Sharp Objects

Most of Africa has been free from direct colonial domination for more than half a century. In that period, there are leaders who have inspired confidence among their citizens while several others have underwhelmed the citizenry. F0r Kenya and Africa to make progress, we must learn from our past lest we keep taking wrong turns we have taken in the past, time and again. Similarly, we need to take note of the times we have taken the right decisions so that we reap more from some choices we made in our past. It is in that spirit that Moi’s Kleptocracy and its Spillovers is written. In this book, Duncan Ndegwa recounts how President Daniel arap Moi’s post1982 coup attempt missteps led to an era that left Kenya hanging on a precipice in numerous ways. By the time Moi left power in 2002, vicious cartels of ravenous overlords had ravaged Kenya and turned it into private property. A sense of exclusion that ensued left many Kenyans in a state of utter despondency. The end of the Moi era marked a huge contrast from its beginning, which to many was associated with renewed hope. Clearly, the effects of the Moi era are yet to disappear from our national milieu decades after Daniel Moi relinquished power. Mr Ndegwa is a long-serving public servant who became President Jomo Kenyatta’s first Head of the Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet. He was later to serve as the first African Central Bank Governor, a role he played from 1967 to 1982. An ardent golfer, Mr. Ndegwa has remained a public-spirited individual who has, thus far, assisted hundreds of bright but needy learners to transit to the next level. To his credit, Mr. Ndegwa published his autobiography, Walking in Kenyatta Struggles: My Story more than ten years ago. He has since commissioned abridged renditions of the same title in Gikuyu language, Rugendo rwakwa Makinyaini ma Kenyatta and one more targeting younger readers by the title, Boy From Chorong’i. His two other titles are a tribute to his cultural roots – Mucii wa Aceera a Mbari ya Ndegwa wa Wahome and Unduire wa Ruriri rwa Agikuyu.