View source for Mwai Kibaki

{{Short description|President of Kenya from 2002 to 2013}}
{{lead too short|date=May 2022}} <!--Lead barely talks about key events/elements during his presidency-->
{{Use Kenyan English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Mwai Kibaki
| honorific-prefix    = [[His Excellency]]
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=KEN|CGH|size=100%}}
| image               = Mwai Kibaki (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Kibaki in 2012
| order               = 3rd
| office              = President of Kenya
| primeminister       = [[Raila Odinga]]{{0}}{{small|(2008–13)}}
| vicepresident       = [[Michael Wamalwa]]<br />[[Moody Awori]]<br />[[Kalonzo Musyoka]]
| term_start          = 30 December 2002
| term_end            = 9 April 2013
| predecessor         = [[Daniel Arap Moi]]
| successor           = [[Uhuru Kenyatta]]
| order1              = 
| office1             = [[Ministry of Health (Kenya)|Minister for Health]]
| president1          = [[Daniel Arap Moi]]
| term_start1         = 1988&thinsp;
| term_end1           = &thinsp;1991
| predecessor1        = Samuel Ole Tipis
| successor1          = Joshua Mulanda Angatia
| order2              = 4th
| office2             = Vice President of Kenya
| president2          = [[Daniel Arap Moi]]
| term_start2         = 14 October 1978
| term_end2           = 24 March 1988
| predecessor2        = [[Daniel Arap Moi]]
| successor2          = [[Josephat Karanja]]
| order3              = 2nd
| office3             = Minister for Finance (Kenya){{!}}Minister for Finance
| president3          = [[Daniel Arap Moi]]<br />[[Jomo Kenyatta]]
| term_start3         = 1969&thinsp;
| term_end3           = &thinsp;1982
| predecessor3        = [[James Gichuru]]
| successor3          = [[Arthur Magugu]]
| order4              = 
| office4             = [[National Assembly (Kenya)|National Assembly]]
| constituency4       = [[Othaya Constituency|Othaya]]
| term_start4         = 1974
| term_end4           = 28 March 2013
| predecessor4        = King'ori Muhiukia
| successor4          = [[Mary Wambui]]
| order5              = 
| office5             = 
| constituency5       = [[Makadara Constituency|Doonholm]]
| term_start5         = 1963&thinsp;
| term_end5           = &thinsp;1974
| predecessor5        = ''Constituency established''
| successor5          = James Muriuki
| birth_name          = Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1931|11|15|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Gatuyaini]], [[British Kenya]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2022|4|21|1931|11|15|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Nairobi]], Kenya
| party               = {{nobr|[[Party of National Unity (Kenya)|Party of National Unity]] {{small|(2007–13)}}}}<br/>[[Democratic Party (Kenya)|Democratic Party]] {{small|(1992–2007)}}<br/>[[Kenya African National Union|KANU]] {{small|(1963–92)}}
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Lucy Kibaki|Lucy Muthoni]]|1961|2016|end=d}}
| children            = 4
| education           = [[University of East Africa]]<br />[[Makerere College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[London School of Economics]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BSc]])
| signature           = Mwai Kibaki Signature.svg
}}

'''Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki''' {{post-nominals|country=KEN|CGH}}<ref name="Emilio">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/317237/Mwai-Kibaki |title=Mwai Kibaki |author=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |accessdate=19 August 2012|author-link=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>{{needs IPA|date=April 2024}} (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ex-President Mwai Kibaki Dies, Uhuru Announces |last=Mwangi |first=Denis |work=Pulselive Kenya |date=22 April 2022 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://www.pulselive.co.ke/news/local/ex-president-mwai-kibaki-dies-uhuru-announces/kwn0wsm}}</ref> was a [[Kenyan]] politician who served as the third [[President of Kenya]] from December 2002 until April 2013. He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including being the longest serving [[Member of Parliament]] (MP) in Kenya from 1963 to 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/03mwai-kibaki-orbituary|title=Mwai Kibaki Obituary|work=The Guardian|date=3 May 2022|access-date=9 July 2022}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was the fourth [[Vice-President of Kenya]] for ten years from 1978 to 1988 under President [[Daniel arap Moi]]. He also held cabinet ministerial positions in the [[Jomo Kenyatta]] and Daniel arap Moi governments, including as minister for Finance (1969–1981) under Kenyatta, and Minister for Home Affairs (1982–1988) and Minister for Health (1988–1991) under Moi.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://people.africadatabase.org/en/person/6256.html/en/person/6256.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407203359/http://people.africadatabase.org/en/person/6256.html/en/person/6256.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 April 2019 |title=List of positions held |access-date=1 June 2016}}. people.africadatabase.org</ref> Kibaki served as an [[Opposition (parliamentary)|opposition]] Member of Parliament from 1992 to 2002. He unsuccessfully vied for the presidency in 1992 and 1997. He served as the [[Opposition (parliamentary)|Leader of the Official Opposition]] in Parliament from 1998 to 2002. Following the [[2002 Kenyan general election|2002 presidential election]], he was elected as the President of Kenya.

==Early life and education==
Kibaki was born on 15 November 1931 in [[Gatuyaini]] village, Othaya division of Kenya's then [[Nyeri District]] (now [[Nyeri County]]).<ref name="State House profile">{{cite web|url=http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kibaki/profile.htm |title=State House profile |publisher=Statehousekenya.go.ke |access-date=7 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611125620/http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kibaki/profile.htm |archive-date=11 June 2009 }}</ref> He was the youngest son of [[Kikuyu people|Kikuyu]] peasants Kibaki Gĩthĩnji and Teresia Wanjikũ. Though baptised as Emilio Stanley by [[Italy|Italian]] missionaries in his youth, he has been known as Mwai Kibaki throughout his public life.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/31/kenya.international2|title=Baptized record|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=7 June 2009|first=David|last=Beresford|date=31 December 2007}}</ref> Kibaki started his schooling at the village school in [[Gatuyaini]], where he completed two years.<ref name="State House profile"/> He then continued his education at the Karima mission school, close to [[Othaya]] town, before moving to Mathari School (now [[Nyeri High School]]) between 1944 and 1946.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kenya: Kibaki the Schoolboy |last=Muchire |first=Wilfred |via=allAfrica.com |work=[[Daily Nation]] |date=6 January 2006 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://allafrica.com/stories/200601050562.html}}</ref> In addition to his academic studies, he learned carpentry and masonry at the school. After Karima Primary and Nyeri Boarding primary schools, he proceeded to [[Mang'u High School]], where he studied between 1947 and 1950, gaining the highest grade in his [[GCE Ordinary Level|O Level]] examinations.<ref name="State House profile"/>

In his last year at Mang'u, Kibaki briefly considered enlisting in the army, but this ambition was thwarted when Kenya's Chief colonial secretary, [[Walter Coutts]], prohibited members of Kikuyu, [[Embu people|Embu]], and [[Meru people|Meru]] communities from joining the military. Kibaki instead attended [[Makerere University]] in [[Kampala]], Uganda, where he studied economics, history, and [[political science]]. He graduated with a first class honours degree in economics.<ref name="State House profile"/> After graduation, Kibaki remained in Uganda, working for the [[Shell plc|Shell Company of East Africa]]. He then earned a scholarship entitling him to undertake postgraduate studies at any British university. He chose the [[London School of Economics]], from which he obtained a BSc in public finance, with distinction.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-04-22 |title=Kenya's Mwai Kibaki: The hope and disappointment |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61191761 |access-date=2022-05-12}}</ref> In 1958, he went back to Makerere, where he taught as an assistant lecturer in the economics department until 1961.<ref name="State House profile"/> In 1961, Kibaki married [[Lucy Kibaki|Lucy Muthoni]], the daughter of a church minister, who was then a secondary school head teacher.<ref name="State House profile"/>

==Political career prior to presidency==
===1960–2002===
In early 1960, Mwai Kibaki left academia for active politics by giving up his job at Makerere and returning to Kenya to become an executive officer of [[Kenya African National Union]] (KANU), at the request of [[Thomas Joseph Mboya]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goidsu'ortly |first1=David |title=Tom Mboya |date=1982 |publisher=Heinemann |location=London |page=147 |edition=first }}</ref> (who was the secretary general of KANU). Kibaki then helped to draft [[Lancaster House Conferences (Kenya)|Kenya's independence constitution]].<ref name="France24DeathNotice">{{Cite web |title=Mwai Kibaki: Former Kenyan president leaves mixed legacy |agency=[[Agence France Presse]] |work=[[France 24]] |date=22 April 2022 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220422-mwai-kibaki-former-kenyan-president-leaves-mixed-legacy}}</ref>

In 1963, Kibaki was elected as Member of Parliament for the [[Makadara Constituency|Doonholm Constituency]] (subsequently called Bahati and now known as Makadara) in [[Nairobi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mzalendo.com/Members.Details.php?ID=20|title=Eye on Kenyan Parliament|publisher=mzalendo|access-date=7 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508232657/http://www.mzalendo.com/Members.Details.php?ID=20|archive-date=8 May 2008}}</ref> His election was the start of a long political career. In 1963 Kibaki was appointed the Permanent Secretary for the Treasury.<ref name="turks">Daily Nation, 13 April 2003: {{cite web|url=http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/13042003/Comment/Opinion_Analysis1304200324.html |title=The Influential Young Turks of the 60s |access-date=21 April 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040109145832/http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/13042003/Comment/Opinion_Analysis1304200324.html |archive-date=9 January 2004 }}</ref> Appointed Assistant Minister of Finance and chairman of the Economic Planning Commission in 1963, he was promoted to Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1966.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/mwai-kibaki|title=Mwai Kibaki: Biography from|publisher=Answers.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> In 1969, he became Minister of Finance and Economic Planning where he served until 1982.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2612893.stm|title=Profile – Kenya's New Leader," BBC News Online|publisher=BBC News|date=29 December 2002|access-date=1 June 2010|first=Russell|last=Smith}}</ref>

