Configuration of the Kenyan Dictator through Music

Abstract

This paper is an analytical study of the relationship between politics and music in an effort to present the configuration of Kenyan dictator Daniel arap Moi in songs produced during his reign (1978-2002). The paper delves into how music formed an important site where the dictatorial regime of Arap Moi asserted its authority, while also probing the ambivalent space that music occupies in politics. In the understanding of music as a “trenchant political site in Africa”, the paper principally analyses music that was produced as
praise songs and propaganda tools, as well as the opposing voices from other artists who during that time had to endure official scrutiny and censorship.