Protesters demonstrate in support of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro at the Cinelandia square in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 5, 2026. [AFP] From Nairobi, the United States’ invasion of Venezuela does not feel unprecedented. What is alarming is not the use of force itself, but the abandonment of restraint, the open dismissal of law, legitimacy, and multilateral consent as necessary justifications for power. That shift should unsettle Africa profoundly, where the promise of the rule of law has been repeatedly crushed by raw force, often with the quiet approval of external powers. Historically, American power operated in two ways: Overtly…
Author: By Gilbert Muyumbu and John Mwendwa
Protesters demonstrate in support of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro at the Cinelandia square in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 5, 2026. [AFP] From Nairobi, the United States’ invasion of Venezuela does not feel unprecedented. What is alarming is not the use of force itself, but the abandonment of restraint, the open dismissal of law, legitimacy, and multilateral consent as necessary justifications for power. That shift should unsettle Africa profoundly, where the promise of the rule of law has been repeatedly crushed by raw force, often with the quiet approval of external powers. Historically, American power operated in two ways: Overtly…
Youths during Gen-Z anniversary protest in Kitengela, on June 25, 2025. [Jenipher Wachie, Standard] The Gen Z-led protests that have surged across Kenya-including in the Saba Saba demonstrations on July 7, 2025—represent a seismic civic awakening. Young Kenyans have confronted the political establishment with an uncompromising call for accountability—on corruption, police brutality, and poor governance. Yet, disturbingly, senior government officials have responded not with introspection, but with an old and dangerous tactic: ethnicisation. No longer just government-aligned voices—now those at the very apex of state power are suggesting that the protests are regionally or ethnically driven, rather than reflecting the…