The totem of private property was raised early after independence. Vast farms and ranches were transferred to our new elite, together with the large populations of wildlife upon them. Near where I live there are still a few multi-thousand-acre private wildlife sanctuary ranches. But development is winnowing the animal numbers at an alarming rate. One used to encounter zebra on my road every day. That’s a rumour today. 

Ever since Kenya was a republic, dominion, colony, or left alone the way its people liked it, wildlife meant wealth. People made great fortunes by

Other than the preying strategy pyramid schemes use to recruit people, the reason I see them as cults too is their ability to similarly brainwash their members into believing whatever hogwash they’re spreading. For example, for those selling supplements or other health-based products, it may go haywire fast. They’ll start you out schilling Vitamin D tablets and then in the blink of an eye, they’ll have you convincing your Facebook connects about ‘force fields’ and ‘protection zones’ that can be afforded by adorning a necklace with a pendant stuffed with a powder only they know the ingredients of.

I’ve been renting in Nairobi for nine years now, and in that time I have lived in nine different houses. My first was a bedsitter

This is the same Nairobi in which public green spaces are grabbed, buildings collapse, residents can’t sleep on a weeknight because bars won’t let them and drainage can’t stand the rainy season. The story revolves around a property on Kilimani’s Kindaruma Road whose construction in April 2022 was not as far advanced as it is today.

On 20 April 2023, Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk retired all legacy blue checkmarks. Musk chose the date because it’s 4/20, get it? 😅 This

We are living in strange times. Scrolling through the Twitter handle of Dr. David Ndii makes for some disturbing reading. Responding to a tweet by

The President of the Kenya Editors’ Guild recently called a press conference to allege that they had received reports of an imminent phone and internet

My name is Soila Kenya and I have a confession. All the jokes you’ve just thought up in your head right now? I’ve heard them

Soon after ringing in the new year, Kenya’s education ministry ordered vocational training institutions in Kenya to cease providing business education via a circular. The

“The state is not God. It has no right to give away that which it cannot give back, if it should so desire.” – Anton

I’m writing to you from a chilly Japan today. I seem to have mistimed my first international vacation in four years, and now I’m stuck

Seven months after the 2022 general election, Kenyans are swimming in another deluge of misinformation. In the wake of protests led by opposition leader Raila

Watching the mother-of-all-protests and Raila Odinga’s cavalcade traverse Nairobi the other day, I learned a new phrase. Stochastic terrorism is observed where a charismatic leader

“It is important to expose yourself to ideas you don’t agree with from time to time. Attend a political rally of a party you do

To begin with, considering the number of accidents that occur, causing death by dangerous driving is not a much charged offence. Latest statistics for 2020 show that there were 290 charges brought against 26 female drivers and 264 men. So I expected that courts would be throwing the book at accused persons. But alas, the courts are imposing sentences that cannot be seen to address the carnage on the roads with any measure of seriousness. The lawyers, defending accused persons, have had it so good that a fine of just over KSh 600,000 for killing three and injuring a fourth was in the estimation of one defence counsel so excessive and draconian that he has promised to appeal against both the sentence and the conviction.

A few months from now more than 1.5 million wildebeest will cross the crocodile-infested Mara River into Kenya from Tanzania, in what is recognized as

One must-do if you ever travel to Japan is signing up for a Japanese tea ceremony in Osaka.  You will end up in a ragtag

Fela Anikulapo Kuti, one of the most talented and famous sons of Nigeria and Africa, and the founder of the AfroBeat genre of music, sang

Kenyans are a skeptical lot (who can blame them, seeing the sorts of governments and leaders we’ve had?). That cynicism could be interpreted in any

In the Bible, Abraham is referred to as the father of faith. He is the pioneer of all three Abrahamic religions namely Judaism, Christianity and

Perhaps that is why we cat lovers fall over ourselves to please them, because we are so enchanted by these self-assured creatures that are so unlike us. They have none of our insecurities or uncertainties, they know they can never fail. Imagine moving through the world with the knowledge that you could never fail. Imagine the things you could do, the life you could live, the magic you could create.

The Malindi doomsday cult is global news and the Kenyan Government is keen to catch up. The Shakahola massacre was revealed not by police detective

A former British politician once told me “Decoys and distractions are a government’s number one strategy to keep the populace from demanding accountability.” I have

Raptors, the generic name for birds of prey, are hyper-carnivorous bird species that survive by hunting and feeding on other animals. Currently, Kenya has 103

The book highlights the high-level political negotiations that are undertaken just to decide on who becomes a member of the commission and the top officials of the secretariat. These negotiations take on regional, political, ethnic, and even fraternity associations aspects. One must get the blessings of these associations to even make a cut for consideration. It involves shuttling from one office to another, meeting top political leaders, key door-openers (including brutes) and opinion leaders.

In November 2022, Akinyi, a domestic worker from Kariobangi, was thrown off the fourth floor of an apartment building in Kiamaiko by her employer after

One change that still seems far from Kenya is the cashier-less supermarket, where money leaves your account as you walk out of the store. Of course, cashier-less services such as Amazon Go are only ever possible because of all the personal data that is continuously collected. Security of the data and privacy are obviously concerning, but its seamlessness makes it very alluring. 

