Kenya's Kibaki sheds gentleman image

By Andrew Cawthorne - Analysis

NAIROBI (Reuters) - When President Mwai Kibaki was inaugurated on December 30, 2002, a million Kenyans thronged a city park to hail him as savior after 24 years of repressive rule.

Five years later, he was hurriedly sworn in, watched by a few close aides, on the lawn of his heavily guarded residence, as smoke rose from protests in nearby slums.

The contrasting ceremonies mirror Kibaki's changed reputation both inside and outside Kenya after his disputed re-election and tough handling of the turmoil afterwards.

"Sorry for the cliches, but the popular 'reformist president' is beginning to look a bit more like an old-fashioned African strongman these days," one Nairobi-based diplomat said.

There was nationwide euphoria when Kibaki beat the party of authoritarian former President Daniel arap Moi in 2002.

Though some Kenyans later became disillusioned over issues like corruption, there was still respect for a man regarded as a gentleman, statesman and "Mzee" -- Swahili for respected elder -- above the messy fray of daily politics.

Now, however, Kibaki has turned into a hate figure for many who believe he stole the December 27 presidential vote and is crushing protests with brutality.

The man with a penchant for P.G. Wodehouse novels and a round of golf at the colonial-era Muthaiga Club, who was previously often satirized as a genial but bumbling leader, has shown unexpected steel in facing the crisis.

After swearing himself in within minutes of being declared winner from a hotly-contested vote count, Kibaki, 76, has gone on to outlaw public demonstrations, put hardliners in his cabinet, deploy riot police daily, and ban live TV broadcasts.

"We are seeing a creeping regression to the totalitarian methods of the past," said Kenyan columnist Macharia Gaitho.

"The government is going out of its way to curb the inherent rights of the people to associate, express themselves, communicate and assemble."

Not so, cry Kibaki supporters, who say opposition leader Raila Odinga is forcing the government to take tough action by whipping up civil disobedience and ethnic massacres.

"NOT ZIMBABWE"

Diplomats are beginning to ask if Kibaki is following in the footsteps of others -- like Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, or Yoweri Museveni of Uganda -- whose authoritarianism cut short their early status as favorites of the West.

Kibaki opened up the economy, which stagnated under Moi, to achieve average annual growth of five percent, and ended many restrictions on free expression. He was also seen as a reliable Western ally against al Qaeda.