biography
pronunciation:
[moy]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1924– )
|
| biography:
| Kenyan politician and president (1978– ), born in the Rift Valley Province, Kenya. He was educated at mission schools, then worked as a teacher (1949–57). In 1957 he was elected to the Legislative Council as a member of the Kenya African Democratic Union. He served as a minister from 1961, and became vice-president under Kenyatta in 1967. When Kenyatta died in 1978, few people expected him to be capable of surviving under that enormous shadow, but, adopting the motto nyayo (footsteps to freedom), he gradually asserted his authority. He purged the army, launched a development plan, and in 1982 made the Kenyan African National Union the only legally permitted party. Despite his increasingly firm style of government, he was re-elected in 1983 and 1988. In late 1992 he held multi-party elections, which he won, though they were followed by some accusations of ballot-rigging. |
|
|
