| | At the New Year of 2002/3 it became clear that Kenya had just experienced one of the most significant political changes since Independence. Mwai Kibaki took office as president after a landslide election victory with the National Rainbow Alliance (NARC) replacing the Kenyan African National Union (KANU) as the ruling party in parliament. There was a strong feeling of euphoria among the people and many saw this as a new start for the country after years of decline. To many Kenyans their difficult living conditions for a prolonged period had been correlated to the former president Daniel arap Moi and KANU. However, we cannot forget that Kibaki is one of the longest serving ministers in the cabinet led by Moi and his predecessor Jomo Kenyatta. From the early 1960s to 1991 he served the Kenyan Government as Assistant Minster, Minister and Vice-President. During his long stretch as Minister of Finance he was responsible for the economic policies of the nation. In addition to Kibaki, the new Cabinet contains many of the NARC MPs - former prominent KANU officials. Consequently, the future is to a large extent relying on the same individuals that were in power under Moi. |
