NAIROBI: Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi unceremoniously sacked his long-time deputy, Mr George Saitoti, yesterday in a move that laid bare explosive divisions within the ruling Kenya African National Union (Kanu) party.
Mr Saitoti is leading a rebellion against Mr Moi's choice of Uhuru Kenyatta - the son of independence leader Jomo Kenyatta - as the party candidate for presidential elections scheduled for later this year.
The rift has not only weakened Mr Moi's iron grip on power but also threatens to split Kanu, a party seen only six months ago as electorally unassailable. Speculation is rising that a number of other party heavyweights, such as Energy Minister Mr Raila Odinga, could also leave the fold.
Mr Saitoti's departure was announced in traditional fashion: via a curt announcement on the lunchtime state radio news. Shortly afterwards, he gave a press conference in the historic Norfolk Hotel.
Several hundred boisterous young supporters, whose chants of "Moi is a creation of the devil" visibly alarmed tourists at the upmarket hotel, accompanied the former mathematics professor.
He said he had "never known a country where the vice-president is fired for seeking the nomination of his party", but he would stay within Kanu "for the time being".
Mr Saitoti and other Kanu figures built their careers on extreme deference to Mr Moi, who has ruled Kenya since 1978 and seen as one of Africa's quintessential "Big Men". Now they are in open defiance of the ageing leader.
They accuse him of choosing Mr Kenyatta, a politically weak candidate, to retain discreet influence after his planned retirement later this year. Mr Kenyatta (41) was a low-profile businessman and Kanu official in the pineapple-producing town of Thika until Mr Moi plucked him from obscurity last year. He promoted him rapidly through the ranks of government, appointing him first as minister for local development and later as official presidential candidate.
Mr Kenyatta's candidacy is also favourable to Kenya's complex tribal arithmetic - he comes from the Kikuyu, a large and economically powerful tribe which has felt marginalised under the Moi presidency.
Analysts said the divisions could give the opposition, which has been split traditionally along tribal lines, a chance to finally seize power from Kanu, which has ruled Kenya since 1963.
"If they choose their candidate and the candidate is credible, they could become the force around which the country will galvanise," said Mutahi Ngunyi, of the Consult-Afrika research group.