Nairobi, Kenya ? President-elect Mwai Kibaki promised Kenyans on Sunday an end to the government’s authoritarian style and sweeping changes to battle corruption and staggering economic problems after his landslide victory over the party that ruled the East African nation for nearly four decades.

After Kibaki’s opponent conceded defeat in the face of lop-sided 63 to 30 percent results, hundreds of the president-elect’s supporters in trucks cruised down Nairobi’s Moi Avenue, named for the outgoing president. Many waved leafy green branches — an African symbol of a new beginning — and chanting “Kibaki!”

Governing “is not a matter of promoting the ego of a president,” the 71-year-old economist said to enthusiastic cheers from supporters who gathered at his colonial-era mansion. “A president should prove himself by things he’s going to do which change the life of ordinary Kenyans.”

He said he would propose legislation that would require top officials to declare their wealth and break with longtime traditions like hanging the presidential photo in shops and offices throughout the country.

Kibaki and his National Rainbow Coalition — an alliance of opposition parties that won a majority in parliament in Friday’s election– intend to begin proving themselves soon: He will be sworn in today as Kenya’s third president since independence from Britain in 1963.

However, there are no formal procedures for the mechanics of handing over power in Kenya, which has been run by one party, the Kenya Africa National Union, since independence. Outgoing President Daniel arap Moi has been in power since 1978.

Moi had an autocratic style befitting the primary school teacher he once was, treating Kenyans as he may have treated his pupils — he often told people KANU was their “mother and father.” During the first 13 years of his rule, KANU was the only party allowed in the country, until multiparty politics were introduced in 1991. He also had a tendency to issue impromptu edicts that were rarely followed up, like declaring AIDS a national disaster but doing little the stem the spread of the disease.

Kibaki’s promise of an economic revival — and numerous other pledges, like free primary school education — have raised hopes among ordinary Kenyans.

“It’s like we’ve won our independence again,” said George Owino, an unemployed 33-year-old from one of the sprawling slums that ring Nairobi, the largest city in eastern Africa.