In 1974, Kibaki, facing serious competition for his Doonholm Constituency seat from an opponent Mrs. [[Jael Mbogo]], whom he had only narrowly and controversially beaten for the seat in the 1969 elections,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/03/kenya.xanrice|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=Wave of anarchy blamed on Kenya's 'General Coward'|first=Xan|last=Rice|date=3 February 2008|access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref> moved his political base from [[Nairobi]] to his rural home, Othaya, where he was subsequently elected as Member of Parliament. The same year ''[[Time magazine]]'' rated him among the top 100 people in the world who had the potential to lead. He was re-elected Member of Parliament for Othaya in the subsequent elections of 1979, 1983, 1988, 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007.<ref name="statehousekenya2">PROFILE OF HIS EXCELLENCY HON. MWAI KIBAKI, C.G.H., M.P., PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA {{cite web|url=http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kibaki/kibaki-profile.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=27 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428122205/http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kibaki/kibaki-profile.pdf |archive-date=28 April 2014}}</ref>

When [[Daniel arap Moi]] succeeded [[Jomo Kenyatta]] as President of Kenya in 1978, Kibaki was elevated to the [[Vice-President of Kenya|Vice Presidency]], and kept the Finance portfolio until Moi changed his ministerial portfolio from Finance to Home Affairs in 1982. He had in 1978 rejected an offer to become World Bank Vice President for Africa instead choosing to further his political career. As of 2023, he is still regarded as one of the most effective and consequential finance ministers of the Republic of Kenya. Later as President, he kept close tabs with the treasury and directly influenced key economic policies resulting in steady economic growth. Kibaki fell out of favor with President Moi in March 1988, and was dropped as vice president and moved to the Ministry of Health.<ref name="statehousekenya2"/><ref name="encyclopedia1">{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/mwai-kibaki|title=Columbia Encyclopedia: Mwai Kibaki|publisher=Answers.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>

Kibaki's political style during these years was described as gentlemanly and non-confrontational. This style exposed him to criticism that he was a spineless, or even cowardly, politician who never took a stand: according to one joke, "He never saw a fence he didn't sit on".<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1740693.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514230752/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1740693.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 May 2013|work=The Independent|location=London|title=Nairobi's corruption busting new leader tries to undo Moi's years of misrule|first=Declan|last=Walsh|date=4 January 2003|access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref> Similarly, [[Kenneth Matiba]] also referred to him as "General Kiguoya" for refusing to resign the Kanu government and join the opposition after he was dropped as vice president in 1988. 'Kiguoya' translates to the 'fearful one' in the [[Kikuyu language|Kikuyu]] language. He also, as the political circumstances of the time dictated, projected himself as a loyal stalwart of the ruling single party, KANU. In the months before multi-party politics were introduced in 1992, he infamously declared that agitating for multi-party democracy and trying to dislodge KANU from power was like "trying to cut down a fig tree with a razor blade".<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>

It was therefore with great surprise that the country received the news of Kibaki's resignation from government and leaving KANU on Christmas Day in December 1991, only days after the repeal of Section 2A of the then [[Constitution of Kenya (1963)|Constitution of Kenya]], which restored the [[multi-party system]] of government. Soon after his resignation, Kibaki founded the [[Democratic Party (Kenya)|Democratic Party (DP)]]<ref>[http://a24media.com/downloads/pdf/scripts/english/en_mwai_kibaki.pdf Mwai Kibaki. Trailer] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707072110/http://a24media.com/downloads/pdf/scripts/english/en_mwai_kibaki.pdf |date=7 July 2011 }}. a24media.com</ref> and entered the presidential race in the upcoming multi-party elections of 1992. Kibaki was regarded as one of the favourites among Moi's challengers, although his support came mainly from the Kikuyu voters as the election was fought along ethnic lines, confirming a prediction made by both Moi and political analysts at the beginning of multipartyism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=One-Party Rule Now Crumbling in Kenya|page=81 |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |last=Hiltzik |first=Michael A. |via=Newspapers.com |date=7 January 1992 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/177288644/?terms=kibaki&match=1}}</ref>

Kibaki came third in the subsequent presidential elections of 1992, when the divided opposition lost to president Moi and KANU despite having received more than two-thirds of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web |work=[[Detroit Free Press]] |last=Tyson |first=Remer |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |date=4 January 1993 |access-date=22 April 2022 |title=Kenyan boss shows how elections fail |agency=Free Press Africa Bureau |page=3 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100239407/detroit-free-press/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |work=[[Evening Standard]] |title=Moi wins Kenya poll |page=18 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |date=4 January 1993 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100239367/evening-standard/}}</ref> He then came second to Moi in the 1997 elections, when again, Moi beat a divided opposition to retain the presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://africanelections.tripod.com/ke.html#1997_Presidential_Election|title=AFRICAN ELECTIONS DATABASE-Elections in Kenya|publisher=Africanelections.tripod.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> Kibaki joined third-placed [[Raila Odinga]] in accusing the president of rigging the poll, and both opposition leaders boycotted Moi's swearing in for his fifth term in office.<ref>{{Cite web |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |agency=[[Reuters]] |title=Kenya's Moi begins 5th term as president, vows corruption battle |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com |date=6 January 1998 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100239919/st-louis-post-dispatch/}}</ref>

===2002 elections===
In preparation for the 2002 elections, Kibaki's Democratic Party affiliated with several other opposition parties to form the National Alliance of Kenya (NAK). A group of disappointed KANU presidential aspirants then quit KANU in protest after being overlooked by outgoing President Moi when Moi had [[Uhuru Kenyatta]] (founding Father [[Jomo Kenyatta]]'s son and Kibaki's successor as Kenya's 4th President after the 2013 General Election) nominated to be the KANU presidential candidate, and hurriedly formed the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Kenya)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP). NAK later combined with the LDP to form the [[National Rainbow Coalition]] (NARC). On 14 October 2002, at a large opposition rally in [[Uhuru Park]], [[Nairobi]], Kibaki was nominated the NARC opposition alliance presidential candidate after [[Raila Odinga]] made the famous declaration; "''Kibaki Tosha!''" ([[Swahili language|Swahili]] for "Kibaki [is] enough")<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/465904/-/tkag72/-/index.html|title=The deal and deal makers in Kibaki's 2002 victory|publisher=Nation.co.ke|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>

On 3 December 2002, Kibaki was injured in a road accident while on his way back to Nairobi from a campaign meeting at Machakos junction {{convert|40|km|0|abbr=off}} from Nairobi. He was subsequently hospitalized in [[Nairobi]], then London, after sustaining fracture injuries in the accident.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2540671.stm|title=Kenyan candidate treated in London|publisher=BBC News|date=5 December 2002|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> After the accident, he had to move using a wheel chair up to months later after his presidency. For the remainder of his life, he walked rather awkwardly as a result of those injuries.

The rest of his presidential campaign was thus conducted by his NARC colleagues in his absence, led by Raila Odinga and [[Kijana Wamalwa]] (who went on to become the Vice President) who campaigned tirelessly for Kibaki after stating, "The captain has been injured in the field... but the rest of the team shall continue."<ref name="bbc"/>
On 27 December 2002, Kibaki and NARC won a landslide victory over KANU, with Kibaki getting 62% of the votes in the presidential elections, against only 31% for the KANU candidate [[Uhuru Kenyatta]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/k/kenya/|title=Ref Elections in Kenya|publisher=Psephos.adam-carr.net|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>

==Presidency==
[[File:Kenya presidential standard MWAI KIBAKI.svg|thumb|Presidential Standard of Mwai Kibaki]]

===Swearing in===
On 30 December 2002, still nursing injuries from the motor vehicle accident and in a wheel chair, Kibaki was sworn in as the third President and [[Commander in Chief]] of the Armed Forces of the Republic of [[Kenya]], where thousands of cheering supporters at the historic [[Uhuru Park]] within Nairobi City. At his inauguration, he stressed his opposition to government corruption, saying: {{Blockquote|"Government will no longer be run on the whims of individuals."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marsgroupkenya.org/pdfs/governance/EMILIO_MWAI_KIBAKI.pdf|title=EMILIO MWAI KIBAKI 1. ENCYCLOPEDIA&nbsp;– COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 2. BIOGRAPHY|work=Google|access-date=7 June 2009|archive-date=9 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109200017/http://www.marsgroupkenya.org/pdfs/governance/EMILIO_MWAI_KIBAKI.pdf|url-status=usurped}}</ref>}}

Kibaki's swearing in marked the end of four decades of KANU rule, the party having ruled Kenya since independence.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 Jan 2003 |newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Post]] |title=Kenyan results |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |page=2 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100240061/the-cincinnati-post/}}</ref> Moi, who had been in power for 24 years, began his retirement.<ref>{{Cite news |page=A02 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |author=Sudarsan Raghavan |title=Clipped from the Philadelphia Inquirer |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |date=5 January 2003 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100240156/}}</ref>

===Leadership style===
President Kibaki's style was that of a quiet, publicity-averse, but highly intelligent and competent technocrat.<ref name="See for instance">{{cite news|author=Gitau Warigi|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/4875562.stm|title=Kibaki's 'mafia' on the run|publisher=BBC News|date=14 April 2006|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>

Unlike his predecessors, he never tried to establish a personality cult;<ref name="independent">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/new-era-for-kenya-as-opposition-obliterates-ruling-party-612314.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826153531/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/new-era-for-kenya-as-opposition-obliterates-ruling-party-612314.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 August 2009|work=The Independent|location=London|title=New era for Kenya as opposition obliterates ruling party|first=Declan|last=Walsh|date=30 December 2002|access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref> never had his portrait on every unit of Kenya's currency; never had all manner of streets, places, and institutions named after him;<ref name="independent"/> never had state sanctioned praise songs composed in his honour; never dominated news bulletins with reports of his presidential activities - however routine or mundane; and never engaged in the populist sloganeering of his predecessors.<ref name="See for instance"/>

[[File:US Navy 070719-N-5783F-004 Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, meets with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.jpg|thumb|President Mwai Kibaki meets with Adm. [[William J. Fallon]], Commander of U.S. Central Command.]]

