Category: Public Square
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Niger, An Indictment Against French Neocolonialism
The recent coup d’etat in Niger that toppled the democratically elected government of president Mohamed Bazoum has highlighted a disturbing trend emerging in several West African countries: the resurgence of unconstitutional means to bring about regime change. In the last three years, there have been military takeovers in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Guinea. The…
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What Are Our Leaders Reading?
What are our leaders reading? Some may read nothing at all, if you see the bare desks and shelves in the offices some parade on Twitter and Instagram. Many, though, read the softer stuff of motivational literature. I saw a recent example, as Sabina Chege was being gingerly placed in the back seat of her…
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Was Saba Saba 2023 A Turning Point In Kenyan Politics?
One of the most significant aspects of the Saba Saba protests this month was that for the first time since the pro-democracy protests of the 1990s, Kenyans were rallying around issues rather than personalities or ethnic groups, in this case, punitive taxes and the commensurate rise in the cost of living. This demonstrates that Kenyans…
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The Case Against Private Conservancies, and Dissolution of Parliament
Occasionally, some of us get to legally breach the fences of private wildlife conservancies which apparently hold up to two-thirds of our wildlife and occupy over 7.5 million acres, for example, to watch the 2023 WRC Safari Rally live. For the rest, streamed dashcam footage placed us in the driver’s seat at thrilling speeds. But…
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People Pleasing Will Kill You
Have you ever agreed to attend an event you didn’t want to go to? Or hide your true feelings about an opinion a friend has? I think we’ve all done that from time to time. But if you’re like me, this constant violation of your own values is a frequent occurrence caused by a disease…
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Emerging Citizen Agency? The Great Finance Bill Debate
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.…
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Finance Act 2023 Reminiscent of Colonialists’ Hut Tax
A survey by Twaweza and the Centre for Fiscal Affairs shows that three-quarters of Kenyans were completely opposed to the Finance Bill 2023, which has now been passed into a law and is being challenged in court. Less than 2% of the 25,966 Kenyans who participated in the survey supported the Bill, while more than…
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Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Law Is Un-African
Uganda has just passed one of the harshest anti-homosexuality laws in the world. Individuals engaged in same-sex sexual relations could face life imprisonment, while anyone who “knowingly promotes homosexuality” could be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail. Even organisations working with the LGBTQ+ community could face a ten-year ban. This puts at risk…
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Are Farmers and Rural-folk the Revolutionaries We Need?
A friend of mine keeps a cat, mainly to catch a persistent rat that’s been raiding his granary. For months, the cat has been well fed and pampered, even though it has had no success in ending the rat’s felonious reign. As his losses from the granary mounted, my friend chose to engage in self-help;…
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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 haven’t submitted it. I tell myself that I am too busy to write it, or I don’t know what to write about. But the truth is that when I hold back from submitting a piece to my editors, it is…