President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga at the official opening of the Sub-County Headquarter Offices in Rangwe, Homa Bay county. [HIRAM OMONDI/PCS. 30/5/2025] Imagine it is the middle of 2027. At least 200,000 affordable houses are now occupied by Kenyans across the country. Almost 40 million Kenyans are enrolled for social health insurance after a workaround was found to accommodate our informal, non-payroll sector, but the real win in the broader universal health care (UHC) programme is free primary health care that is now available at the country’s grassroots, offering community and facility-level health services. However, the…
Author: By Dennis Kabaara
A voter casts the ballot during UDA grassroots elections. [File, Standard] Like a broken record, let’s admit that our journey to the 2027 General Election is well under way. The incumbent broad-based administration insists that there are still two years to go, and they are focused on delivering on the promises they made to Kenyans in their 2022 manifesto. Since using the term “opposition” feels like a contradiction (presidential system of government notwithstanding), the non-broad-based side of our political terrain is still a mixed bag; the talking point at this stage is “Wantam” with plenty of maneuvering (single candidate,…
President William Ruto addresses residents after the launch of the Sogoo-Melelo-Ololung’a Road on the second day of his tour of Narok County, May 7, 2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard] The gaslighting continues. After the opposition, the church, the international community and dark forces from the other world, now it’s parents to blame for public protests. It is parents who “take their children to the police” who deal with “criminals, not parenting”. Meanwhile, terrorism charges are the latest weapon in this administration’s anti-protest arsenal of “lawfare”. On the ground, the “operationally independent” police now have three different instructions in three weeks –…
President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga during the second day of the third National Executive Retreat at the KCB Leadership Centre in Kajiado County, on June 20, 2025. [File, Standard]. In the aftermath of deadly and violent protests on Saba Saba Day, with almost 40 dead and up to 130 injured according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, President William Ruto has proclaimed more than once that “Enough is Enough”, while former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, his “partner in arms” in the broad based government, suggests a “National Intergenerational Conclave” as the latest dialogue brainwave…
Guards along the muindi mbingu street enjoy lunch time meal together at the center of the walk path as businesses in the CBD were closed during the Sabsaba day protests on 7th July 2025. [David Gichuru, Standard] “William Ruto is taking Kenya to a dangerous place”, bellows The Economist weekly news magazine in a leader (lead article) last week. We probably missed it, given the latest uproar over President Ruto’s private church-building agenda for public State House property. Or maybe owing to real and deepening public anger at the burials of young people dying in the hands of unreformed…
Police officers try to put off fire that was started by youths at Gitaru along waiyaki Way. [Benard Orwongo, Standard] “William Ruto is taking Kenya to a dangerous place”, below The Economist weekly news magazine in a leader (lead article) last week. We probably missed it, given the latest uproar over President Ruto’s private church-building agenda for public State House property. Or maybe owing to real and deepening public anger at the burials of young people dying in the hands of unreformed police. Though each of these is a genuine subject of debate on its own merits, it is increasingly…
A youth during Gen Z anniversary protest on Kisii-Migori highway, on June 25, 2025. [Sammy Omingo, Standard] In deciphering the disconnect between rulers and ruled, was June 25 our latest “Zero O’clock” moment? Remember, our leaders loves the sound of their own voices, while playing tone-deaf but trigger-happy when the people speak in ways they don’t like. Remember the popular view before the protests that our leaders had a year to change things, to reset and reboot, but hadn’t. /* Container styling */ .fade-out-overlay { position: absolute; top: -80px; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 60px; z-index: 1; background: linear-gradient(to bottom,…
Youth during anti-government protests along Moi Avenue, Nairobi, on July 16, 2024. [File, Standard] Although some argue that we operate in permanent campaign mode, the current national mood feels like this is Kenya’s earliest ever election campaign season. If this was a boxing match, in the blue corner, the incumbents insist it is not time for campaigns, but traverse the country on “development tours” and “empowerment events.” Their latest is “development visits” by sundry delegations to State House where “goodies” are doled out as if we have no functioning systems. It’s less “bottom-up” and more “unifying the country taking development…