His style of leadership gave him the image of a seemingly aloof, withdrawn [[technocrat]] or [[intellectual]] and made him seem out of touch with the street,<ref name="MICHELA WRONG Page 11"/> and his seemingly hands-off leadership-by-delegation style made his governments, especially at the cabinet level, appear dysfunctional.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/531732/-/view/printVersion/-/e8mee7z/-/index.html|author=Bernard Namunane and David Mugonyi|date=17 February 2009|title=Chaos in cabinet as Karua and Ruto clash|work=Daily Nation|access-date=1 June 2010|archive-date=14 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914030127/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/531732/-/view/printVersion/-/e8mee7z/-/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===First term health issues===
It is widely acknowledged that age and the 2002 accident denied the country the witty, sporty, eloquent Kibaki of the previous years. A man who could make lengthy and flowery contributions on the floor of Parliament without notes was confined to reading speeches at every forum.<ref name="nation">{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Its-a-mixed-bag-of-fortunes-as-Kibaki-heads-off-to-retirement/-/1064/1741314/-/au5cgnz/-/index.html|title=It's a mixed bag of fortunes as Kibaki heads off to retirement - Daily Nation|publisher=nation.co.ke|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>

In late January 2003, it was announced that the President had been admitted to [[Nairobi Hospital]] to have a blood clot– the after-effect of his car accident– removed from his leg. He came out of hospital and addressed the public outside the hospital on TV in a visibly incoherent manner, and speculation after that was that he had suffered a stroke, his second, the first being said to have occurred sometimes in the 1970s.<ref name="nation1">{{cite news|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/531642/-/item/0/-/a8f3q1z/-/index.html|title=Kibaki's failing health put on hold all pledges he had made|work=Daily Nation|access-date=1 June 2010|archive-date=12 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312070326/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/531642/-/item/0/-/a8f3q1z/-/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> His subsequent ill health greatly diminished his performance during his first term and the affairs of government during that time are said to have been largely run by a group of loyal aides, both in and out of government.<ref name="nation1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nairobichronicle.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/assertive-kibaki-suprises-kenyans/|title=Assertive Kibaki {{sic|sup|rises|nolink=y}} Kenyans|work=The Nairobi Chronicle|date=23 March 2009|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> Kibaki did not seem well, for instance, when he appeared live on TV on 25 September 2003 to appoint [[Moody Awori]] Vice President after the death<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3176177.stm|title=Kenya's vice-president dies|publisher=BBC News|date=23 August 2003|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> in office of Vice President, [[Michael Wamalwa Kijana]].

===2003: Free primary education===
In January 2003, Kibaki introduced{{failed verification|date=April 2022}} a free primary education initiative, which brought over 1 million children who would not have been able to afford school the chance to attend.<ref name=Schools>{{cite web|title=Kenya: Free primary education brings over 1 million into school|url=http://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/kenya-free-primary-education-brings-over-1-million-school|work=UN Children's Fund|date=22 July 2005 |publisher=ReliefWeb|access-date=16 October 2012}}</ref> The initiative received positive attention, including praise from [[Bill Clinton]], who met Kibaki in Kenya in July 2005.<ref name="Clinton Visits Kenya">{{cite news|title=Clinton Visits Kenya|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=711100n|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112125830/http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=711100n|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 November 2010|publisher=CBS News|access-date=16 October 2012|date=22 July 2005}}</ref><ref>Education Next, Fall 2005: [https://archive.today/20120527005613/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MJG/is_4_5/ai_n15675349/pg_5 "Private schools for the poor: education where no one expects it"]</ref> In his tenure he was involved in numerous academic events including the famous Equity Group Foundation, Wings to Fly 2013 scholars commissioning.

===2005: Constitutional referendum, the NARC fallout and government of national unity===
[[File:Mwai Kibaki-2a.jpg|thumb|President Kibaki in 2005]]

The [[2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum]] was held on 21 November 2005. The main issue of contention in the Constitution review process was how much power should be vested in the Kenyan Presidency. In previous drafts, those who feared a concentration of power in the president added provisions for European-style power-sharing between a ceremonial President elected via universal suffrage and an executive Prime Minister elected by Parliament. The draft presented by [[Attorney General of Kenya|Attorney General]] [[Amos Wako]] for the referendum retained sweeping powers for the Presidency.<ref>[http://www.4cskenyatuitakayo.org/downloads/ANALYSIS%20OF%20WAKO%20DRAFT.pdf Analysis of the Wako Draft] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Though Kibaki supported the proposal, some members of his own cabinet, mainly from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) wing led by Raila Odinga, allied with the main opposition party KANU to mobilize a powerful NO campaign that resulted in a majority of 58% of voters rejecting the draft.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Kenya:+post-referendum+blues%3B+Although+the+government+lost+the...-a0142575262|title=Analysis by Wanjohi Kabukuru|publisher=Thefreelibrary.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>

As a consequence of, and immediately after, the referendum loss, on 23 November 2005, Kibaki dismissed his entire cabinet in the middle of his administration's term, with the aim of purging all Raila-allied ministers from the cabinet.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4463262.stm "Kenya's entire cabinet dismissed"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306165056/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4463262.stm |date=6 March 2016 }}, BBC News, 23 November 2005.</ref> About his decision Kibaki said; {{Blockquote|"Following the results of the referendum, it has become necessary for me, as the President of the Republic, to re-organize my government to make it more cohesive and better able to serve the people of Kenya".}} The only members of the cabinet office to be spared a midterm exit were the [[Vice President of Kenya|Vice President]] and [[Minister of Home Affairs]], [[Moody Awori]], and the Attorney General whose position is constitutionally protected. A new cabinet of Kibaki loyalists, including MP's from the opposition, termed the Government of National Unity (GNU), was thereafter appointed, but some MP's who were offered ministerial positions declined to take up posts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=51173 |title=KENYA: Year in Review 2005 – Searching for a constitution |date=27 August 2004 |access-date=17 October 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060711114328/http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=51173 |archive-date=11 July 2006 }} ''IRIN News''. 11 July 2006</ref>

A report by a Kenyan Commission of Inquiry, the [[Waki Commission]], contextualises some issues. They reported that Kibaki, after agreeing to an informal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create the post of Prime Minister, reneged on this pact after being elected. They cited criticism of Kibaki neglecting his pre-election agreement, leaving the public to identify it as an attempt by the Kibaki Government to "keep power to itself rather than share it."<ref name=waki>{{cite web|url=http://www.eastandard.net/downloads/Waki_Report.pdf |title=The ''Waki Report'' |access-date=20 December 2008 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213221232/http://www.eastandard.net/downloads/Waki_Report.pdf |archive-date=13 February 2009 }}. the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence (CIPEV). eastandard.net</ref>

===2007: Elections===
On 26 January 2007, President Kibaki declared his intention of running for re-election in the [[2007 Kenyan presidential election|2007 presidential election]].<ref>Martin Mutua and PPS. {{cite web|url=http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143964123 |title=Kibaki declares he is ready for a second presidential term |access-date=4 June 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070129085518/http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143964123 |archive-date=29 January 2007 }} ''The Standard''. 27 January 2007</ref> On 16 September 2007, Kibaki announced that he would stand as the candidate of a new alliance incorporating all the parties who supported his re-election, called the [[Party of National Unity (Kenya)|Party of National Unity]]. The parties in his alliance included the much diminished former ruling [[Kenya African National Union|KANU]],<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/16/africa/AF-POL-Kenya-Elections.php "Kenyan president announces new party affiliation for re-election bid"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119123552/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/16/africa/AF-POL-Kenya-Elections.php |date=19 January 2008 }}, Associated Press (''International Herald Tribune''), 16 September 2007.</ref><ref name=Eyes>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6997659.stm "Kenya president eyes re-election"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321211306/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6997659.stm |date=21 March 2016 }}, BBC News, 16 September 2007.</ref> [[Democratic Party (Kenya)|DP]], [[Narc-Kenya]], [[Ford-Kenya]], [[Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People|Ford People]], and [[Shirikisho]].<ref name=Eyes/>

Kibaki's main opponent, [[Raila Odinga]], had used the referendum victory to launch the [[Orange Democratic Movement|ODM]], which nominated him as its presidential candidate for the 2007 elections.