As you watched the BBC Africa Eye documentary about the endemic sexual abuse of women casual labourers on the plantations Lipton Teas and Infusions and

An interesting thing happened in February. An organisation called the Alliance for Science published a report pointing out that misinformation on genetically modified organisms had

“Authority assigned to a State officer is a public trust…”  Article 73 (1) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 Since the county-assembly-impeachment of Meru Governor

From the foregoing, it is clear that the investigation into what exactly Mackenzie was up to and what crimes were committed at Shakahola is, at best, at its halfway point. This is further emphasised by the fact that investigators have begun a second phase of exhumations from Shakahola, raising the death toll and further horrifying an already shocked nation.

My 20s were mostly employed on the political street beat with maandamanos that took place in the agitation for an end to the one-party rule

It’s the new year and for most people that means goal-setting time. Not me though, this whole season is too triggering for me to do

I was only two days in, too early in the game for me to land a jab with any precision, let alone successfully block any attacks. Giving up this early would mean I didn’t really have to suffer the indignity of failure because I wouldn’t have given boxing any real chance. I could then tick it off my list as one more thing that’s “just not for me”. Like swimming. Or learning French. Or what sometimes I want to do with writing.

Parliament, in particular, continues to hold back information from the public regarding its operations. Recently in the Senate, the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition accused their Kenya Kwanza counterparts of being against devolution. Instead of KSh 407 billion as the Senate’s standing committee of budget and finance had recommended, the house approved KSh 385 billion in equitable share to the counties. Senators from Azimio staged a walkout to show their displeasure, but what they did next revealed how transparency in law-making is manipulated for political ends. 

One of the ten demands made by the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga when he appointed a team to talk to

Maps have long been a staple of election reporting. The US Presidential election, for instance, is one of the most mapped anywhere. Be it the presidential election or the midterms, maps help voters everywhere to digest and understand results. Typically, results are reported from precinct to county, to state, and then nationally. Use of more granular maps produces data that better visualises local politics.

The intention behind people pleasing is usually a very strong, almost alarm-like need to keep the peace, even if nothing about the situation logically calls for such extremes.

“The great marriages are partnerships. It can’t be a great marriage without being a partnership.” – Helen Mirren On 27 January 2023, the Supreme Court

In the freak-out following a State House visit by a bunch of ODM MPs the other day, Kisumu County Governor Prof. Peter Anyang Nyong’o implored the ODM leadership on Twitter to remember Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s rule; “In a revolutionary situation: Better fewer but better.”

“I need to retire from retirement.” Sandra Day O’Connor A rather intriguing provision in Kenya’s Presidential Retirement Benefits Act 2003 provides that “A retired President

I do not seek to get into the pros and cons of the recently enacted Finance Act by the Kenya Kwanza government, even though it elicits a remark or more. Rather, it is the emotion that the bill – and later on the Act – has aroused across the country that most pricks my curiosity. In my view, there have been fewer times when national discourse has been characterized by great animation like has been the case as regards this piece of legislation (first proposed, then passed, and now challenged in court). 

I remember the first time I candidly told a friend what I earned. I had received a job offer and was trying to make sense

Today’s Jubilee Party is a far cry from its earlier pomp. Out of government, with its leaders eyeing the governing Kenya Kwanza coalition, Uhuru Kenyatta’s

What state do our mother’s live in, constantly knowing that they have to carry their children horizontally twice – before the age of 18. Once,

I watched the outcome of the just-concluded Nigeria election in disbelief, my heart breaking for the millions of Nigerians whose hope for a fresh start

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 provides any Kenyan with the right to propose its rehabilitation. This may be through a parliamentary or a Wanjiku-driven (popular)

There are national subjects that require assemblage of evidence and closure. The land settlement deals with the British and the fate of the Mau Mau

Last week I had breakfast with a colleague. As we exchanged pleasantries waiting for our meal, she mentioned in passing that she’d be attending a public participation meeting that could clash with our next planned meeting. It turns out that she is an active participant in her neighbourhood’s local resident association, and she has been joining forces with others to oppose the runaway illegal construction projects mushrooming in the area. 

The limits of free speech and political propaganda have just been made clearer in the United States where Dominion, a vote machine manufacturer has just

Among the demands that the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party (Azimio) made in its call for protests against government inaction, the one that

Will the day come when Kenya’s urbanites use maps to report potholes and other municipal flare-ups to City Hall? It’s a long- awaited technology milestone

15 years ago, in January 2007, Nairobi hosted the World Social Forum at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani. Attending this alter-globalist, anti-capitalist convention was

Discovering a great book among the titles that have been on your to-read list forever is a bitter-sweet feeling. That was my experience with Kintu

The year 2023 is monumental for the Pan-African movement and Kenya. On 25 May 1963, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was founded in Addis

Did you know that Kenya’s Parliament exempted our first two presidents from having to pay a tax known as estate duty? I didn’t. In this

Either politics is Kenya’s chakula cha moyo (soul food) or it is a way of life. Because we are back at it!  Kenyans (at least