leaving office in December 2002, Moi lived in retirement, largely shunned by the political establishment. However, he still retained some popularity with the masses, and his presence never failed to quickly gather a crowd. He spoke out against a proposal for a new constitution in 2005; according to Moi, the document was contrary to the aspirations of the Kenyan people. After the proposal was defeated in a November 2005 constitutional referendum, Kibaki called Moi to arrange for a meeting to discuss the way forward.

On 25 July 2007, Kibaki appointed Moi as special peace envoy to Sudan, referring to Moi’s "vast experience and knowledge of African affairs" and "his stature as an elder statesman". In his capacity as peace envoy, Moi’s primary task was to help secure peace in southern Sudan, where an agreement, signed in early 2005, was being implemented. At the time, the Kenyan press speculated that Moi and Kibaki were planning an alliance ahead of the December 2007 election.C. Bryson Hull, , Reuters (IOL), 26 July 2007. On 28 August 2007, Moi announced his support for Kibaki’s re-election and said that he would campaign for Kibaki. He sharply criticized the two opposition Orange Democratic Movement factions, arguing that they were tribal in nature., The Standard (Kenya), 28 August 2007.Lucas Barasa and Benjamin Muindi, , The Nation (Nairobi), 28 August 2007.