On 30 September 2007, President Kibaki launched his presidential campaign at [[Nyayo Stadium]], Nairobi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0%2C%2C2-11-1447_2193347%2C00.html |title=Kibaki: I deserve another term |access-date=5 March 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305163915/http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0%2C%2C2-11-1447_2193347%2C00.html |archive-date=5 March 2008 }}, AFP via News24.com, 30 September 2007.</ref>

[[Kalonzo Musyoka]] then broke away from Raila's [[Orange Democratic Movement|ODM]] to mount his own fringe bid for the presidency, thus narrowing down the contest between the main candidates, Kibaki, the incumbent, and Odinga.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://forums.csis.org/africa/?p=73|title=Too Close to Call: Why Kibaki Might Lose the 2007 Kenyan Election|publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903010710/http://forums.csis.org/africa/?p=73|archive-date=3 September 2009}}</ref> Opinion polls up to election day showed Kibaki behind [[Raila Odinga]] nationally, but closing. On regional analysis, the polls showed him behind Raila in all regions of the country except [[Central Province (Kenya)|Central Province]], [[Embu, Kenya|Embu]], and [[Meru County|Meru]], where he was projected to take most of the votes, and behind Kalonzo Musyoka in Kalonzo's native [[Ukambani]].<ref>Stefan Dercon (Oxford University), Michael Bratton (Michigan State University), Mwangi Kimenyi (University of Connecticut), Roxana Gutierrez-Romero (Oxford University) and Tessa Bold (Oxford University). [http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/Members/tessa.bold/work/EthnicityNote.pdf Ethnicity, Violence and the 2007 Elections in Kenya] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622005457/http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/Members/tessa.bold/work/EthnicityNote.pdf |date=22 June 2011 }}. 8 January 2008</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30167768.htm|title=A Thomson Reuters Foundation Service|publisher=AlertNet|date=6 November 2011|access-date=19 November 2011}}</ref><!--It was thus projected to be a close election between Kibaki and Raila.-->

===2007–2008: Results dispute and post-election violence===
{{main|2007–2008 Kenyan crisis}}
Three days later, after a protracted count which saw presidential results in Kibaki's Central Kenya come in last, allegedly inflated, in a cloud of suspicion and rising tensions, amid vehement protests by Raila's [[Orange Democratic Movement|ODM]], overnight re-tallying of results and chaotic scenes, all beamed live on TV, at the national tallying center at the [[Kenyatta International Conference Centre|Kenyatta International Conference Center]] in [[Nairobi]], riot police eventually sealed off the tallying Center ahead of the result announcement, evicted party agents, observers, and the media,<ref name=Rice/> and moved the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, [[Samuel Kivuitu]], to another room where Kivuitu went on to declare Kibaki the winner by 4,584,721 votes to Odinga's 4,352,993,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africa-confidential.com/special-report/id/14/Inside-Kenya%27s-elections-2008|title=Inside Kenya's elections 2008|publisher=Africa Confidential|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> placing Kibaki ahead of Odinga by about 232,000 votes in the hotly contested election with [[Kalonzo Musyoka]] a distant third.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7164890.stm|title=BBC:Kibaki named victor in Kenya vote|publisher=BBC News|date=30 December 2007|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>

One hour later, in a hastily convened dusk ceremony, Kibaki was sworn in at the grounds of [[State House, Nairobi]] for his second term, defiantly calling for the "verdict of the people" to be respected and for "healing and reconciliation" to begin. Tension arose and led to protests by a huge number of Kenyans who felt that Kibaki had refused to respect the verdict of the people and was now forcibly remaining in office.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129125.htm?section=world "Kibaki re-elected Kenyan president: official results"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823052314/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129125.htm?section=world |date=23 August 2009 }}, AFP (abc.net.au), 31 December 2007.</ref><ref name=Victor>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7164890.stm "Kibaki named victor in Kenya vote"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604041747/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7164890.stm |date=4 June 2016 }}, BBC News, 20 December 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/23955.html|title=Kibaki claims win in disputed Kenyan election|publisher=Mcclatchy|date=30 December 2007|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307165720/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/23955.html|archive-date=7 March 2008}}</ref>

Immediately the results were announced, Odinga bitterly accused Kibaki of electoral fraud.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raila07.com/|title=Raila 2007 – Welcome|publisher=Raila07.com|access-date=1 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416122537/http://www.raila07.com/|archive-date=16 April 2010|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Odinga's allegations scored with his supporters, and seemed meritorious since the results had defied pre-election polls and expectations<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/27/kenya.international|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=Kenya deaths and accusations on eve of polls|first=Xan|last=Rice|date=27 December 2007|access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref> and election day exit polls.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iri.org/africa/kenya/pdfs/2008%20August%2014%20Kenyan%20Election%20Day%20Poll,%20December%2027,%202007.pdf|title=Microsoft PowerPoint – 2008 August 14 Kenyan Election Day Poll December 27, 2007 [Compatibility Mode&#93;|publisher=Interinational Republican Institute|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325100906/http://www.iri.org/africa/kenya/pdfs/2008%20August%2014%20Kenyan%20Election%20Day%20Poll%2C%20December%2027%2C%202007.pdf|archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref> Furthermore, Odinga, who had campaigned against the concentration of political power in the hands of Kikuyu politicians,<ref name="tokyofoundation.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.tokyofoundation.org/en/series/sylff/kenya2019s-post-election-violence|title=Kenya's Post-Election Violence|publisher=The Tokyo Foundation|access-date=1 June 2010|archive-date=16 April 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416023304/http://www.tokyofoundation.org/en/series/sylff/kenya2019s-post-election-violence|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="kenya-advisor.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.kenya-advisor.com/kenya-election-violence.html|title=The Kenya Election Violence Explained|publisher=Kenya-advisor.com|date=27 December 2007|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> had won the votes of most of the other Kenyan tribes and regions,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.communication.go.ke/elections/province.asp|title=Office of Government Spokesperson – Election 2007 – KENYA President|publisher=Communication.go.ke|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501041002/http://www.communication.go.ke/elections/province.asp|archive-date=1 May 2010}}</ref> with Kibaki's victory being attained only with the near exclusive support of the populous [[Kikuyu people|Kikuyu]], [[Meru people|Meru]], and [[Embu people|Embu]] communities-who had turned out to vote for Kibaki in large numbers after feeling, in reaction to the Odinga campaign, and with the covert encouragement of the Kibaki campaign, increasingly besieged and threatened by the pro-Odinga tribes. Moreover, ODM had won the most parliamentary and local authority seats by a wide margin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalinsight.com/SDA/SDADetail11295.htm|title=Global Insight // Same-Day Analysis|publisher=Globalinsight.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> A joint statement by the [[British Foreign Office]] and [[Department for International Development]] cited "real concerns" over irregularities, while international observers refused to declare the election free and fair. The [[European Union]] chief observer, [[Alexander Graf Lambsdorff]], cited one constituency where his monitors saw official results for Kibaki that were 25,000 votes lower than the figure subsequently announced by the Electoral Commission, leading him to doubt the accuracy of the announced results.<ref name=Rice>{{cite news|title=Kenyans riot as Kibaki declared poll winner |last=Rice |first=Xan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/31/kenya.topstories3 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=30 December 2007}}</ref>

It was reported that Kibaki, who had previously been perceived as an "old-school gentleman", had "revealed a steely side" when he swore himself in within an hour of being announced the victor of the highly contested election—one where the results were largely in question.<ref>{{cite news|author=Wangui Kanina and Duncan Miriri|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL074358920080109|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719042609/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL074358920080109|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 July 2012|title=Reuters|publisher=Uk.reuters.com|date= 9 January 2008|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/1527804|title=Protests, deaths in Kenya after disputed election |publisher=Tvnz.co.nz|date=31 December 2007|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613045344/http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/1527804|archive-date=13 June 2011}}</ref> Odinga's supporters said he would be declared president at a rival ceremony on Monday, but police banned the event.
Koki Muli, the head of local watchdog, the Institute of Education in Democracy, said called the day the "saddest...in the history of democracy in this country" and "a [[coup d'etat]]."<ref name=france24>{{cite web|url=http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/archives/news/world/20071230-kenya-election-violence-presidential-kibaki-winner-dispute-opposition-fraud.php |title=Violence ensues as Kibaki reelected |publisher=France 24 |date=30 December 2007 |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823043942/http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/archives/news/world/20071230-kenya-election-violence-presidential-kibaki-winner-dispute-opposition-fraud.php |archive-date=23 August 2009 }}</ref>

Opposition supporters saw the result as a plot by Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, Kenya's largest, to keep power by any means.<ref name="kenya-advisor.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stanleymeisler.com/news-commentary/tribal_politics.html|title=Tribal Politics by Stanley Meisler|publisher=Stanleymeisler.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://static.rnw.nl/migratie/www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/080115-kenya-election-violence-redirected|title=Kenya: truth forgotten in the fires of violence|publisher=Radio Netherlands Worldwide|access-date=1 June 2010}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The tribes that lost the election were upset at the prospect of five years without political power, and anti-Kikuyu sentiment swelled,<ref name=waki/><ref name="tokyofoundation.org"/> spawning the [[2007–2008 Kenyan crisis]], as violence broke out in several places in the country, started by the ODM supporters protesting the "stealing" of their "victory", and subsequently escalating as the targeted Kikuyus retaliated.<ref name=waki/><ref name="whistleblower2">Michela Wrong, "It's Our Turn to Eat-The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower" Chapter 17, Harper, 2009, {{ISBN|0061346586}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EMAE-7AEN8R?OpenDocument|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805122646/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EMAE-7AEN8R?OpenDocument|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 August 2012|title=ReliefWeb ť Document ť Tribal rivalries underlie Kenya post-election violence|publisher=Reliefweb.int|date=31 December 2007|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> As unrest spread, television and radio stations were instructed to stop all live broadcasts. There was widespread theft, vandalism, looting, destruction of property, and a significant number of atrocities, killings,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.breakingnews.com/video/kenya-violence-tribal-politics |access-date=10 July 2009 |title=NBC News - Breaking News & Top Stories - Latest World, US & Local News }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and sexual violence reported.

