Former President Daniel Moi had perfected the art of changing his deputies as a way of ensuring he remains in power, Professor Makau Mutua writes.
Mutua recalled how the retired commander in chief of the armed forces once fired his Former Vice President George Saitoti through the one o’clock news on the voice of Kenya radio.
He said that Moi was a no-nonsense leader who never gave a damn to what people said about his leadership.
He noted that Moi was the kind of person you would love to hate but it was none of his business.
Mutua said that President Uhuru Kenyatta cannot suck his Deputy because he is protected by the constitution but at the same time he can weaken his powers.
"President Daniel Arap Moi who perfected the art of swinging the axe to guillotine his vice presidents. Mr Moi was so ruthless that without the courtesy of forewarning, he once fired a deputy through the one o’clock news on Voice of Kenya radio. Mr Moi was such a practised serial sacker that he changed his deputies like dirty shirts,” he said in part.
He also said that it reached a point when Kenyans became tired of the leadership of Mzee Moi and they had to rethink about who to elect for the presidency and that is when they choose to support retired Mwai Kibaki over Uhuru who had been fronted by the KANU leader for power.