Lessons From President Moi

I was born in 1987, so Moi was the first president I ever saw: on TV, that is. And it wasn't until December 2002 that he relinquished power. So he ruled for 24 years.

And 24 years is a long time, considering a person can be born, go to school, get married and have a child in 24 years. We Kenyan millennials got used to his rule that we joked, "Who is the Moi of Uganda?"

As a boy, I adored Moi because of his positive TV coverage. Evening news began with what he had done that day. And on Sundays, a snippet of him in church was shown.

Much as Moi has been maligned, I think he was a great president because our country enjoyed peace during his 24-year reign when coups, genocide and civil wars tore some African nations apart.

Now that he is still alive, seventeen years after relinquishing power, I distilled four qualities that have made him live to be 95. Let me tell you what the qualities are.

First is faith. A staunch Christian, Moi believes in the Bible so deeply that he has given copies to students as awards.

Second is merriment. He was caught on camera having some good laughs during a national holiday celebration in December 2002. And laughing is good for the soul.

Third is forgiving attitude. In one of his last speeches as president, he asked for forgiveness from those he had wronged. And he said he had forgiven those who had wronged him.

Fourth is generosity. He donated money in fundraisers and bought the public bananas on meet-the-people tours. As a pupil, I drank the milk his government doled out to school children.

I don't mean to say Moi was flawless but Kenya was blessed to have him as president. As I conclude, let me tell people what I heard Moi tell Kenyans in the '90s: "Siasa mbaya, maisha mbaya (bad politics, bad life)."

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