The violence continued for more than two months, as Kibaki ruled with "half" a cabinet he had appointed,<ref>[http://www.korogocho.org/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=169:kibaki-names-part-of-cabinet&catid=35:election-crisis&Itemid=40 Kibaki names part of Cabinet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016222018/http://www.korogocho.org/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=169%3Akibaki-names-part-of-cabinet&catid=35%3Aelection-crisis&Itemid=40 |date=16 October 2015 }}. korogocho.org (1 February 2008)</ref> with Odinga and ODM refusing to recognize him as president.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christiantoday.com/article/african.union.head.meets.kenyas.feuding.parties/16096.htm|title=African Union head meets Kenya's feuding parties|publisher=Christiantoday.com|date=10 January 2008|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>

When the election was eventually investigated by the [[Kriegler Commission|Independent Review Commission (IREC)]] on the 2007 Elections chaired by Justice [[Johann Kriegler]], it was found that there were too many electoral malpractices from several regions perpetrated by all the contesting parties to conclusively establish which candidate won the [[Kenyan presidential election of 2007|December 2007 Presidential elections]]. Such malpractices included widespread bribery, vote buying, intimidation, and [[ballot stuffing]] by both sides, as well as incompetence from the [[Electoral Commission of Kenya]] (ECK), which was shortly thereafter disbanded by the new Parliament.<ref>[http://www.communication.go.ke/Kriegler_IREC/EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY_FINAL.pdf IREC Executive Summary] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205010017/http://www.communication.go.ke/Kriegler_IREC/EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY_FINAL.pdf |date=5 February 2009 }}. communication.go.ke</ref>

===2008: National accord and Grand Coalition Government===
The country was only saved by the mediation of [[United Nations Secretary-General]] [[Kofi Annan]] with a panel of "Eminent African Personalities" backed by the [[African Union]], the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Following the mediation, a deal, called the national accord, was signed in February 2008 between [[Raila Odinga]] and Kibaki, now referred to as the "two Principals". The accord, later passed by the Kenyan Parliament as the [[National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008]] provided ''[[inter alia]]'' for power-sharing, with Kibaki remaining President and [[Raila Odinga]] taking a newly re-created post of Prime Minister.

On 17 April 2008, [[Raila Odinga]] was sworn in as [[Prime Minister of Kenya]], along with a power-sharing Cabinet, with 42 [[government minister|ministers]] and 50 assistant ministers, Kenya's largest ever. The cabinet was fifty percent Kibaki appointed ministers and fifty percent Raila appointed ministers, and was in reality a carefully balanced ethnic [[coalition]]. The arrangement, which also included [[Kalonzo Musyoka]] as vice president, was known as the "Grand Coalition Government".<ref>"Odinga Sworn in as Kenyan Premier" {{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7351842.stm |title=Odinga sworn in as Kenyan premier |date=17 April 2008 |access-date=8 June 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917011332/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7351842.stm |archive-date=17 September 2016}}-accessed 8 June 2009.</ref>

===Economic legacy: turnaround===
The Kibaki presidency set itself the main task of reviving and turning round country after years of stagnation and economic mismanagement during the [[Daniel arap Moi|Moi]] tenure<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/africa/2161868.stm|title=BBC:Moi's legacy to Kenya|publisher=BBC News|date=5 August 2002|access-date=1 June 2010|first=Gray|last=Phombeah}}</ref> – a feat faced with several challenges, including the aftermath of the Nyayo Era (Moi Presidency), western donor fatigue, the President's ill health during his first term, political tension culminating in the break-up of the NARC coalition, the 2007–2008 post election violence, the [[2008 financial crisis]], and a tenuous relationship with his coalition partner, Raila Odinga, during his second term.

[[File:East African Community heads of state.jpg|thumb|President Mwai Kibaki with, from left to right, Presidents [[Yoweri Museveni]] of [[Uganda]], [[Paul Kagame]] of [[Rwanda]], [[Jakaya Kikwete]] of [[Tanzania]], and [[Pierre Nkurunziza]] of [[Burundi]] at an [[East African Community]] Head of States Meeting]]

President Kibaki, the economist whose term as Finance minister in the 1970s is widely celebrated as outstanding, did much as president to repair the damage done to the country's economy during the 24-year reign of his predecessor, President Moi. Compared to the Moi years, Kenya was much better managed, by far more competent public sector personnel, and was much transformed.<ref>Ambassador Johnny Carson:From Moi to Kibaki:An Assessment of the Kenyan Transition {{cite web|url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/pubs/Occasional_Paper_1.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 September 2013 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718173516/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/pubs/Occasional_Paper_1.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2006 }}</ref>

Kenya's economy in the Kibaki years experienced a major turnaround. GDP growth picked up from a low 0.6% (real −1.6%) in 2002 to 3% in 2003, 4.9% in 2004, 5.8% in 2005, 6% in 2006, and 7% in 2007, then dropped to 1.7% in 2008 (due to the [[2008 financial crisis]]), 2.6% in 2009, but recovered to 5% in 2010 and 5% in 2011.<ref name="indexmundi">{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=ke&v=66|title=Kenya - GDP - real growth rate - Historical Data Graphs per Year|publisher=indexmundi.com|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref>

Development was resumed in all areas of the country, including the hitherto neglected and largely undeveloped semi-arid or arid north.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2009/06/major-projects-in-northern-kenya/|title=Major Projects in Northern Kenya|publisher=Railwaysafrica.com|date=4 June 2009|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621083128/http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2009/06/major-projects-in-northern-kenya/|archive-date=21 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144015638&cid=14& |author=Ali Abdi |title=Major transport project to open up northern Kenya |publisher=Eastandard.net |date=4 July 2007 |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608165419/http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144015638&cid=14& |archive-date=8 June 2009 }}</ref> Many sectors of the economy recovered from total collapse pre-2003.<ref>[http://www.communication.go.ke/development/documents/Introduction.doc Accountability statement. Just 10% of what the Kibaki government has done] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930210253/http://www.communication.go.ke/development/documents/Introduction.doc |date=30 September 2011 }}. Government of Kenya</ref> Numerous state corporations that had collapsed during the Moi years were revived and began performing profitably.<ref name="kenya-information-guide.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.kenya-information-guide.com/kenya-government.html|title=The Kenya Government – Achievements of the 2002–2007 Government of Kenya|publisher=Kenya-information-guide.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> The telecommunications sector boomed. Rebuilding, modernisation, and expansion of infrastructure began in earnest, with several ambitious infrastructural and other projects, such as the [[Thika Superhighway]], which would have been seen as unattainable during the Moi years were completed.<ref name="kenya-information-guide.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.communication.go.ke/development/achievements.asp?id=all|title=What has Kibaki Government done with your Money? Truth be Told|publisher=Communication.go.ke|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213194412/http://communication.go.ke/development/achievements.asp?id=all|archive-date=13 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skynewswire.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005162206/http://www.skynewswire.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=993|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 October 2011|title=Kibaki's Achievements on the Infrastructure|publisher=SkyNewswire.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> The country's cities and towns also began being positively renewed and transformed.<!-- site blocked by wikipedia <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/nairobi-kenyas-capital-gradually-changing-face-414112.html|title=Nairobi, Kenya's Capital Gradually Changing Face|publisher=Articlesbase.com|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>-->

The [[Constituency Development Fund]] (CDF) was also introduced in 2003. The fund was designed to support constituency-level, grass-root development projects.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?id=1144016715&cid=17&articleID=1144016715|date=12 June 2009|title=CDF was focus of Uhuru's stimulus plan|work=The Standard|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> It was aimed to achieve equitable distribution of development resources across regions and to control imbalances in regional development brought about by partisan politics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kippra.org/Constituency.asp |title=Constituency Development Fund |publisher=Kippra.org |date=9 January 2004 |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217194353/http://www.kippra.org/Constituency.asp |archive-date=17 February 2010 }}</ref> It targeted all constituency-level development projects, particularly those aiming to combat poverty at the grassroots.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/179269457.html |title=New source of funding for Kenya's rural projects |publisher=Entrepreneur.com |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829204502/http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/179269457.html |archive-date=29 August 2008 }}</ref> The CDF programme has facilitated the putting up of new water, health, and education facilities in all parts of the country including remote areas that were usually overlooked during funds allocation in national budgets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.communication.go.ke/news.asp?id=97 |title=Office of Public Communications – Office of Government Spokesperson |publisher=Communication.go.ke |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122100739/http://communication.go.ke/news.asp?id=97 |archive-date=22 November 2010 }}</ref> CDF was the first step towards the devolved system of government introduced by the [[Constitution of Kenya|2010 Constitution]], by which Local Government structures were Constitutionally redesigned, enhanced, and strengthened.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kenyalaws.com/chapter-eleven-part-one.html |title=Kenya laws, Kenya constitution - Objects and principles of devolved government |access-date=6 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423195449/http://www.kenyalaws.com/chapter-eleven-part-one.html |archive-date=23 April 2013}}</ref>

