Moi, Daniel Toroitich arap (1924-2020), served as president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He had been vice president from 1967 until 1978. He became president when Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, died. As president, Moi promoted good relations with the United States and other Western nations during the Cold War.
Early in Moi’s presidency, his Kenya African National Union (KANU) was the only political party in Kenya, though other parties were not banned by law. But after an unsuccessful coup against him in 1982, Moi backed a change in the Constitution that made KANU the only legal political party. The one-party state led to protests by Kenyans and threats by Western nations to stop financial aid to Kenya. In 1991, the Constitution was amended to allow for a multiparty system. Elections were held in December 1992, and Moi was elected president by the voters. He was reelected in 1997. Kenya’s Constitution required Moi to step down as president at the end of his term in 2002.
Moi was born on Sept. 2, 1924, near Nakuru, Kenya. He worked as a schoolteacher from 1945 to 1957. Moi was active in the negotiations that led to Kenya’s independence from Britain in 1963. He died on Feb. 4, 2020.
