After bargaining and negotiating with the most influential leaders of KADU Kenyatta was able to make them join the KANU, so that KADU dissolved itself in 1964. Those constituents, whose leaders remained in KADU after the merger of some of its members with KANU, consequently were denied governmental services (Barkan, 1994: 11), they received the 'stick' and not the 'carot' (Barkan, 1992: 171). Basically it was the region around the Mount Kenya, inhabited by Embu, Kikuyu and Meru that received the governmental resources and also was legitimating the state, that was led by a Kikuyu elite (Kanyinga, 2007: 348). Under Kenyatta the Kikuyu were dominating the important positions of the Permanent Secretaries, the accounting officers of the ministries of the government. While the Kikuyu held about 35 percent of these positions also the Kamba were represented strongly and the Meru advanced towards the end of the Kenyatta era. Other ethnic groups were sharply underrepresented (Kanyinga, 2007: 384).

This was one of the first major steps towards a system of patronage in Kenya and did by no means rid the KANU of its inherent factionalism but on the contrary rather fuelled it as many different lobby groups tried to gain direct access to Kenyatta, the main source of funds and privileges. While fighting each other bitterly all the various groups had one common ground, their dependence on Kenyatta (Wanyama, 2002: 7-8). Still, the inner party competition inside KANU helped to provide legitimacy to the system (Barkan and Holmquist, 1989). When the first Vice-president Oginga Odinga, a Luo, tried to organize an opposition party against Kenyatta in 1966, the Kenya People’s Union (KPU), it was banned immediately and most of its MPs were detained (Akivaga, 2002: 12). KPU had been the only party until close to the turn of the millennium trying to put the class question on the agenda. It was banned in 1969 (Mutunga 2002: 43). Still the conflict was mainly viewed as a tribal one between Kikuyu and Luo, being one incident of many similar tribal clashes. Still it was more vociferous, as it was part of a contradiction, being decisive for the modern Kenyan debate. "Lack of trust between Kikuyu and the Luo ethnic groups continued to shape most of the political events in Kenya." (Kanyinga, 2007: 356)

Facing the factionalism inside his own party Kenyatta became even more convinced to replace constitutional democratic rule by a power politics centering around his own person (Kanyinga, 1995: 72-73). During the 1960s he used the form of 'prince' ruling and, when his basis seemed solid enough for that step, he switched to the autocratic model of personal rule in the 1970s (Jackson and Rosberg, 1982). Radical members of the opposition got detained like Martin Shikuku and the novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o or even assassinated like J. M. Kariuki in 1974 (Ndegwa, 1998: 355). Additionally the state used to interfere in the electoral process, so that the general elections often were flawed (Mwangi, 2008: 271).

Appendix

Abbreviations

KADU            Kenya African Democratic Union

KANU             Kenyan African National Union

KPU               Kenya People’s Union

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