Category: Public Square
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TVET Institutions Must Teach Business
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 Daily Nation reported that Ezekiel Machogu, the Education Cabinet Secretary, was concerned that the government “has put in a lot of emphasis and resources towards the support of Stem courses…
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Mischief And Intrigue Behind IEBC Selection Panel
“I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this – who will count the votes and how.” Joseph Stalin On 23 January 2023, President William Ruto performed, for the first time, one of the key constitutional responsibilities of a Kenyan president – assenting bills…
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Loving Nairobi, Missing London, But Still Loving Nairobi
I was born in one country, spent my early childhood in another, and then, aged 5, I was whisked onwards to a third one. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that I often say moving runs in my veins. It all started with my grandparents (at least as far as I can confirm, because it could…
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When State House Feeds Journalists
President William Ruto gave his first full media interview as head of state soon after the New Year. Just like in 2018, when President Uhuru Kenyatta’s now-famous exchange with Mark Maasai immortalised Japan’s ‘weird borrowing habits’ (h/t Michael Joseph), a group of journalists interviewed the president in a joint media production NTV journalist James Smart…
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The Beauties and Oddities of the Kenyan Accent
In 2019, I visited a friend who was studying at the University of Witwatersrand in Joburg. I was with a couple of Kenyan friends and we decided to have a tour around the campus. Along the way, we ended up at a quaint little bookstore. Those ones that have the tingling bell on the door…
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Death, Taxes and Dynastic Vendetta Politics
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 era of vendetta politics, it is no surprise that Presidential aide Dennis Itumbi is active on twitter educating us on the law, and publicizing a public petition to repeal the…
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We Can All Secure Bigger Bags
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 of how it compared to my current role in terms of benefits, perks and base pay. The stakes were high. Accepting the new job meant moving countries and starting a…
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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 worst an unmitigated embarrassment for African audiences. It showed 90-year-old Cameroonian President Paul Biya who has been in power since 1982 attending a plenary session of the US Africa Leadership Summit that was held in Washington in December 2022. The…
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Kenya At 60, A Reflection
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 Ababa, Ethiopia, by thirty two leaders from the then independent African countries. This was seven months before Kenya’s independence. After accomplishing its main duty which at that time, was liberation…
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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 its leaders eyeing the governing Kenya Kwanza coalition, Uhuru Kenyatta’s party barely compares to the outfit that governed for two consecutive terms. This, remember, was the government that would use technology to solve all kinds of problems. First there were…