TUESDAY, 11.30AM
FORMER political prisoner Koigi wa Wamwere, considered the only serious challenger to Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi, has had a four year jail sentence scrapped to allow him to contest the elections at the end of this month.
Wamwere, presidential candidate for the Kenya National Democratic Alliance party, was warned last week that his candidature was illegal because he was out on bail pending an appeal against a 1995 conviction. But on Tuesday, Kenyan authorities reacted to criticism by dropping the case against him — widely regarded as ‘trumped up’ — to allow him to fight the election.
Wamwere, who has been repeatedly detained during his career as a political dissident, was sentenced in 1995 to four years jail and six strokes of the cane for allegedly raiding a rural police station and stealing arms and ammunition. His case has been on appeal ever since.
The charismatic Wamwere is joint leader of the Safina (Noah’s Ark) party, which was finally legalised last week after two years of harassment. Because his own party was banned, he agreed to stand as the candidate for the Kenya National Democratic Alliance.
Opposition leaders point out that Moi has skillfully boxed in his rivals, slowly lifting restrictions against them — without giving them the time to organise for elections, to be held in only three weeks.