The One Thing You Should Read About Grace Onyango (1924-2023)

Had Grace Monica Akech Onyango never joined politics, her contribution to society would already have been immense. Onyango was a teacher; the first woman assistant commissioner of the Girl Guide Association; and chairperson of the Child Welfare Society’s Kisumu branch. But when she…

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My Mother Wants Me To Get Married. It’s Sweet.

I wasn’t always good at it, but now I’m good at being single. I know…

Sex Tourism In Kenya’s Coast: A Form Of Neocolonialism    

The end of the COVID-19 pandemic has, thankfully, seen tourism in Kenya’s coastal resorts pick…

Azimio Protests And The Concept Of Stochastic Terrorism 

Watching the mother-of-all-protests and Raila Odinga’s cavalcade traverse Nairobi the other day, I learned a…

Raila Odinga’s Mass Miscalculation?

Our history shows that mass action works where there is a generalised belief that the…

It Tolls For Thee…

In memory of Willy Kimani, Josephat Mwenda, Joseph Muriruri A month ago, after a trial…

The Anatomy of an Anxious mind

I am a Time Traveler. I live in the nebulous space between today and tomorrow;…

Attacks On LGBTQ+ Community Unwarranted   

A judgement by the Supreme Court of Kenya allowing members of the LGBTQ+ community in…

Sympathizing With Ukraine While Calling Out The West’s Hypocrisy

Let me say at the outset that I am no fan of Russian President Vladimir…

The BBC’s ‘Sex for Work’: The Story Behind The Story

This was not the story BBC Africa Eye had set out to do. Tom Odula…

Of Nigerian Ogas And The Ogre That Is African Elections  

Fela Anikulapo Kuti, one of the most talented and famous sons of Nigeria and Africa,…

Let’s Throw Less Wet Blankets Over 

Kenyans are a skeptical lot (who can blame them, seeing the sorts of governments and…

An Alliance Love Story

To celebrate this month of love (listen, it’s still that month), human rights activist Njonjo…

Burying The Corpse That Is Kenya’s Death Penalty

“The state is not God. It has no right to give away that which it…

Do Not Let Rigathi Gachagua Distract You

Despite what Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says, the Government of Kenya is not a company…

Rejections, Man!

I spent Monday this week waiting for an email that never came and that’s when…

The Cost Of Human Error In The Aftermath Of The Earthquake In Turkey

Two disturbing things have been highlighted by the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey, which has…

On Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o’s Invocation Of Vladimir I. Lenin

In the freak-out following a State House visit by a bunch of ODM MPs the…

Go On, Risk It All And Ask Someone Out Properly

I had a conversation with a friend recently. He wanted to start dating again. “I…

A Three-Step Guide On How To Create A Political Sideshow

A former British politician once told me “Decoys and distractions are a government’s number one…

The Day The Supreme Court Played Marriage Counsellor

“The great marriages are partnerships. It can’t be a great marriage without being a partnership.”…

Tyre Nichols Was A Victim Of Systemic Racism

Parents of young Black men in the United States live with constant fear, wondering whether…

Hustlers, Upper Deck Folks And The Real Children Of David Ndii’s Cruel Marriage.

We are living in strange times. Scrolling through the Twitter handle of Dr. David Ndii…

Mama Ngina Kenyatta Has Spoken. Now What?

There are national subjects that require assemblage of evidence and closure. The land settlement deals…

Every Move Into A New House Is A Reinvention

I’ve been renting in Nairobi for nine years now, and in that time I have…

An Election Results Dossier And Old Political Stories

Either politics is Kenya’s chakula cha moyo (soul food) or it is a way of…

TVET Institutions Must Teach Business

Soon after ringing in the new year, Kenya’s education ministry ordered vocational training institutions in…

Mischief And Intrigue Behind IEBC Selection Panel 

“I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what…

Loving Nairobi, Missing London, But Still Loving Nairobi

I was born in one country, spent my early childhood in another, and then, aged…

When State House Feeds Journalists

President William Ruto gave his first full media interview as head of state soon after…

The Beauties and Oddities of the Kenyan Accent

In 2019, I visited a friend who was studying at the University of Witwatersrand in…

Death, Taxes and Dynastic Vendetta Politics

Did you know that Kenya’s Parliament exempted our first two presidents from having to pay…

We Can All Secure Bigger Bags

I remember the first time I candidly told a friend what I earned. I had…

Why Africa Is Not A Country And Other Short Stories

Those of us who live in Africa know how irritating it is to hear white…

Paul Biya’s Fart-Fest, Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation, And Knowing When To Go

A recent video clip that went viral was at best painful to watch and at…

Kenya At 60, A Reflection

The year 2023 is monumental for the Pan-African movement and Kenya. On 25 May 1963,…

How Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Almost Vanquished Cattle Rustling

Today’s Jubilee Party is a far cry from its earlier pomp. Out of government, with…

Hustler Fund Could End Up Hurting The Poor

Is the government’s Financial Inclusion Fund, popularly known as the Hustler Fund, a boon for…

Ahmed Rashid, Mathare’s Merchant Of Death?

