Colonel Mustapha and the Case for Universal Healthcare

If there’s one thing that Kenyans love it’s gossip, especially when that gossip is around a celebrity. Even better when that gossip is around something considered shameful or embarrassing. Is life even interesting if you didn’t hear that so and so did this…

TODAY'S BEATS

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Allow Yourself To Be Bad At Things

Any week you don’t see this column on your feed, it is mostly because I…

My Mother Told Me: Why Everyday Is Mother’s Day

The first time my mother told me the name she gave me means love, I…

On Issack Hassan’s ‘Referee Of A Dirty Ugly Game’

Ahmed Issack Hassan, the former chief of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has…

Parliament Should Publish All Its Voting Records

When the Finance Bill finally makes it to Parliament, do you know how your MP…

Has Kenya Surrendered Its Economic Sovereignty to the IMF?

It is now clear that the promises made by Kenya Kwanza leaders to bring down…

The Perils of Today’s Consumer (With Lesser Rights?)

The ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike has drawn attention to just how far businesses can go…

You Split (the bill), You Lose…

Today I am inserting my nose into married people’s business because I feel like if…

Has The President Jumped The Gun On Shakahola?

Has the government lost confidence in its investigation into the cult of Paul Mackenzie Nthenge…

Why Proposed Housing Fund Needs To Be Scrapped 

It is mind-boggling that the Kenya Kwanza  government believes it can get away with raiding…

I Have Always Been A Cat Person

A three year old has just moved in with me. Her name is Rosie. She…

Multi-Level Marketing Cults Need To Be Called Out Too

The country is still reeling from the ongoing investigation into the Shakahola Massacre where the…

The Slippery Slope In Prosecuting Pastors Ezekiel and Mackenzie 

The Malindi doomsday cult is global news and the Kenyan Government is keen to catch…

Let’s Embrace Maps More. Better Maps

Maps have long been a staple of election reporting. The US Presidential election, for instance,…

Mukami Kimathi’s Death Shouldn’t Stop Search for Kimathi’s Grave

It is tragic that Mukami Kimathi, Dedan Kimathi’s widow, died last week aged 96 without…

Ordinary People, Living Ordinary Lives, Embracing Extraordinary Courage

You might have seen it. A sustained Twitter campaign by @HoneyFarsafi targeted at Nairobi County…

Nairobi One Huge Slum? Blame City Hall! 

Nairobi has a long, complicated history with slums. Their origin, according to this handy inventory…

What’s A Kenyan Life Worth? Of Rogue Drivers and Low Fines

There’s a traffic accident reported every hour every day every year in Kenya. As a…

Mukumu Girls Tragedy: A Wake Up Call 

The tragic happenings at Mukumu Girls and Butere Boys schools in Kakamega have shed light…

Why It Is Critical to Address Unresolved Land Issues in the Coast 

The recent orchestrated “invasion” of land belonging to the Kenyatta family has once again highlighted…

Kuna Nuru Gizani? Shakahola and Other Short Stories 

It is a Sunday afternoon and the sun is playing hide and seek with a…

Should Retired Presidents Be Barred From Politics?

“I need to retire from retirement.” Sandra Day O’Connor A rather intriguing provision in Kenya’s…

I Drank Tea In Japan And Felt Zen 

One must-do if you ever travel to Japan is signing up for a Japanese tea…

We, Women With Beards

The smell of Old Spice aftershave is one-of-a-kind.  You could be dodging thieves and preachers…

Maandamano Mandamus, But To What End?

My 20s were mostly employed on the political street beat with maandamanos that took place…

Maandamano As Political Mandamus (Misusing On The State Of The People And Their State)

“The revolution Will not be Televised” – Gill Scott Heron Inasmuch as I do not…

Adios Twitter Check Mark

On 20 April 2023, Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk retired all legacy blue checkmarks. Musk…

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Time’s Ripe For An All Inclusive Constitutional Review

A few months from now more than 1.5 million wildebeest will cross the crocodile-infested Mara…

Cults Flourish In Times Of Intellectual and Moral Collapse 

In November 1978, James Warren Jones, an American preacher, orchestrated the mass murder by suicide…

Cadey Versus Madowe: Colourism In The Somali Community

As we engaged in unnecessary platitudes, it hit me; were it not for her distinguished…

Azimio’s Post-Election Slander Could End Badly

The limits of free speech and political propaganda have just been made clearer in the…

Why were Kenyans not consulted before ban on GMOs was lifted? 

It is unfortunate that Kenya lifted the ban on genetically modified (GMO) foods in October…

Pain At Home And Away: The Plight of Kenyan Domestic Workers 

In November 2022, Akinyi, a domestic worker from Kariobangi, was thrown off the fourth floor…

FACT CHECK: Police Beating Video Misleading

Seven months after the 2022 general election, Kenyans are swimming in another deluge of misinformation.…

Electrocuted Into Extinction: A Fast Growing Threat To Birds Of Prey In Kenya

Raptors, the generic name for birds of prey, are hyper-carnivorous bird species that survive by…

They Won’t Switch Off The Internet. Because They’re Spying On You

The President of the Kenya Editors’ Guild recently called a press conference to allege that…

Solo Travel Can Be Difficult. Do It Anyway

I’m writing to you from a chilly Japan today. I seem to have mistimed my…

Generational Curse-Breaking: A Kintu Reflection

Discovering a great book among the titles that have been on your to-read list forever…

Kenya’s Wildlife: Long Lenses For Some, Mortal Danger To Others

Ever since Kenya was a republic, dominion, colony, or left alone the way its people…

My Name Is Kenya. Like the Country.

My name is Soila Kenya and I have a confession. All the jokes you’ve just…

On Rebel MPs: Raila Odinga Is Right, And Wrong

One of the ten demands made by the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leader…

Can Servers Be Opened Without IEBC Commissioners In Office?

Among the demands that the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party (Azimio) made in…

Kenya’s Economic Woes A Product Of The UhuRuto Presidency 

I think it is quite disingenuous of opposition leader Raila Odinga and his supporters to…

I Knew Julian Assange. It’s Time To End His Persecution
I Knew Julian Assange. It’s Time To End His Persecution 

15 years ago, in January 2007, Nairobi hosted the World Social Forum at the Moi…

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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Schizophrenia, Depression and Pill Fatigue

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression on 17 January 2020. The first two drugs…

Colonel Mustapha and the Case for Universal Healthcare

If there’s one thing that Kenyans love it’s gossip, especially when that gossip is around…

Shakahola Is The Kenyan Jonestown

Guyana, 1974. Nearly a thousand worshippers at the People’s Temple Of The Disciples of Christ…

Surviving Nairobi As An African Immigrant  

I slide and lean back on the leather seat watching my feet soak in a…

POLITICS

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Peace At Last. May It Last…

For the second time since Raila Odinga chose to lead his supporters in street protests…

This Is How A Country Burns 

During Kenya’s darkest hour in 2007/2008 when Kenyans lived through the most devastating  bout of…

Ruto and Odinga Should Do A Joint Iftar

Few things mesmerize Kenyan politicians the way religious gatherings do. During the one party state,…

Who Is Kenya’s Thabo Mbeki? 

In the last one month, former South African president Thabo Mbeki has done two things…

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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