Mwai Kibaki There was therefore the perception that his was a 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, 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, Meru and Embu communities. The Commission of Inquiry Into Post Election Violence (CIPEV) put it thus: The post election violence [in early 2008]therefore is, in part, a consequence of the failure of President
Mwai Kibaki Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela who sacrificed greatly for the cause of freedom, justice and country. With a dwarfish conscience, Kibaki allowed the man in him to die and never did anything truly memorable ... when Kenyans wanted Kibaki to lead them against the tyranny of Kanu, he turned them down and stuck with dictatorship. Consequently, many Kenyans called him "General Kiguoya" or "General Coward. ... Kibaki's politics was characterised by an attitude of taking extreme caution or "sitting on the fence" over risky questions. He only took sides when the safe side was clear. While some called this cowardice,