Uhuru Kenyatta

Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (Nairobi, October 26, 1961) is a Kenyan politician and businessman: He was president of Kenya between 2013 and 2022 and is the top leader of the Kenya African National Union political party. (KANU or "Kenya African National Union"), the former single party of Kenya.

Biography

Kenyatta is the son of Ngina Muhoho and Jomo Kenyatta, the first president after Kenya's independence, who ruled from 1964 until his death in 1978. His religion is Catholic Christianity.

The name "Uhuru" means "freedom" in Swaheli.

Chosen by the second president of Kenya Daniel arap Moi to be his successor at the head of KANU in the presidential elections of December 27, 2002, Kenyatta suffered a heavy defeat against the coalition of opposition parties led by the President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki.

Although KANU had maintained power in the 39 years since independence, it only obtained 31% of the vote compared to 62% for Kibaki. Some analysts pointed to his proximity to outgoing President Moi as a cause of his defeat. In January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott in the campaign for KANU president, winning 2,980 votes among party delegates to Biwott's 622 votes, cementing his position as KANU president. Uhuru's election was challenged in the Supreme Court of Kenya by his main competitor, Raila Odinga. On 1 September 2017, the court declared the election invalid and ordered that fresh presidential elections be held within 60 days from the day of the failure. On October 26, a new presidential election was held, marred by reports of massive fraud, which he won with an electoral turnout of 39.03%.

He was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012.

On March 26, 2013, he succeeds former president Mwai Kibaki, beginning his term as the fourth president of Kenya.

In January 2012, judges Ekaterina Trendafilova, Hans-Peter Kaul and Cuno Tarfusser of the International Criminal Court make the historic decision to put President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto, and the former head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura on trial. and journalist Joshua Cantó. Uhuru Kenyatta is accused of crimes against humanity and becomes the first African ruler to appear before the International Criminal Court. On January 31 of this year, the African Union Summit approved the proposal of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to design a roadmap for the exit of all its members from the Rome Statute, the founding document of the International Criminal Court.

"We refuse to tow a vehicle that has deviated from the road to the detriment of our sovereignty, security and dignity as Africans," Kenyatta said, on that occasion.

For his part, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and President of the African Union stated that “The process that the International Criminal Court is carrying out in Africa has a flaw. The objective of this Court was to avoid impunity for bad governance and crimes but now its work has degenerated into a kind of racial hunt,” he accused.

His government and that of Donald Trump have begun talks to sign a free trade agreement.

In October 2021, he was cited in the Pandora papers scandal. He and six members of his family, including his mother, a brother and two sisters, have at least $30 million in various offshore companies. He also owns a secret foundation in Panama, with more than 30 million dollars.

On October 14, 2021, he became the first African head of state to be invited to the White House by a Democratic president, Joe Biden. Several of his ministers, officials and members of his party were arrested for cases of corruption On August 11, 2018, Mohammed Abdalla Swazuri, chairman of the National Land Commission, and Atanas Kariuki Maina, managing director of the Kenya Railways Corporation were arrested along with 18 other officials, related to the allocation of land for the Nairobi flagship, $3 billion of the Mombasa Railway company.

In 2021, the drought takes its toll again. According to the UN, more than 465,000 children under five years of age are malnourished. Food insecurity affects more than 2.5 million people in the country. Uhuru Kenyatta speaks of a "national disaster". However, he is criticized for the slowness of the humanitarian response and the lack of planning.

The Mukuru Kwa Njenga shanty in Nairobi was razed in October 2021 to make way for a road widening, leaving 40,000 people homeless overnight and with no alternative accommodation available.