Kenyans to vote on Friday
2002-12-26 18:44
Iten, Kenya - Kenyans vote on Friday in elections that will end President Daniel arap Moi's 24-year rule and herald what many hope will be a new, more prosperous era for the east African nation plagued by corruption and an ailing economy.
The contest to succeed Moi, one of Africa's few remaining "big men", pits the ruling party's Uhuru Kenyatta against Mwai Kibaki, leader of an alliance of opposition parties that have united like never before.
The contrast between the two frontrunners in the presidential race is huge.
Kenyatta is Moi's hand-picked choice and the son of Kenya's first president - Jomo Kenyatta - but at 41 and with just a year in government, he is a political novice who has never won elective office.
Kibaki is a 71-year-old political veteran who was Moi's vice president from 1978 to 1988. He has been a leading opposition figure since multi-party politics were re-introduced in 1991, and came second to Moi in 1997 elections in which the opposition was divided along tribal lines.
But both Kibaki and Kenyatta claim to represent change. Kenyatta argues that he represents a new generation of leaders, while Kibaki says his opposition alliance, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) can right the wrongs of the past 39 years of government under the Kenya African National Union party (Kanu).
Both candidates, who are members of Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu, say ending rampant corruption and turning around the economy - east Africa's largest and most important - will be their priorities.
Moi, who became president in 1978 after Jomo Kenyatta's death, is constitutionally obliged to step down at the end of his current term, but he will remain as chairman of Kanu, which has run the country since independence from Britain in 1963.
"Many people are still ignorant here. They have been worshipping Kanu for the last 39 years, that is why they have been electing corrupt leaders," said John Changwony, a farmer in Iten, 265 kilometres northwest of Nairobi.
Changwony is a member of Moi's Kalenjin tribe, and Iten, a farming town nestled in a valley surrounded by lush green hills, has traditionally been a Kanu stronghold. The 50-year-old ekes out a living for his family of six children growing maize, the staple food in Kenya, and believes a NARC victory is needed to turn Kenya's fortunes around.
More than half of Kenya's 30 million people live on less than US$1 a day and the vast majority are forced to rely heavily on the state-owned, pro-Kanu Kenya Broadcasting Corporation for their news.
Seven TV stations broadcast in Nairobi, the capital and an opposition stronghold, but only one private station - the Kenya Television Network - reaches other major cities. The rural vote is regarded as key to the outcome of the presidential election.
NARC leaders talk as if they have already won. A recent poll, which was commissioned by the Washington-based International Republican Institute, gave Kibaki a 47-point lead over Kenyatta.
"The recovery of our great country now rests with us. The public mood for change is evident," Raila Odinga, a leading member of the opposition alliance, said on Thursday.
But Kanu supporters still believe their party will retain power.
"Kanu has been our mother and father for the last 39 years, and it's still the strongest party," said Andrew Kiplangat, a primary school teacher in Iten.
"People want change, but the leaders of the opposition are the same ones who were in Kanu. They are there because of greed for leadership."
Some 10.5 million people have registered to vote for president, 210 members of parliament and 2 104 local councilors at 18 366 polling stations spread throughout the country. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA