Today, there is no clear successor to Moi, who has promised not to seek re-election after his current presidential term expires in 2003. Political Rights and Civil Liberties Kenyans are unable to exercise their right to choose their leaders in genuinely open and competitive elections. Moi's election victories have been achieved through political repression, media control, and dubious electoral procedures. Moi's rejection of an independent election commission has provided additional insurance against his ouster. Physical violence, a usually docile judiciary, police powers, and executive decrees have been used against political opponents and in efforts to undermine the wider civil society.
Power is heavily concentrated in the executive branch of government.
Many laws directly limit freedom of association and political organization, including the Public Order Act, the Public Security Act, and the Chief's Authority Act. The security forces regularly violate constitutional guarantees regarding detention, privacy, search, and seizure. Groups such as Release Political Prisoners, which was founded in 1992 by former detainees, and the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, an NGO, have publicized abuses and demanded respect for human rights, but leaders of the organizations have occasionally been the victims of deadly assaults. Attacks by police on ethnic minority Somali people, who must carry special identification, are reportedly common and regularly go unpunished. A series of judicial reforms was announced in 1998, but courts are still heavily influenced by the executive and cannot be relied on to protect constitutional rights or offer fair trials.