1992 Kenyan general election

General elections were held in Kenya on 29 December 1992 to elect the president and members of the National Assembly. They were the first multi-party general elections in Kenya since independence and the first to feature a direct vote for the president, who had been elected by the National Assembly in 1964 and been automatically declared the winner of uncontested elections held alongside parliamentary elections in 1969, 1974, 1979, 1983 and 1988 following a 1969 constitutional amendment.

1992 Kenyan general election

← 1988 29 December 1992 (1992-12-29) 1997 →

Presidential election

Nominee Daniel arap Moi Kenneth Matiba Party KANU FORD–Asili Popular vote 1,962,866 1,404,266 Percentage 36.35% 26.00%   Nominee Mwai Kibaki Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Party Democratic FORD-K Popular vote 1,050,617 944,197 Percentage 19.45% 17.48%

Results by province

President before election Daniel arap Moi Kenya African National Union Elected President Daniel arap Moi KANU

Parliamentary election

Party Leader Seats KANU Daniel Arap Moi 100 FORD–Asili Kenneth Matiba 31 Democratic Mwai Kibaki 23 FORD–Kenya Jaramogi Oginga Odinga 31 KNC Chibule wa Tsuma 1 PICK John Harun Mwau 1 KSC George Anyona 1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Speaker of the National Assembly before Speaker of the National Assembly after Jonathan Kimetet arap Ng'eno KANU Francis ole Kaparo KANU

The results were marred by irregularities, including allegations of large-scale intimidation of opponents, harassment of election officials and ballot-box stuffing, as well as targeted ethnic violence in the Rift Valley Province. Human Rights Watch accused several prominent Kenyan politicians, including President Daniel arap Moi and then-VP George Saitoti of inciting and co-ordinating the violence.^[1] Voter turnout was 69%.^[2][3]

The election failed to dislodge Moi from power but were still described as a watershed for Kenya's democratic transition.^[4]

Background

In 1991, Kenya transitioned to a multiparty political system after 26 years of single-party rule under KANU. On 28 October 1992, president Moi dissolved parliament, five months before the end of his term. As a result, preparations began for all elective seats in parliament as well as the president. The elections were scheduled to take place on 7 December 1992, but delays led to its postponement to 29 December the same year.

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Daniel arap Moi	Kenya African National Union	1,962,866	36.35
	Kenneth Matiba	FORD–Asili	1,404,266	26.00
	Mwai Kibaki	Democratic Party	1,050,617	19.45
	Jaramogi Oginga Odinga	FORD–Kenya	944,197	17.48
	George Anyona	Kenya Social Congress	14,273	0.26
	Chibule wa Tsuma	Kenya National Congress	10,221	0.19
	John Harun Mwau	Party of Independent Candidates of Kenya	8,118	0.15
	David Mukaru Ng'ang'a	Kenya National Democratic Alliance	5,766	0.11
Total			5,400,324	100.00
Source: African Elections Database

By province

Province	Moi		Matiba		Kibaki		Odinga		Others		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Central	21,918	2.1	630,194	60.4	373,147	35.8	10,668	1.0	6,945	0.7	1,042,872
Coast	188,296	62.1	33,399	11.0	32,201	10.6	42,796	14.1	6,653	2.2	303,345
Eastern	290,372	37.0	79,436	10.1	392,481	50.0	13,673	1.7	8,819	1.1	784,781
North Eastern	46,420	74.8	7,188	11.6	3,259	5.3	5,084	8.2	73	0.1	62,024
Nairobi	62,410	16.6	165,553	44.1	69,715	18.6	75,888	20.2	1,944	0.5	375,510
Nyanza	117,554	15.2	10,299	1.3	51,998	6.7	581,490	75.4	9,807	1.3	771,148
Rift Valley	981,488	71.5	214,727	15.6	98,302	7.2	75,465	5.5	3,535	0.3	1,373,517
Western	219,187	39.3	214,060	38.4	14,404	2.6	98,822	17.7	10,846	1.9	557,319
Total	1,927,645	36.6	1,354,856	25.7	1,035,507	19.6	903,886	17.1	48,622	0.9	5,270,516
Source: Nohlen et al.

National Assembly

Following the elections, Moi nominated a further 12 KANU members to the National Assembly.^[5]

Party		Seats
	Kenya African National Union	100
	FORD–Asili	31
	Democratic Party	23
	FORD–Kenya	31
	Kenya National Congress	1
	Party of Independent Candidates of Kenya	1
	Kenya Social Congress	1
	Kenya National Democratic Alliance	0
	Social Democratic Party	0
Appointed members		12
Total		200
Source: Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the election, Kenya suffered an economic crisis propagated by ethnic violence as the president was accused of rigging electoral results to retain power.^[6] In the next five years, many political alliances were formed in preparation for the next elections. In 1994, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died and several coalitions joined his FORD Kenya party to form a new party called United National Democratic Alliance. However, this party was plagued with disagreements. In 1996, KANU revised the constitution to allow Moi to remain president for another term.

In 1993 Kenneth Matiba filed a petition against the election results. However, his failure to personally sign the petition resulted in the petition being struck out by Justice Riaga Omolo. Matiba, was physically incapacitated and had given his wife power of attorney. In 2012, Justice Omolo was declared unfit to serve in the judiciary by the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board over this decision.^[7]