/ 10 November 1997

Moi dissolves parliament

MONDAY, 4.00PM

KENYAN President Daniel arap Moi on Monday dissolved the country’s seventh parliament Monday in preparation for general elections expected later this year.

A statement issued by Moi’s office at State House in Nairobi said the parliament and all other elected bodies have been dissolved. No date has yet been set for the elections.

Moi’s announcement drew praise from legislators in his ruling Kenya African National Union. However, Paul Muite, a member of Safina, an opposition party the government has refused to register, said parliament should not have been dissolved before all political parties, including his, are registered. Muite won his parliamentary seat on the ticket of another opposition party.

Last week the Kenyan parliament passed the last of three bills introducing political and consitutional reforms, and Moi signed them into law. Opposition and religious groups claim that the reforms are only cosmetic and do not go far enough in levelling the political playing field and reducing the still-considerable powers of the president.