Daniel arap Moi, former Kenyan president in power for over 20 years, dies at 95

Daniel arap Moi, former Kenyan president in power for over 20 years, dies at 95
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By Euronews with AFP
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The former president of Kenya, who was in power for over 20 years, died at the age of 95.

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The former president of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi, died Tuesday at the age of 95, the country's current president said in a statement.

Moi led Kenya for 24 years before leaving power in 2002.

Some credited him with keeping Kenya out of several violent conflicts in East Africa during the time he was president but his time in power was also marked by arbitrary detentions, torture and corruption.

He was also accused of having stirred up ethnic differences in his country for political gain.

Moi was born on September 2, 1924, in a poor family north of Kenya and was a schoolteacher before he entered into politics.

He served several positions in the government of Jomo Kenyatta, who was the first president of Kenya after its independence from Britain.

Moi became president after Kenyatta's death in 1978.

Repression and corruption

Moi increased repression in the country, effectively establishing a single-party system in 1982.

A government commission report looking into Moi's rule found that he increased repression of activists and political dissenters, the AP reported.

The economy was also plagued by corruption. In the early 1990s, Moi was forced to reestablish multiparty politics in the country.

Moi "established the use of targeted ethnic violence as a tool for political management," said John Githongo, a Kenyan anti-corruption activist.

The former president was convicted in May 2019 of illegal land grabbing in 1983.

Additional sources • AP

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