100,000 Attend Rare Legal Rally by Kenya Opposition

More than 100,000 people jammed a field Saturday for Kenya’s first legal opposition rally in 22 years, listening to an opposition leader call for the removal of President Daniel Arap Moi’s government.

It was one of the largest demonstrations in the nation’s history, and the largest gathering since pro-independence rallies held before Kenya became free of British colonial rule in 1963.

Throughout the day, crowds streamed to the downtown Kamukunji meeting grounds on foot and in buses so full that passengers rode on their roofs. Many yelled slogans in support of the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy, the party that sponsored the rally.

Diplomats and others estimated that the crowd reached more than 100,000 during the daylong rally. It was difficult to gauge how many were active opposition supporters and how many were simply drawn by the novelty of political pluralism.

Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, banned the last opposition party in 1969, six years after achieving independence from Britain. Moi’s government last month legalized political opposition after two years of increasing international and domestic pressure for democratic reforms.

Soon after legalizing the opposition, Moi held a political rally in support of his ruling Kenya African National Union at the same field. It drew fewer than 5,000 people.

Moi is widely expected to call general elections later this year, and dozens of parties are seeking legalization to contest his rule.

But two days ago, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., Moi expressed misgivings about adopting multi-party politics, saying the move had been forced on Kenya by foreign pressure and could lead to an increase in ethnic divisions.

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, interim chairman of the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy, opened Saturday’s rally by telling the throng: “I am now reassured that there is uhuru (freedom). This is the Kenya we all want.”

Still, he added: “We must restore freedom to our country by removing the Moi government from power.” He spoke of the continued detention of political prisoners, harassment of citizens who support the opposition and the destruction of the nation’s economy through official corruption.