Elders demand apology to Moi for humiliation

By CAROLINE WAFULA cwafula@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Tuesday, February 26  2013 at  00:30

In Summary

• Council claims Kenya is cursed because of the way former President was treated at ceremony

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The December 2002 power handover ceremony by Mr Daniel arap Moi to Mr Mwai Kibaki is perhaps one of the most humiliating moments of the former President’s life.

Uhuru Park, where Mr Kibaki was sworn-in, was bursting at the seams as Kenyans from all walks of life came to witness the end of an era.

Many will remember the ceremony for the humiliation the former President was subjected to in the presence of invited dignitaries. The openly hostile crowd hurled insults at him and even threw twigs and other objects at him on the dais.

Occasionally, they would break into anti-Moi songs such as Yote yawezekana bilaMoi (All is possible without Moi).

He, however, maintained his cool demeanour and handed over power to Mr Kibaki.

Now, a decade later, a group of elders is demanding an apology to the man who had ruled Kenya uninterrupted for 24 years.

The Kenya Elders National Advisory Council wants President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka to publicly apologise to Mr Moi before the fourth President of Kenya is sworn in.

The elders believe Kenya is under a curse as a result of events on that day. “The President-elect should not take the oath of office before reconciling the former President with Kenyans. When an elder like Mr Moi is offended by his people and is unhappy, the community remains under a curse,” said president of the council Mathew Okwanda on Monday.

He said the matter could not be wished away. “We feel Kenya is living under a curse because of what happened in 2002 when Mr Moi was handing over power to Mr Kibaki. He was heckled and didn’t leave a happy man after leading Kenya for 24 years. We did not honour him and need to ask for his forgiveness,” he said.

Traditionally, such a matter would require rituals such as slaughtering an animal and sharing a meal, Mr Okwanda said.

But since times have changed, he said, a national reconciliation prayer day involving the elders, political leaders and clergy would suffice.

The elders have been pushing for such a meeting to be held before next week’s election in vain.

In November last year, they wrote to John Cardinal Njue of the Catholic Church, Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Eliud Wabukala and Bishop Silas Yego of the African Inland Church asking them to jump-start the process.

In the letter, the elders cited events at the December 2002 handover, saying had Mr Moi not humbled himself and handed over to Mr Kibaki, the country would have been plunged into chaos.

“Our worry is that unless we move fast, we may be overtaken by events and miss a good opportunity to remove the curse on our country,” said the elders.

Yesterday, the elders said the religious leaders had let Kenyans down. “They told us it’s too late, but God’s message has no time limit and we need to act. We want Moi to tell Kenyans he has forgiven them. It is not too late,” said Mr Okwanda.

Mr Moi has, however, said in the past he had forgiven President Kibaki and his team for the public ridicule he was subjected to.