Moi became president in 1978 following the death of Jomo Kenyatta. He quickly consolidated power, banning formation of opposition parties. He also curried favour with the military, which proved loyal to him in suppressing a coup attempt in 1982. His continuation of Kenyatta’s pro-Western policies ensured significant sums of development aid during the Cold War (1947–91), and under Moi’s stewardship Kenya continued on its path as one of the most prosperous African nations.

In the early 1990s, however, Western countries began to demand political and economic reforms, leading Moi to legalize opposition parties in 1991. The following year he won the country’s first multiparty elections amid charges of electoral fraud. Riots and demonstrations marred the 1997 elections, and hundreds of Kenyans, were killed.
Easily elected to his fifth term as president, Moi promised to end government corruption and implement democratic and economic reforms.
In an effort to combat corruption, in 1999 he appointed Richard Leakey, the popular and respected anthropologist, as the head of the civil service and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet, a position Leakey relinquished in 2001.

Style of Leadership

Soon after ascending to the presidency on 14th October 1978, Moi pledged to maintain the stability that Kenya had enjoyed since independence. He sought to assure apprehensive citizens, investors and diplomats that he would follow the footsteps of Mzee Kenyatta.
It became clear after some time that Moi had his own ideas on how the country should be run.
Whereas Kenyatta practiced a hands-off style of leadership, delegating authority to his appointees, Moi preferred hands-on management. He famously said, "Those who want to lead the country must wait their turn ... I am the President and every minister must sing like a parrot to whatever I say." Moi was popularly known to Kenyans as "Nyayo", a Swahili word for "footsteps", as he often said he was following in the footsteps of the first President. He also earned the sobriquet "Professor of Politics".

Moi’s presidency was a contradiction of sorts: on one hand he craved the awe which Jomo Kenyatta had received from the public. On the other hand, he wanted to be different from Kenyatta, by being more in touch with the average man in the village. When he assumed the reign of government, Moi started traveling in a Volkswagen Kombi, raising eyebrows.

The Kombi was the only vehicle which could grapple with the country's difficult terrain - dusty roads, hairpin bends, precarious cliffs, unbeaten tracks. One time, while on his way from Kisumu to Nakuru, Moi expressed the wish to use a short-cut from Sondu through Sigowet to Kericho town. His aides condemned the route as impassable. "Are there people living in the area where this road passes?" he asked and declared he had to tackle the road, passable or otherwise (Njiru, 1997).