John Michuki group of parliamentarians led by the then leader of Opposition, Mwai Kibaki, which formed the National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK), as a merger of smaller opposition parties that endorsed Kibaki as flag-bearer. In October 2002, NAK coalesced with the breakaway faction of KANU, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) in 2002, which dislodged Moi and KANU after four decades in power. Michuki became a central figure and a key Kibaki ally in the NARC politics, retaining his Kangema parliamentary seat. President Kibaki subsequently appointed him Minister of Transport and Communications in the NARC
Mwai Kibaki 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." 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. On 29 December 2002, still nursing injuries from the motor vehicle accident and in a wheel chair, Mwai Kibaki was sworn-in as the third President