Over the last six years, data collected by the Mathare Social Justice Centre (MSJC) puts…

Fact-checking Can’t Wait Till The Next Election

Never before has fact-checking been more popular on the African continent than now. In Kenya,…

Why I Believe ‘The IEBC Whistleblower’ Is Fake News

Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai and a few social media influencers have started boosting an alleged…

It’s Going To Take Long. Better Enjoy The Ride, Ninja

It’s the new year and for most people that means goal-setting time. Not me though,…

Governors, Beware! Of Upright and Conniving MCAs

“Authority assigned to a State officer is a public trust…”  Article 73 (1) of the…

No More Police Reforms?

Within weeks of President William Ruto taking office, there were reports of the police being…

Yes, Mr. President, Extrajudicial Killings By Police Must End

In October 2022, shortly after he assumed office, President William Ruto told officials of the…

The Case for Reviving Kenya’s Abandoned Transition

“The struggle of people against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”  – Milan…

A Case For A Judicial Commission of Inquiry Into 15 August 2022

Clearly, there is an appetite for accountability for the riotous scenes at the Bomas of…

Was Meghan Markle Naïve About Racism in Britain?

I have never been a fan of kiss-and-tell stories. I find them distasteful and dishonest.…

What Have Dreadlocks Got To Do With It?

“Imagine a lawyer or doctor with dreadlocks.” – Peter Kaluma, MP Homa Bay Town Constituency. What…

What’s In For 2023

Stop being rude. Stop asking people invasive questions and giving them unsolicited advice to their…

Holidays Are For Family And Family Is What You Make It

I don’t usually go home for Christmas. By home I mean Meru, to my mother’s…

Christmas Rest Amidst Election Inquiries

And so, it is set to end. Finally the holidays are here, schools out and Kenyans are headed for a much needed break.

National Government Should Support Nairobi, Not Dominate

Recently, the two gentlemen at the top of Kenya’s executive have expressed contrasting views on…

For Those of Us with Christmas Blues

The “So what are you doing for Christmas?” messages have started streaming in and my body is slowly clenching day by day.

Nairobi: Shiny But Impractical

I have lived in and travelled to various cities around the world since I was…

War Is Failure Of Football

Football or soccer is a strange sport. Put two teams of eleven each and a…

Bloated Kenyan Delegation at COP27 Reflected the Country’s Misplaced Priorities

In a previous incarnation, when I was a globe-trotting United Nations official, I was constantly…

IEBC And The Cookie Crumbs 

Do you remember your parent ever warning you not to touch the cookie jar until…

The Good, The Daunting and The Unsaid in Presidents’ Pressman

Lee Njiru has written a memoir sprinkled with humour, full of personal insights into the…

‘We’re not Freaks’: Tales of a Kenyan Geek

How does the Kenyan mainstream hivemind treat people who are into comics and animation? Horribly.…

Kenyan MPs Can No Longer Hide Behind “the Ayes”

Our thirteenth Parliament has well and truly begun work, and whatever honeymoon period may have…

Jacqueline Kubania
There Aren’t Enough Women in Kenyan Newsrooms, and it Shows

When I walked into my first class at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology…

Kenya’s Explosive Mix of Corruption, Debt and Rising Expectations

When the Goldenberg scandal was exposed in the early 1990s, Kenyans thought they had seen…

A Case for the Pursuit of Peace in the DRCongo

The people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) surely need reprieve from constant violence…

Jacqueline Kubania
It’s The Little Things 

I am trying to design a life I like. A life I don’t need to…

Under Collapsed Buildings, Real People 

As often happens, the collapse of a building in Kasarani was just another trending story,…

The World Cup Of Corruption

The World Cup is the football tournament I gladly set aside time for. It is…

Show Me Your Friends 

Remember those multiple choice questions in school? Here is one for you. The difference is,…

Bobby Mkangi
We Are Debating Everything, Including County Boundaries!