President Kibaki also oversaw the creation of Kenya's [[Kenya Vision 2030|Vision 2030]], a long-term development plan aimed at raising [[GDP]] growth to 10% annually and transforming Kenya into a middle income country by 2030, which he unveiled on 30 October 2006.<ref>Mugo Njeru. [http://www.allafrica.com/stories/200610310244.html Kenya: Kibaki Launches Vision for Growth Kenya: Kibaki Launches Vision for Growth] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101102142/http://www.allafrica.com/stories/200610310244.html |date=1 November 2006 }} ''Daily Nation''. 31 October 2006</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planning.go.ke/index.php?view=article&catid=88%3Aother-speeches&id=158%3Alaunching-of-kenya-vision-2030-speech-by-his-excellency-hon-mwai-kibaki-cgh-mp-&tmpl=component&print=1&page=&option=com_content|title=The unveiling of Kenya Vision 2030|publisher=Planning.go.ke|date=15 September 2009|access-date=25 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820094311/http://www.planning.go.ke/index.php?view=article&catid=88%3Aother-speeches&id=158%3Alaunching-of-kenya-vision-2030-speech-by-his-excellency-hon-mwai-kibaki-cgh-mp-&tmpl=component&print=1&page=&option=com_content|archive-date=20 August 2009}}</ref>

[[File:EAC presidents in November 2006.jpg|left|thumb|President Mwai Kibaki with, from left to right, [[Uganda]]n President [[Yoweri Museveni]] and [[Tanzania]]n President [[Jakaya Kikwete]] during the 8th [[East African Community|EAC]] summit in [[Arusha]]]]

The Kibaki regime also saw a reduction of Kenya's dependence on western donor aid, with the country being increasingly funded by internally generated resources such as increased tax revenue collection.<ref>Brian Adero. [http://allafrica.com/stories/200709101672.html "Kenya: Kenyans Almost Weaned Off Donor Aid"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009071001/http://allafrica.com/stories/200709101672.html |date=9 October 2012 }}</ref> Relations with the People's Republic of China, Japan, and other non-western powers improved and expanded remarkably in the Kibaki years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/2006/04/china-closes-oil-exploration-deal-in.html|title=China Confidential: China Closes Oil Exploration Deal in Kenya|publisher=Chinaconfidential.blogspot.com|date=28 April 2006|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/ceke/eng/xw/t184838.htm|title=Kenyan President thanks Chinese government for support|publisher=Fmprc.gov.cn|date=26 February 2005|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> The People's Republic of China and Japan especially, the Asian Tigers such as Malaysia and Singapore, Brazil, the Middle East and to a lesser extent, South Africa, Libya, other African Countries, and even Iran, became increasingly important economic partners.<ref>{{cite web|author=|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6601033.html|title=Iran extends credit facility to Kenya – People's Daily Online|work=People's Daily|date=25 February 2009|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.communication.go.ke/news.asp?id=219|title=Office of Public Communications – Office of Government Spokesperson|publisher=Communication.go.ke|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920152513/http://communication.go.ke/news.asp?id=219|archive-date=20 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/11/content_6862740.htm|title=China building solid road to Kenya relations|publisher=News.xinhuanet.com|date=11 October 2007|access-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103102200/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/11/content_6862740.htm|archive-date=3 January 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Kenya Investment Conference (7683306002).jpg|thumb|President Mwai Kibaki with the [[United Kingdom|British]] Foreign Office Minister [[Henry Bellingham (Norfolk MP)|Henry Bellingham]], [[Lord Mayor of the City of London]], Alderman [[David Wootton (lord mayor)|David Wootton]] and Minister of Trade [[Moses Wetangula]] at the Kenya Investment Conference in London, 31 July 2012]]

===Political legacy===
President Kibaki was accused of ruling with a small group of his elderly peers, mainly from the educated side of the Kikuyu elite that emerged in the [[Jomo Kenyatta]] era, usually referred to as the "Kitchen Cabinet"<ref name="See for instance"/> or the "[[Mount Kenya]] Mafia".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7199757.stm|work=BBC News|title=Kenya's 'mafia' feel the heat|date=21 January 2008|access-date=19 May 2010|first=Noel|last=Mwakugu}}</ref> There was therefore the perception that his was a [[Kikuyu people|Kikuyu]] presidency. This perception was reinforced when the President was seen to have trashed the pre- 2002 election Memorandum of Understanding with the [[Raila Odinga]]-led Liberal Democratic Party,<ref>Renson Buluma and Peter Atsiaya. [http://allafrica.com/stories/200709110217.html Keriri Tells Why Kibaki Trashed Coalition's 2002 MoU] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011175150/http://allafrica.com/stories/200709110217.html |date=11 October 2012 }}. allafrica.com (11 September 2007)</ref> and was further reinforced by his disputed 2007 election victory over the [[Raila Odinga]] led ODM Party being achieved nearly exclusively with the votes of the populous Mt. Kenya [[Kikuyu people|Kikuyu]], [[Meru people|Meru]] and [[Embu people|Embu]] communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afrobarometer.org/papers/AfrobriefNo48.pdf |title=Ethnicity and Violence in the 2007 Elections in Kenya |work=Afrobarometer Briefing Paper No. 48 |date=February 2008 |access-date=19 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509093413/http://www.afrobarometer.org/papers/AfrobriefNo48.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2008 }}</ref>

The Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence (CIPEV) put it thus:

<blockquote>
The post election violence [in early 2008 therefore is, in part, a consequence of the failure of President Kibaki and his first Government to exert political control over the country or to maintain sufficient legitimacy as would have allowed a civilised contest with him at the polls to be possible. Kibaki's regime failed to unite the country, and allowed feelings of marginalisation to fester into what became the post election violence. He and his then Government were complacent in the support they considered they would receive in any election from the majority Kikuyu community and failed to heed the views of the legitimate leaders of other communities.<ref>Report of the Justice Philip Waki Chaired Commission of Inquiry into Post Election Violence [CIPEV] formed to probe into the post 2007 Kenya General Elections Violence: pp. 29–30</ref>
</blockquote>

Critics noted that President Kibaki failed to take advantage of the 2002 popular mandate for a complete break with the past and fix the politics largely mobilized along ethnic interests. "... when we achieved and the new world dawned, the old men came out again and took our victory to re-make in the likeness of the former world they knew."<ref name="MICHELA WRONG Page 11">Michela Wrong, ''It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower'' p. 11, Harper, 2009, {{ISBN|0061346586}}</ref> Elected in 2002 on a reform platform,<ref name="nation"/> Kibaki was seen to have re-established the ''[[Status quo ante (phrase)|status quo ante]]''.<ref>[https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2008-03-13-voa30-66744582/562252.html Kenya's Proposed Government Faces Challenges in Overhauling Constitution] . Voice of America (13 March 2008)</ref> His opponents charged that a major aim of his presidency was the preservation of the privileged position of the elite that emerged during the Kenyatta years, of which he was part.<ref name="See for instance"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Mwakugu|first=Noel|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7199757.stm|title=Kenya's 'mafia' feel the heat|publisher=BBC News|date=21 January 2008|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref>

In summary, the Kibaki Presidency did not do nearly enough to address the problem of tribalism in Kenya.

Lawyer [[George Kegoro]], in an article published in the ''[[Daily Nation]]'' newspaper on 12 April 2013<ref name="nation2">{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Will-the-roads-and-economy-define-Kibakis-legacy/-/440808/1746850/-/lfd8x4/-/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413044636/http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Will-the-roads-and-economy-define-Kibakis-legacy/-/440808/1746850/-/lfd8x4/-/index.html |archive-date=13 April 2013 |url-status=dead |title=KEGORO: Will the roads and economy define Kibaki's legacy or the lost chances? - Daily Nation|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> summarized the Kibaki Political Legacy thus:-

<blockquote>
"Kibaki was, by far, a better manager of the economy than Moi before him. He brought order to the management of public affairs, a departure from the rather informal style that characterised the Moi regime. Kibaki's push for free primary education remains an important achievement, as will the revival of key economic institutions such as the Kenya Meat Commission and the Kenya Cooperative Creameries, ruined during the Moi-era. ... However, Kibaki was not all success. Having come to power in 2003 on an anti-corruption platform, he set up two commissions, the Bosire Commission on the [[Goldenberg scandal]] and the Ndung'u Commission, which investigated irregular land allocation. However, the reports were not implemented. Further, the Kibaki administration was rocked by a corruption scandal of its own, the [[Anglo Leasing]] scam, involving his close associates. [[John Githongo]], an inspired appointment by Kibaki for an anti-corruption czar, resigned from the government in 2005, citing lack of support from the president. As he leaves office, therefore, the fight against corruption remains unfulfilled. ... But, perhaps, the most controversial aspect of the Kibaki tenure will always be his relationship with senior politicians of his day, particularly Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka. The context of this complex relationship includes the post-election violence of 2007, whose roots go back to the dishonoured Memorandum of Understanding between Kibaki and Raila in 2002. The quarrel over the MoU directly led to the break-up of the Narc government, after which Kibaki showed Odinga the door and invited the opposition to rule with him. The effect was that the opposition, rejected at the polls, joined government while Raila's faction, validly elected to power, was consigned to the opposition. ... To the supporters of Raila and Kalonzo, Kibaki will be remembered as a person who did not keep political promises."
</blockquote>

