Under Moi, Kenya Was A Dark Place Of Despair – Amnesty International

Mzee Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi died on Tuesday (February 4, 2020). The man who called himself the Professor of politics died at the age of 95 after being a President of the Republic of Kenya for 24 years, and relinquishing power in 2002.

There have been mixed reactions to his death. Some Kenyans have remembered him for the good he supposedly did, while some have remembered him for the atrocities that took place while he was President.

The Kenyan mainstream media has actually idolized him. They are singing his praised and making him look like one of the greatest blessings Kenya has ever had and one that has gone dancing with the angels. Only foreign media houses and online platforms have dared to speak the unspoken.

Amnesty International has decided to move over the hypocrisy to say it as it is. According to the organization, “Kenya under the 24-year-old Presidency of Daniel Arap Moi experienced some of the worst human rights abuses in its history.” This is the truth that people are pretending to have forgotten.

Respect the dead but always say the truth. Before 2003, Kenya was a dark place of despair. The government of Daniel Moi was incapable of protecting its own people and public resources and, instead, turned against them. The Judiciary then cannibalized laws at the whim of the Executive. It was what Moi said that determined the wind of justice.

Under Moi, thousands of politicians, civil servants, lecturers, authors, doctors, journalists, and others suffered intimidation, killed, financial ruin and torture for daring to confront the violent regime, suffering, and corruption, says Amnesty.

Many Kenyans share the same sentiments as Amnesty International but the mainstream media has chosen to bury the dark past and only sing the imaginary amazing things that Mzee Moi did. As for me, I mourn those who mysteriously lost their lives during the reign of Mzee Moi. I also mourn the 13 pupils who lost their lives in Kakamega during a stampede.

READ: Former President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi Is Dead