Since the commencement of the 13th Kenyan Parliament, it has been raining constitutional amendment bills.…

‘‘We Just Hope For The Best’’

At the time of writing this, I have been in Kenya for 72 days.  Contrary…

Jacqueline Kubania
There Is No Shame, Beloveds

A few weeks ago, a Kenyan social media influencer advertised break up classes. Ms Lydia…

Somalia’s Famines Not A Product Of Food Scarcity

Almost every year, the United Nations and humanitarian agencies declare a ‘famine’ in Somalia. This…

The Fire Next Door: Electoral Justice and the NSAC Allegations  

Still remaining uncontroverted are grave allegations in sworn affidavits by soon to be retired (IEBC)…

A Playlist For Every Grief

I shouldn’t be writing about this with such brevity – because it deserves a solid…

For Women Who Love The World Cup

A riot of colorful hats and flags, exuberant dancing, and the Vuvuzelas, (those rasping, meter-long…

Jacqueline Kubania
If You Don’t Make Clothes For Us, Gikomba Will, By Way Of IG.

Instagram boutiques have me in a chokehold. I can’t help it, I spend an embarrassing…

CBC, The Second Coming Of 844 And Other Short Stories

Why does it seem like we have been here before? Students being given homework to…

Violation of Women’s Rights Goes Beyond Iran

The call by activists to throw Iran out of the upcoming World Cup finals in…

Bobby Mkangi
First Ladies and First Gentlemen: Constitutional Intruders or Builders? 

“There is no handbook for incoming first ladies… It’s not technically a job, nor is…

Sampa the Great: The Reason I’ll Watch Wakanda Forever

I know that former US President Barack Obama included Sampa the Great’s Energy in his…

The Quickest Way to Get a Married Woman Into Bed? Choreplay.

To clarify, I mean a married woman who you are married to, and you’re trying…

You’ve Seen The Two SGR Contracts. Now What?

Kenya’s Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen posted two 2014 loan contracts between Kenya and the Exim Bank of…

Jacqueline Kubania
I Was Enjoying My Time In Victoria Sands Until…

I just spent an idyllic three days in Homa Bay County by the shores of…

Kenyans Have No Right To Claim Rishi Sunak

Much has been made of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Kenyan roots, with some comparing…

Bobby Mkangi
A Case Against Tampering With Presidential Term Limits 

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 provides any Kenyan with the right to propose its rehabilitation.…

Ahmed Rashid, Mathare’s Merchant Of Death?

Over the last six years, data collected by the Mathare Social Justice Centre (MSJC) puts…

PEOPLE

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The One Thing You Should Read About Grace Onyango (1924-2023)

Had Grace Monica Akech Onyango never joined politics, her contribution to society would already have…

Grief, Gin and Love

I was almost an hour late for the funeral service. The church was filled with…

I Used To Loathe Book Clubs. But Now I’m Hooked.

If two years ago you’d have asked me whether I’d join a book club, your…

Why ‘Njaanuary’ Was Good For Your Health

The apartment block on State House Road in Milimani doesn’t just appear. It unfolds, slowly,…

Raila Odinga’s Grand Finale

POLITICS

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My Hustler Fund Experience

Long before the launch of the Hustler Fund on 30 November 2022, I already knew…

Diary Of An Election Observer

The 2022 general election has come and gone, and with it the fierce competition that…

The Man We Thought We Sent to Ichaweri

In the run up to the August 9 general election, rambunctious Central Organization of Trade…

Police Shakeup: Kenya Kwanza’s New Sheriffs

In one of his most categorical commitments since coming to power, President William Ruto has…

WOMEN

A Rare Story Of Surviving FGM And Building Back The Clitoris

If I told you the lady stepping out of the Audi Q7 dressed in a…

The Choice Of Motherhood
The Choice Of Motherhood

Few things elicit sharp reactions like discussing a woman’s body and what she can or cannot do with it.

Cervical Cancer, The Female Killer

The World Health Organization reported in 2018 that every two minutes a woman dies of this preventable cancer…

Traditional Medicine and Vaginal Health: Facts From Fiction 

Tea made from specific plants has traditionally been given to women for various vaginal ailments, and these same herbs are…

Gender Based Violence: A Shadow Pandemic

Gender-Based Violence is one of the most persistent violations of human rights across the globe and has been reported to be much higher within marginalized populations.

POP CULTURE

DEBUNKED

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FACT CHECK

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