Kibaki Sworn in As Kenyan President

Close to 40 years of single party rule today formally ended in Kenya with the swearing in of the country's new president after his landslide win in the polls last week.

In an inaugural speech to huge crowds in a central Nairobi park, Mwai Kibaki vowed to tackle the enormous task of setting things right in the east African nation "ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude".

"You have asked me to lead this nation out of the present wilderness and malaise on to the promised land, and I shall do so; I shall offer a responsive, transparent and innovative leadership," he said.

Sat in a wheelchair with his right leg in a cast after a car accident earlier this month, Mr Kibaki took the oath of office in Kiswahili, the lingua franca of Kenya, and received a 21-gun salute.

"I am inheriting a country which has been badly ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude," the 71-year-old said in English. "There has been a wide disconnect between the people and government."

The outgoing president, Daniel arap Moi, who was greeted with jeers and whistling on his arrival, sat stony-faced next to Mr Kibaki. He is blamed by many Kenyans for the rampant corruption during his 24 years in office that plunged their country its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1963.

Mr Moi later hosted a lunch for Mr Kabaki and guests at State House, the modest presidential headquarters that once served as the seat of the British colonial government.

Last week's elections swept Mr Kibaki and his opposition alliance into power in a humiliating defeat for the ruling Kenya African National Union, or Kanu, that had been in power for 39 years.

The president offered "the hand of friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation" to his opponents but he received the loudest ovation when he said: "It would be unfair to Kenyans not to raise questions about certain deliberate actions or policies of the past that continue to have grave consequences on the present."

His party is guaranteed an absolute majority in the 210-seat elected parliament.

In a statement issued in New York, the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, congratulated Mr Kibaki on his victory and said the UN would "continue to support the efforts of the new government and people of Kenya to consolidate the democratic process, improve governance and foster economic development".

The presidents of Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia as well as the prime minister of Rwanda and Zanele Mbeki, the wife of the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, witnessed the ceremony.

Joseph Mutemwa, a 38-year-old businessman, said Mr Kibaki's victory and his speech had already put Kenya back on the road to recovery.

"I think they are going to improve the economy so our children can learn to read," he said. "It's a very big day, with a big B."