[[File:President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki (5915590053).jpg|thumb|President Mwai Kibaki with [[United Kingdom|British]] Foreign Secretary [[William Hague]] in [[Nairobi]], Kenya]]

===Failure to tame corruption===
Though President Kibaki was never personally accused of corruption,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HUL055224.htm|title=Kibaki, giant of Kenyan politics, wins last fight|publisher=Alertnet.org|date=30 December 2007|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> and managed to virtually end the grabbing of public land rampant in the Moi and Kenyatta eras, he was unable to adequately contain [[Corruption in Kenya|Kenya's widely entrenched culture of endemic corruption]].<ref>[https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2006-07-24-voa28/398639.html Kenya Still Beset by Widespread Corruption] . Voice of America (2006-07-24, updated 31 October 2009)</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Matthew Tostevin|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE51B4UV20090212|title=Business Books: Corruption drains Kenya as donors turn blind eye|work=Reuters|date= 12 February 2009|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=LYNN SWEET Sun-Times Columnist |url=http://www.suntimes.com/special_sections/obama/37952,CST-NWS-sweet29.article |title=Senator Obama Rebukes Kenya Corruption |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=29 August 2006 |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004165733/http://www.suntimes.com/special_sections/obama/37952%2CCST-NWS-sweet29.article |archive-date=4 October 2009 }}</ref>

[[File:Forty KSh.jpg|thumb|The forty shilling coin with President Mwai Kibaki's portrait and inscription commemorating 40 Years of Independence]]

[[Michela Wrong]] describes the situation thus:<ref name="MICHELA WRONG Page 11"/>

<blockquote>
"Whether expressed in the petty bribes the average Kenyan had to pay each week to fat-bellied policemen and local councillors, the jobs for the boys doled out by civil servants and politicians on strictly tribal lines, or the massive scams perpetrated by the country's ruling elite, corruption had become endemic. 'Eating', as Kenyans dubbed the gorging on state resources by the well-connected, had crippled the nation. In the corruption indices drawn up by the anti-graft organisation Transparency International, Kenya routinely trail[s] near the bottom ... viewed as only slightly less sleazy than Nigeria or Pakistan ..."
</blockquote>

The ''[[Daily Nation]]'', in an article published on 4 March 2013 titled "End of a decade of highs and lows for Mwai Kibaki" summarised it thus:

<blockquote>
For a leader who was popularly swept into power in 2002 on an anti-corruption platform, Kibaki's tenure saw graft scandals where hundreds of millions of shillings were siphoned from public coffers. Kibaki's National Rainbow Coalition – which took power from the authoritarian rule of Daniel arap Moi—was welcomed for its promises of change and economic growth, but soon showed that it was better suited to treading established paths.

The initial response to corruption was very solid ... but it became clear after a while that these scams reached all the way to the president himself," said Kenya's former anti-corruption chief John Githongo in Michela Wrong's book ''It's Our Turn to Eat''. Most notorious of a raft of graft scandals was the multi-billion shilling Anglo Leasing case, which emerged in 2004 and involved public cash being paid to a complicated web of foreign companies for a range of services—including naval ships and passports—that never materialised."<ref name="nation3">{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/Highs-and-lows-for-Mwai-Kibaki/-/957860/1709822/-/item/0/-/mrlir/-/index.html|title=End of a decade of highs and lows for Mwai Kibaki - Daily Nation|publisher=nation.co.ke|access-date=28 July 2016|archive-date=17 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917185924/http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/Highs-and-lows-for-Mwai-Kibaki/-/957860/1709822/-/item/0/-/mrlir/-/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

</blockquote>

===2010 Constitution===
The passage of Kenya's transformative 2010 Constitution, championed by President Kibaki in the [[2010 Kenyan constitutional referendum|Kenyan constitutional referendum]] in 2010 was a major triumph and achievement, which went a long way into addressing Kenya's governance and institutional challenges. With the new Constitution started wide-ranging institutional and legislative reforms, which President Kibaki successfully steered in the final years of this presidency."His greatest moment was the promulgation of the new Constitution... It was a very deep and emotional moment for him," Kibaki's son Jimmy was quoted as saying.<ref name="nation4">{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/Highs-and-lows-for-Mwai-Kibaki/-/957860/1709822/-/item/1/-/mrlis/-/index.html|title=End of a decade of highs and lows for Mwai Kibaki - Daily Nation|publisher=nation.co.ke|access-date=28 July 2016|archive-date=17 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917185921/http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/Highs-and-lows-for-Mwai-Kibaki/-/957860/1709822/-/item/1/-/mrlis/-/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===2013: Power handover===
Kibaki handed over the Kenyan presidency to his successor, [[Uhuru Kenyatta]], on 9 April 2013 at a [[Inauguration of Uhuru Kenyatta 2013|public inauguration ceremony]] held at Kenya's largest stadium. "I am happy to pass the torch of leadership to the new generation of leaders", said Kibaki. He also thanked his family and all Kenyans for the support they had given him throughout his tenure in office, and cited the various achievements his government made.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-116062/kibakis-farewell-speech |title=Kibaki's Farewell Speech &#124; the Star |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615173514/http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-116062/kibakis-farewell-speech |archive-date=15 June 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The handover marked the end of his presidency and of his 50 years of public service.<ref name="nation.co.ke">For Kibaki, the curtain falls on 50 years of public service. Daily Nation.{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/End-of-an-era/-/957860/1738980/-/item/1/-/cjgjw3z/-/index.html |title=Nation - Breaking News, Kenya, Africa, Politics, Business, Sports &#124; HOME |work=Daily Nation |access-date=5 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501082432/http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/End-of-an-era/-/957860/1738980/-/item/1/-/cjgjw3z/-/index.html |archive-date=1 May 2016}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Mwai Kibaki & wife at White House, October 2003.jpg|thumb|right|President Kibaki and Mrs. Lucy Kibaki with U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] and [[Laura Bush]] at the [[White House]] during a state visit in 2003]]

Kibaki was married to [[Lucy Kibaki|Lucy Muthoni]] from 1961 until her death in 2016.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-12-13 |title=Kenya's first lady slapped govt official: reports |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/kenyas-first-lady-slapped-govt-official-reports-idUSL13161747/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |work=Reuters |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2016/04/26/former-first-lady-lucy-kibaki-is-dead_c1339358 |title=Former First Lady Lucy Kibaki is dead |date=26 April 2016 |first=Nancy |last=Agutu |work=The Star}}</ref> They had four children: Judy Wanjiku, Jimmy Kibaki, David Kagai, and Tony Githinji. They also had several grandchildren: Joy Jamie Marie, Rachael Muthoni, Mwai Junior, and Krystinaa Muthoni.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kibaki/profile.htm |title=Official profile |publisher=Statehousekenya.go.ke |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406040832/http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kibaki/profile.htm |archive-date=6 April 2010 }}</ref> Jimmy Kibaki has declared and aspired to be his father's political heir, though he has been unsuccessful in that endeavor so far.<ref>[http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?incl=SendToFriend&title=Like%20father%20like%20son,%20Jimmy%20tastes%20politics&id=1144018715&cid=289?iframe=true&articleID=1144018715 Like father like son, Jimmy tastes politics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808182647/http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?incl=SendToFriend&title=Like%20father%20like%20son%2C%20Jimmy%20tastes%20politics&id=1144018715&cid=289%3Fiframe%3Dtrue&articleID=1144018715 |date=8 August 2016 }}. standardmedia.co.ke (7 July 2009)</ref>

In 2004, the media reported that Kibaki had a second spouse, whom he allegedly married under customary law, [[Mary Wambui]], and a daughter, Wangui Mwai. [[State House (Kenya)|State House]] in response released an unsigned statement that Kibaki's only immediate family at the time was his then wife, Lucy, and their four children.<ref>[http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Im-no-polygamist-Kibaki-20090303 I'm no polygamist – Kibaki] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104171358/http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Im-no-polygamist-Kibaki-20090303 |date=4 January 2016 }} ''News24'' (4 March 2009)</ref> In 2009, Kibaki, with Lucy in close attendance, held an odd press conference to re-state publicly that he only had one wife.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSlTW8mjirs| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220090157/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSlTW8mjirs| archive-date=20 December 2011 | url-status=dead|title=Kibaki: I have only one wife|publisher=YouTube|access-date=1 June 2010}}</ref> The matter of Kibaki's alleged mistress, and his wife's unusually dramatic public reactions therein, provided an embarrassing side-show during his presidency, with the ''[[Washington Post]]''<ref>Emily Wax (30 January 2004). [https://web.archive.org/web/20181116045350/https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A61727-2004Jan29/?language=printer New Kenyan Soap Opera: The President's Two Wives] ''Washington Post''</ref> terming the entire scandal as a "new Kenyan soap opera".

