2 Variables and a Prayer
The question, asked now more than ever, is this: why can’t the Kikuyu (and the Kalenjin) support a person from a different ethnic community to become president? After all, these two communities have occupied State House continuously for 50 years – effectively since Kenya’s independence. Should Uhuru not step aside and support a presidential candidate […]
Pride and Power
At a recent international conference, I heard a bizarre and jarring statement from one of the speakers. It went something like this: “Of course my country is a dominant regional power. We are the only African country that was never colonised. We are the only one with a written indigenous language and the only country […]
March 4 Matters More Than Doomsday
According to meteorologists, astronomers and such, December 21st is the official first day of winter in the North and summer in the South. But according to doomsday prophets, this day in 2012 could mark the last day of life on earth. Before you laugh and consign this to the dustbin of failed crackpot predictions, perhaps […]
4 Metaphors and a Wish
I am often asked by some of my foreign friends to give a read out of Kenya’s future prospects. These are business types that want to know if this country will be politically stable, and the policy environment friendly, to allow business and investment to thrive. Others, mostly young Kenyans starting families, ask: will this […]
We know so much yet so little
Fear and hope. Doubt and conviction. The human mind, it seems, comes wired in double and opposite polarity: the negative is always twined to the positive. Fear and doubt play constant ping pong with hope and conviction. Today, we fear and doubt: will the current wave of insecurity sweeping through the country metastise like a […]
Please Give Kenya Airways a break
The headlines have been relentless. KQ lays off 600 employees. KQ management grilled by parliamentary committee. KQ posts shocking Kshs 4.8 billion half-year loss. KQ passenger numbers remain flat. KQ buys planes from notorious tax haven. A newspaper columnist – a former Trade Minister – even offered ‘friendly advice’ to KQ’s CEO to leave before […]
Integrity vs Impunity: It Is a Non-contest
“Stiffer penalties for exam cheats: 10 years in jail or two million shillings upon conviction” read one of the headlines. This was in reference to the recently enacted Kenya National Examinations Council Act, 2012. Good. But why did this leave me with feeling mildly vexed, even annoyed? For the record, I do not condone exam […]
Reasons for Ethnic Syndication
The fixation of the moment is the tick tock, tick tock of the clock as it creeps towards midnight 4th December 2012 when pre-election deals must have been concluded. This is what explains the feverish bargaining among presidential candidates as each seeks to craft a winning alliance ahead of the elections in March 2013. But […]
Is the MRC Phenomenon a Farce or a Tragedy?
Can you hear us now? Now that the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) has commanded our attention, the answer to this question is unequivocal: yes, we hear you loud and clear. Or do we? Do we understand the MRC phenomenon as a farce or a tragedy? Or, judging by suppressed chuckles in Oman and Zanzibar, a […]
Thirty Years of Experimentation
Thirty years. That is how long Kenya’s leadership and governance experiment has been running. If we treat the brief periods 1964/67 and 1979/81 as times when the leadership was finding its feet – the first, as Kenyatta tried to master the reins of power wrested from the colonial masters; and the second as Moi struggled […]
