Prof. Makau Mutua explores the potential impact of BBI on Kenyan politics as we go into the election. He argues Raila Odinga remains the strongest presidential candidate but we should not assume he will be a candidate himself and may tip other political leaders to stand in his stead. Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka and others are potential candidates too.
Two obscure companies linked to Kitui South MP Rachael Kaki Nyamai were paid at least KSh24.2 million to deliver medical supplies under single-source agreements at the time the MP was chair of the National Assembly’s Health Committee.
Two years ago economist David Ndii broke down the duality within the Kenyan economy, the power of political choices to shape economic reality and the economic boycott as a political strategy. and as he further elaborated to Ms Khadija Churchill, great economics rarely survive bad politics which should be the fundamental reason everyone should safeguard political freedom as a buffer against repression and possible economic decline in the country.
The current calls for a referendum have been proven anomalous to the journey of constitution-making that has been on in the last 20 years. The players, the interests and the motive of enacting such sovereign and sacred documents always ought to be reflective of a society's needs and as eminent lawyer Atsango Chesoni reiterates such decisions require careful deliberations.
As Kenya’s political class considers expanding the executive branch of government, no one seems to be talking about restricting its powers.
Kenya's Executive and Legislature are guilty of a major dereliction of duty that has caused the judiciary to be turned into the primary arena of political contest in the country. This condition will only worsen as political realignments intensify in the run-up to 2022 and the elite works to perpetuate itself essentially in opposition to the constitution.
The killing of James Muriithi in Kenya served as yet another anecdote to the brutalization of the poor in Kenya, but it isn’t yet fully accepted as such, not least within police circles.
Africans are saddled with the burdens of colonial structures that the post-colonial elites simply refuse to supplant. If language is a unifier of cultural, economic and social values, then we must decolonise our languages and dismantle colonial borders based on imagined ethnicities.
Kenyan demographers seem blind to the politics of identity and belonging. Yet the codification and recognition of tribe or ethnicity in Kenya has evolved into an exercise that gives – or denies – people political and social visibility.
Within the political dysfunctionality of this country in which the media revels in the sensational, Kakamega seems to have produced more than its fair share of colourful characters.