Ms. Wambui, the rather popular "other woman", who enjoyed the state trappings of a presidential spouse and became a powerful and wealthy business-woman during the Kibaki Presidency,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ntv.co.ke/news2/topheadlines/mary-wambui-still-haunting-state-house/ |title=Mary Wambui still haunting State House &#124; NTV |access-date=9 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125095226/http://www.ntv.co.ke/news2/topheadlines/mary-wambui-still-haunting-state-house/ |archive-date=25 January 2013}}</ref> frequently drove Lucy into episodes of highly embarrassing very publicly displayed rage.<ref>{{YouTube|QrxpPHQ17SU}}</ref> Ms. Wambui, despite opposition from Kibaki's family, led publicly by Kibaki's son, Jimmy, and despite Kibaki's public endorsement and campaign for her opponent, succeeded Kibaki as [[Othaya Constituency|Member of Parliament for Othaya]] in the 2013 General Election.<ref name="capitalfm">{{cite web|url=http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2013/03/wambui-trounces-kibakis-chosen-othaya-heir/|title=Wambui trounces Kibaki's chosen Othaya heir - Capital News|date=5 March 2013|publisher=capitalfm.co.ke|access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> In December 2014, Senator [[Bonny Khalwale]] stated on [[Kenya Television Network|KTN]]'s [[Jeff Koinange]] Live that President Kibaki had introduced Wambui as his wife.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoPivAgjTTk&t=16m18s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/CoPivAgjTTk| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Jeff Koinange Live: Tony Gachoka meets Bonny Khalwale where they make stunning revelations |date=3 December 2015 |publisher=Jeff Koinange Live |access-date=30 June 2015 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Kibaki enjoyed playing golf and was a member of the Muthaiga Golf Club.<ref>[http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/speeches/kibaki/nov04/2004061101.htm Speech by H.E. President Mwai Kibaki] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923060941/http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/speeches/kibaki/nov04/2004061101.htm |date=23 September 2013 }} State House of Kenya (6 November 2004)</ref> He was a practicing and a very committed member of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and attended Consolata Shrines Catholic Church in [[Nairobi]] every Sunday at noon.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kibaki leads latest Hall of Fame list as Kenya Open turns 50|url=https://citizentv.co.ke/sports/kibaki-leads-latest-hall-of-fame-list-as-kenya-open-turns-50-193255/|website=Citizentv.co.ke|date=10 March 2018|language=en-US|access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref>

On 21 August 2016, Kibaki was taken to [[Karen Hospital]],<ref>[https://www.kdrtv.co.ke/news/panic-as-kibaki-joins-moi-at-nairobi-hospital/ - Panic as Kibaki Joins Moi at Nairobi Hospital],''KDRTV'', 31 October 2016</ref> and later flew to South Africa for specialized treatment.
Unlike the Kenyatta and Moi families, Kibaki's family has shown little interest in politics save for his nephew Nderitu Muriithi, Governor of [[Laikipia County]], from 2017 to 2022.

==Death==
Kibaki died on 21 April 2022, at the age of 90. His death was announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who issued a proclamation that Kibaki would be granted a state funeral with full civilian and military honors and declared a period of national mourning with flags flying at half-mast until President Mwai Kibaki is buried.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/75018-kibakis-death-uhuru-declares-national-mourning-period | title=Kibaki's Death: Uhuru Declares National Mourning Period | date=22 April 2022 }}</ref>

On 25 April 2022, his body was taken to Parliament buildings on a military gun carriage to offset the lying in state component of his state funeral. President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady wife Margaret Kenyatta led Kenyans in viewing the body. His body was laid on a [[catafalque]] bearing the colour of his [[presidential standard]] at the Speaker's way and dressed in his trademark [[pin-striped suits]]. His body was also guarded by four [[Kenya Defence Forces]] colonels changing shifts after two hours. The lying in state continued until 27 April 2022 ahead of funeral service held at Nyayo National Stadium on 29 April 2022 which was attended by key dignitaries including some sitting presidents. He was finally interred at his Othaya home in Nyeri County on 30 April 2022 with full military honors after a church service held by the [[Catholic Church|Catholic church]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wanjiru |first=Margaret |date=30 April 2022 |title=Archbishop Muheria to lead Kibaki's burial service |url=https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2022-04-30-archbishop-muheria-to-lead-kibakis-burial-service/ |website=The star}}</ref> at Othaya approved school. The honors included the [[Last Post]] and The [[Long Reveille]] bugle cry, a 19 gun salute and The [[Missing Man formation]] fly past.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-22 |title=Kenya: Mwai Kibaki, former president, is dead |url=https://www.theafricareport.com/196827/kenya-mwai-kibaki-former-president-is-dead/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=The Africa Report.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ex-President Mwai Kibaki dies, Uhuru announces |last=Mwangi |first=Denis |work=Pulselive Kenya |date=22 April 2022 |access-date=22 April 2022 |url= https://www.pulselive.co.ke/news/local/ex-president-mwai-kibaki-dies-uhuru-announces/kwn0wsm}}</ref> [[South Sudan]] declared three days of mourning;<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.eyeradio.org/president-kiir-eulogizes-late-mwai-kibaki-declares-three-days-of-national-mourning/ | title=President Kiir eulogizes late Mwai Kibaki, declares three days of national mourning | date=24 April 2022 }}</ref> [[Tanzania]] declared two days of mourning.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://allafrica.com/stories/202204290025.html | title=Kenya: Suluhu Declares Two Days of National Mourning in Honour of Kibaki | newspaper=Capital Fm | date=29 April 2022 | last1=Ayega | first1=Davis }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/tanzania-two-days-national-mourning-for-kibaki-3798182 | title=Tanzania declares two days of national mourning for Kibaki | date=29 April 2022 }}</ref>

==Honours and awards==
* [[Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya]] (C.G.H.)

===Honorary degrees===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! University !! Country !! Honour !! width="60px" |Year
|-
| [[University of Nairobi]] || {{flag|Kenya}} || [[Doctor of Letters]] || align="center" |2004<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/node/4422 |title=Honorary Degrees |publisher=University of Nairobi |access-date=12 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308111331/http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/node/4422 |archive-date=8 March 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| [[Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology]] || {{flag|Kenya}} || [[Doctor of Science]] || align="center" |?<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.politicalarticles.net/Mwai-Kibaki/President-Mwai-Kibaki-Profile.pdf |title=Profile: Kibaki |website=politicalarticles.net |access-date=12 November 2014}}</ref>
|-
| [[Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology]] || {{flag|Kenya}} || Doctor of Science || align="center" |2008<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2008/07/president-honoured-by-masinde-university/?wpmp_switcher=mobile |title=President honoured by Masinde University |date= 4 July 2008|website=capitalfm.co.ke |access-date=12 November 2014}}</ref>
|-
| [[University of Nairobi]] || {{flag|Kenya}} || [[Doctor of Laws]] || align="center" |2008<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/sites/default/files/kibaki1.pdf |title=Citation |publisher=University of Nairobi |access-date=12 November 2014}}</ref>
|-
| [[Kenyatta University]] || {{flag|Kenya}} || [[Doctor of Education]] || align="center" |2010<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ku.ac.ke/images/stories/docs/newsletters/vol6_issue9_corrected.pdf |title=KU Honours President Kibaki |date=19 July 2010 |publisher=Kenyatta University |access-date=12 November 2014}}</ref>
|-
| [[Makerere University]] || {{flag|Uganda}} || Doctor of Laws || align="center" |2012<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chs.mak.ac.ug/content/press-release-university-council-endorses-honorary-doctorate-he-mwai-kibaki |title=PRESS RELEASE: UNIVERSITY COUNCIL ENDORSES HONORARY DOCTORATE FOR H.E. MWAI KIBAKI |date=2012 |publisher=Makerere University |access-date=12 November 2014}}</ref>
|-
| [[Dedan Kimathi University of Technology]] || {{flag|Kenya}} || [[Doctor of Humane Letters]] || align="center" |2013<ref>{{cite web |url=http://m.news24.com/kenya/MyNews24/Kibaki-receives-Honorary-Doctorate-Degree-20130517 |title=Kibaki receives Honorary Doctorate Degree |date=2013 |website=news24.com |access-date=12 November 2014}}</ref>
|}

==References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote|Mwai Kibaki}}
{{Commons}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071118134308/http://www.kibaki.co.ke/ Mwai Kibaki official website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140428122205/http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kibaki/kibaki-profile.pdf Profile of His Excellency Hon. Mwai Kibaki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090611125620/http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/presidents/kibaki/profile.htm Profile of President Mwai Kibaki]

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{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Daniel arap Moi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Deputy President of Kenya|Vice President of Kenya]]|years=1978–1988}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Josephat Karanja]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of heads of state of Kenya|President of Kenya]]|years=2002–2013}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Uhuru Kenyatta]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{KenyaPresidents}}
{{KenyaVPs}}
{{2007 presidential candidates, Kenya}}
{{2002 presidential candidates, Kenya}}
{{Kenya-Ministers of Finance}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibaki, Mwai}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Kenyan politicians]]
[[Category:Alumni of Mang'u High School]]
[[Category:Alumni of Nyeri High School]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Chiefs of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya]]
[[Category:Democratic Party (Kenya) politicians]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Kenya]]
[[Category:Kenyan democracy activists]]
[[Category:20th-century Kenyan economists]]
[[Category:Kenyan Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Kikuyu people]]
[[Category:Makerere University alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)]]
[[Category:Finance ministers of Kenya]]
[[Category:National Rainbow Coalition politicians]]
[[Category:Party of National Unity (Kenya) politicians]]
[[Category:People from Nyeri County]]
[[Category:Presidents of Kenya]]
[[Category:Vice-presidents of Kenya]]