The Kenyan government during the late 1960’s effectively obstructed the emergence of the Kenya People’s Union (KPU) as an opposition party to the dominant Kenya African National Union (KANU) and gave it an unwarranted reputation as an exclusively Luo movement. The KANU government under Jomo Kenyatta inherited a centralized authoritarian apparatus from the British colonial era, in the form of a politicized civil service, overwhelming coercive sanctions in the hands of top administrators, and a strong state role in the economy. Nairobi effectively used a variety of political and economic measures to harass the KPU and its prospective and actual members. KPU branches were unable to register, KPU meetings were prevented, and civil servants and politicians suffered severe economic and political consequences for joining the KPU.