National Treasury CS John Mbadi carrying the budget at Parliament on June 12, 2025. [Boniface Okendo, Standard] For probably the first time in Kenya’s post-independence history, the annual budget address – which today we call the Budget Statement presented by our Treasury Cabinet Secretary in Parliament – wasn’t the headline across pretty much all of our leading popular dailies. The one exception ignored the address but described the budget as a “begging spree”. Remember when Minister and briefcase would adorn every paper’s front page, with neat graphics about “winners and losers”? Think about it. In which country claiming to be…
The National Treasury Building on on Sunday, February, 18, 2024. [FILE] Treasury CS John Mbadi presents his maiden Budget Statement to Parliament at a time the nation is frayed at the edges – politically, economically and socially. As young people are arrested, abducted and murdered on his watch, President William Ruto insists he is uniting the Kenyan nation. Well, he is definitely uniting Kenyans against his administration. Remember, when public good or bad happens in the country, the buck stops at his desk. That’s the job! It is easy to resort to “what-about-ism”, that all these bad things happened before.…
Hanniel Calebson a Pupils at Assar Johanson Primary school and a grade six Candidate of KEPSEAS Sported in their class room leading his classmate to revise on October 27, 2023 during exams rehearsal day. [Caleb Kingwara, Standard] Leading into the 2025 Budget Statement on Thursday, let us acknowledge the recent work of the National Treasury to actively engage with the public and stakeholders on the budget process. .fade-out-overlay{position:absolute;top:-80px;left:0;width:100%;height:60px;z-index:1;background:linear-gradient(to bottom,rgba(255,255,255,0),rgba(255,255,255,1))}.paywall-container{position:relative;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;padding:25px;border:1px solid #e0e0e0;border-radius:8px;box-shadow:0 2px 10px rgba(0,0,0,.1);background-color:#fff}.paywall-container h2{text-align:center}.paywall-container a{text-decoration:none!important}.paywall-header{font-size:24px;font-weight:bold;margin-bottom:15px;color:#333;text-align:center}.price-highlight{font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;color:#d40511;margin:15px 0;text-align:center}.price-highlight .original-price{text-decoration:line-through;color:#777;margin-right:0}.divider{border-top:1px solid #e0e0e0;margin:20px 0}.subscribe-button{display:block;width:100%;padding:12px;background-color:#d40511;color:#fff;border:none;border-radius:4px;font-size:25px;font-weight:bold;cursor:pointer;margin-bottom:20px;transition:background-color .3s;text-decoration:none}.subscribe-button:hover{background-color:#b0030e;text-decoration:none}.features-list{margin:20px 0;padding-left:20px;list-style:none}.features-list li{margin-bottom:10px;list-style-type:none;position:relative;padding-left:25px;list-style-type:none!important}.features-list li:before{content:”✓”;color:#d40511;position:absolute;left:0;font-weight:bold}.existing-subscriber{text-align:center;color:#555;font-size:14px}.existing-subscriber a{color:#d40511;text-decoration:none}.existing-subscriber a:hover{text-decoration:underline} Get Trusted News for Only Ksh99 a Week Subscribe Today & Save!…
National Treasury Cabinet SecretaryJohn Mbadi during the launch of Economic Survey 2025 at KICC, Nairobi, on May 6, 2025. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard] When it comes to matters fiscus, we have come full circle in a single generation. Some will recall the 1990s, when the key subject for debate during the Budget season was the Finance Bill, or specifically, tax changes. We then went into a democratic phase where we paid attention to the spending side of the budget, and more recently debt. Yet government remained “Baba na Mama” of the economy, a reminder that our 2010 Constitution is not ingrained…
The National Assembly during a past session. MPs approved the county equitable share at Sh405 billion. File, Standard] Almost 15 years since the 2010 Constitution was promulgated, 12 years after the first post-constitution election that birthed our current system of devolved government and eight mega conferences later, what is the true state of devolution today? Is it dead, or dying, as some suspect? The short and easy answer here is our devolved system of government is still a work in progress. Lest we forget, devolution was touted as the crown jewel in our progressive and transformative constitution. It was the…
Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Winfridah Mokaya when they appeared before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for Examination of the Auditor General’s report for the Financial Year ended June 2024 at Bunge Towers, Parliament, Nairobi. March 27th, 2025. (Elvis Ogina, Standard) “Our Judiciary is now, without doubt, Kenya’s biggest constitutional dividend”. Do we remember this quote? It comes from President William Ruto’s inauguration speech of September 13, 2022, in which he also referred to devolution (and sharing of power and resources) as “not just a national value and principle of governance in the Constitution, but…the crown jewel of…