Afr. }. polit. sci. (2002), Vol 7 No. 2 
Book Review: 
Transition in Kenya, 1995-1998. 
Munene, Macharia, The Politics of 
Nairobi: Friends-of-the Book Foundation. 2001 .pp. xi+107, 
paperback, ISBN: 9966 -925 -14-7. 
To write a current history of Kenya from 1995 to 1998 requires judgement 
and maturity. In modern Kenya, writing especially current history, can be 
more than the pleasantly "subversive activity" advocated by post-modernists. 
The author has the necessary academic qualities and he has produced 
the kind of history which urgently needs writing - and reading - in 
Kenya. The author is a professor of history at the United States International 
University, Nairobi, Kenya. 
Those familiar with contemporary Kenya will not find much here that is 
new. However, this little book is probably not intended to be pathbreaking. 
Instead the author has produced an authoritative and persuasive political 
history which underpins the challenge to build a strong and lasting democracy 
in Kenya. This was entirely a phenomenon of the events that occurred 
in Kenya between 1995 and 1998. These events culminated in the political 
crisis that virtually threatened to shake the edifice of genuine multipartism 
that had been ushered in 1991. This is solidly liberal historiography aimed 
at the middle ground, the kind of responsible opinion to which Jomo 
Kenyatta, the first president of Kenya, once appealed: but it is neither bland 
nor unengaged. It takes issues first with the circumstances that made the 
public to lose faith in the political class, whether within government or the 
opposition. These, the author traces to the first decade of the independence 
era, maintaining that the seeds of the present presidency wielding highly 
centralised powers were sown in 1964 when the minority opposition party 
(the Kenya African Democratic Union - KADU), voluntarily dissolved itself 
and joined the Kenya African National Union - KANU. The result was that 
Kenya became a defacto one-party state, thereby providing the occasion for 
the presidency to start amassing enormous powers and also creating a personality 
cult comparable only to that of a feudal monarch. This is the central 
thesis of the book. 
Thus when in 1978 President Daniel arap Moi took over the reigns of 
power following the death of President Kenyatta, the former inherited a 
highly constructed authoritarian one-party state. The author contends that 
1027-0353 ®2002 African Association of Political Science
114 Munene, Macharia 
Moi perfected the repressive style of leadership to the extent that in 1982, 
via parliament, he succeeded in having Kenya made a dejure one-party 
state. From then onwards, the author maintains, the Moi regime continued 
to demonstrate immense intolerance to dissent by detaining most of its critics 
who included academics, opposition politicians and other cadres of civil 
society. A pro-democracy movement ensued as the result of heightened 
intolerance and repression. It was championed by human rights lawyers, 
the clergy, the intelligentsia, popular musicians, and progressive politicians, 
among others. 
The author's conclusion is that a major transition occurred in 1997 
which completely transformed the Kenya political scene. The defiant spirit 
of the pro-democracy movement ensured that the political class did not 
monopolize decision making in the political arena. The masses established 
that they had the capability to delegitimize the political class and bestow 
authority on an alternative centre of power. 
Despite the fact that the book is a bold attempt to shed light on some key 
events that occurred in Kenya during the stipulated period, it has its own 
flaws. First, the book suffers from the absence of theoretical rigour. In other 
words, the author makes no attempt to provide the theoretical parameters of 
transition upon which the central thesis of the book should have been constructed. 
Second, the author uses irritating terminology such as 'tribe' or 
'tribal' as is evidenced on pages 5, 23, 35, and 42 without any qualification. 
It is obvious that such terminology has negative connotations the way it 
was used by colonial anthropologists and historians and their African disciples 
to imply the 'backwardness' of Africans. At the beginning of the 
twenty first century, such languages cannot be accepted; it ought to be 
decolonized. 
Third, this little book could have been greatly expanded given the wealth 
of sources both written and oral. This seems to suggest that perhaps the 
author was in a hurry to publish what arguably is a very important theme 
in Kenya's contemporary political history-political transition. Of course the 
transition did not end in 1998; it continues to date with the events that have 
continued to occur especially in face of the impending general election 
which will also see Moi retire from the presidency. In others, Kenya has so 
far failed to make a successful transition and eventual consolidation. Thus 
the phase of political or democratic transition is yet to take off. The drawing 
up and implementation of a new national constitution may well be at 
the centre of this process. Effectively then, the Yashpal Ghai Constitution 
Review Commission efforts to come up with a new national constitution 
may just be the panacea to Kenya's entrenched authoritarianism. 
Nevertheless, The Politics of Transition is not the last word on contemporary 
Kenya; nor does it shift the ground of historical and political debates.
Instead it uses the survey to reaffirm "the Kenya we want", with the analytical 
balance and grasp of the essentials. If the author's historical vision is true, 
Kenya may yet witness better days again. Otherwise the book is a must reading 
for students of political history, political science, political sociology, the 
political class, journalists and even the wanainchi (ordinary people) since its 
presentation and illustrations of real live events are not complicated. 
P. Godfrey Okoth 
Department of History and Government 
Maseno University, Maseno, Kenya. 
Book Revies 115