Forum for the Restoration of Democracy – Kenya
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FORD-Kenya
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| Leader | Hon.Moses Wetangula |
| President | Uhuru Kenyatta |
| Chairman | Sen.John Munyes |
| Secretary-General | Hon.Dr.Eseli Simiyu |
| Founder | Oginga Odinga |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Split from | FORD |
| Headquarters | Ole-Odume Road,OFF Ngong-Road 0722882775 |
| National affiliation | CORD |
| Colors | Black, white and green |
| National Assembly |
10 / 349
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| Senate |
5 / 67
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| Website | |
| www |
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FORD–Kenya (short for Forum for the Restoration of Democracy–Kenya) is a Kenyan political party. It was part of the National Rainbow Coalition that governed Kenya from 2003 to 2007, having ended forty years of Kenya African National Union rule. It is allied to the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy which is the main opposition coalition in Kenya's parliament and is headed by Moses Wetangula, the senator for Bungoma County.
The history of FORD-Kenya is essentially the history of multi-party politics in Kenya. Kenya was a one-party state until December 1991, when a special conference of the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) agreed to introduce a multiparty political system. An umbrella political grouping, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD), had been formed in August 1991 by six opposition leaders to fight for change in the country. But President Daniel arap Moi had outlawed it, and its leaders had been arrested and detained. They were released only after sustained pressure from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Scandinavian countries. In August 1992, FORD split into two factions - FORD-Asili (led by Kenneth Matiba) and FORD-Kenya (led by Oginga Odinga). FORD-Kenya performed poorly in the general elections of 1992, coming a distant third behind KANU and FORD-Asili. The reelection of President Moi and KANU, both deeply unpopular, owed much to the division of the original FORD. Odinga died in January 1994 and was succeeded as chairman of FORD-Kenya by Michael Wamalwa Kijana. At the time, FORD-Kenya's leadership included some of the top opposition leaders in Kenya, including lawyer James Orengo, economist Professor Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, Raila Odinga (the son of Oginga Odinga), Oburu Odinga (Raila's elder brother), environmentalist, and, later on, Nobel laureate, Wangari Maathai, and many others. But the party was headed for yet another split. Michael Wamalwa and Raila Odinga tussled over the leadership of FORD-Kenya for 2 years. In 1997, Wamalwa beat Odinga in free and fair party elections, precipitating a devastating tribal split that the party has yet to recover from. Raila, with a sizeable number of Luo MP's, left FORD-Kenya to join the National Development Party of Kenya (NDP). In the 1997 general elections, FORD-Kenya finished fourth, behind Raila's NDP.
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