2002 Kenyan general election

General elections were held in Kenya on 27 December 2002. Voters elected the president, members of the National Assembly and local officials.

2002 Kenyan general election

27 December 2002 (2002-12-27)
Presidential election
Turnout	57.18%
Nominee Mwai Kibaki Uhuru Kenyatta Simeon Nyachae Party NARC KANU FORD–People Popular vote 3,646,277 1,835,890 345,152 Percentage 62.20% 31.32% 5.89%
Results by province
President before election Daniel arap Moi KANU Elected President Mwai Kibaki NARC

Mwai Kibaki of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) was elected, defeating Uhuru Kenyatta of the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and Simeon Nyachae of FORD–People.

Incumbent president Daniel arap Moi was ineligible to pursue a third term due to the two-term limit in the Constitution of Kenya. This was the first truly free general election held in Kenya since independence in 1964; a number of by-elections were held in 1966 before the onset of de facto one-party rule in 1969. The general election saw the end of the long-standing dominance of the KANU, which had governed the country since independence in 1963, including 23 years as the only legal party. The National Rainbow Coalition won a majority in the National Assembly.

Background

Incumbent president Moi was constitutionally barred from running in the 2002 presidential elections. Some of his supporters floated the idea of amending the constitution to allow him to run for a third term, but Moi preferred to retire, choosing Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's first President, as his successor. In protest of Moi's decision a group of disappointed KANU presidential aspirants quit KANU and formed the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

In preparation for the 2002 elections, Kibaki's Democratic Party affiliated with several other opposition parties, including the LDP and National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK) to form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). On 14 October 2002, at a large opposition rally in Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kibaki was nominated as the NARC candidate after Raila Odinga declared Kibaki Tosha! (Kibaki is the one!).

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Mwai Kibaki	National Rainbow Coalition	3,646,277	62.20
	Uhuru Kenyatta	Kenya African National Union	1,835,890	31.32
	Simeon Nyachae	FORD–People	345,152	5.89
	James Orengo	Social Democratic Party	24,524	0.42
	David Ng'ethe	Chama Cha Uma	10,061	0.17
Total			5,861,904	100.00
Valid votes			5,861,904	98.09
Invalid/blank votes			114,006	1.91
Total votes			5,975,910	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			10,451,150	57.18
Source: IFES

National Assembly

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Rainbow Coalition		Liberal Democratic Party			59	New
			Democratic Party			39	0
			FORD–Kenya			21	+4
			National Party of Kenya			6	New
		Total				125	+10
	Kenya African National Union					64	–43
	FORD–People					14	11
	FORD–Asili					2	1
	Safina					2	–3
	Sisi Kwa Sisi					2	New
	Shirikisho Party of Kenya					1	0
	Other parties					0	–
Appointed members						12	0
Total						222	0
Registered voters/turnout				10,451,150	–
Source: African Elections Database

Of the 12 appointed seats, seven were members of the National Rainbow Coalition, four were members of KANU and one was a member of FORD–People.

See also

• 9th Parliament of Kenya