Kenya's Moi to Be Sworn In for Fifth Term

January 05, 1998| From Reuters

NAIROBI, Kenya — After his win in a chaotic election, President Daniel Arap Moi is set for inauguration today in a ceremony to be attended by other East African leaders.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa will fly to this capital for the ceremony at Uhuru Park, Kenyan security officials said.

Moi, 73, will be sworn in for a fifth and, he vows, final term he says will be devoted to eradicating corruption and promoting national unity and development for the country of 28 million.

Electoral Commission figures show Moi won with 40.1% of the vote, beating opposition leader Mwai Kibaki, who had 33.1%.

Yet the election has left the nation divided. Kibaki, a member of the Kikuyu ethnic group that voted overwhelmingly against Moi, said Sunday that he was convinced he was the real election winner.

He joined presidential contenders Raila Odinga, third with 10.9%, and fifth-placed Charity Kaluki Mwendwa Ngilu, who had 7.7%, to reject the result as rigged.

The defeated leaders said they had not decided their next move. Nairobi, scene of bloody clashes over constitutional reform last year, has remained calm since the election.

One apparent loser in the election has been commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu. Moi, opposition leaders, observers and ordinary Kenyans sharply criticized the commission for poor handling of the voting.

The commission extended voting last Monday for 24 hours because of long delays and administrative problems. In some flood-hit areas, voting continued until Wednesday.

Final figures have not been released, but Moi's Kenya African National Union will apparently have a very slim parliamentary majority over the combined opposition.

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