Jomo Kenyatta's death in August 1978, just over a year before the 1979 election, cast a significant shadow over the election. Candidates and the Moi government had to navigate questions about how to treat Kenyatta's legacy and how to position themselves relative to the founding president. The election was the first to take place after Kenyatta's death and was an opportunity to assess how his political legacy would be remembered and how his policies would be continued or modified.
Moi's campaign message emphasized continuity with Kenyatta while suggesting new directions. The Nyayo philosophy's claim to be following "in Kenyatta's footprints" was an attempt to claim Kenyatta's legacy for the new president. The campaign suggested that Moi would continue Kenyatta's development agenda while bringing new leadership skills and new approaches to governance.
Politicians who had been close to Kenyatta faced questions about their standing under Moi. Some Kenyatta associates remained in the government and in Parliament, while others were marginalized or defeated in the 1979 primary. The treatment of Kenyatta-era figures became a test of whether Moi's government represented continuity or fundamental change.
Kenyatta's family and his political allies had to adjust to a situation in which the president was no longer Kenyatta. The Kenyatta family's political position, based on Kenyatta's power and patronage, was potentially threatened by the change in presidency. However, some Kenyatta family members and allies maintained significant political positions and economic interests under Moi.
The economic and development record of Kenyatta's government provided both achievements and challenges that the Moi government had to address. Kenyatta's economic policies had produced growth and development, but by 1978-1979, economic difficulties were mounting. Inflation was rising, budget deficits were growing, and questions about the sustainability of Kenyatta-era development policies were being raised.
Harambee, Kenyatta's development philosophy, continued as the framework for government development policy under Moi. The Moi government did not abandon Harambee but instead presented it as compatible with Nyayo. This suggested that community self-help and government development assistance would continue under Moi as they had under Kenyatta.
Kenyatta's ethnic politics, which had concentrated power among Kikuyu politicians, were a legacy that Moi's government could modify. The rise of non-Kikuyu politicians under Moi suggested that ethnic politics might be shifting. Whether this represented a deliberate policy shift by Moi or merely reflected the playing out of political dynamics under a new president remained unclear in 1979.
The 1979 election was an opportunity to move past Kenyatta-era politics without entirely repudiating his legacy. Moi could position himself as honoring Kenyatta's achievements while taking Kenya in new directions. The extent to which this was genuine new direction or merely a continuation of one-party authoritarianism under different leadership would become clearer in subsequent years.
See Also
Sources
- Widner, Jennifer. The Rise of a Party-State in Kenya: From Harambee to Nyayo. University of California Press, 1992.
- Hornsby, Charles. Kenya: A History Since Independence. I.B. Tauris, 2012.
- Tamarkin, M. "The Making of Zimbabwe: Decolonization in Regional Context." Frank Cass, 1990.