The conservatory orders granted by the High Court preventing the assent into law of the Constitution of Kenya (amendment) Bill brings to serious doubt the eventual passage of this controversial constitutional amendment. Intended principally to constitutionalise the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), it had added two sweeteners, the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) targeting County Women Representatives at the National Assembly and the Senate Oversight Fund, to win support from Senators. It is a mark of the testy relationship between the National Assembly and the Senate that the Bill, which had received unanimous support at the National…
Author: By Kamotho Waiganjo
Caption One of the most significant developments in governmental process has been the recent directive to shift from manual to electronic procurement. In April, Treasury CS John Mbadi launched the electronic public procurement system. Through several circulars, the latest by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), all public procurement entities were mandated to undertake their procurements through the electronic government procurement system (e-GPS). The PPRA circular in August went as far as providing that any procurement undertaken outside the e-GPS would not only be an offence but would be surcharged on the procurement officer concerned. Let me start by recording…
Member of the panel of experts on compensation of victims of protests led by Prof Makau Mutua were sworn in at KICC on September 4,2025. [Benard Orwongo, Standard] With the swearing in of the Makau Mutua-led taskforce on victims’ compensation, the difficult task of determining the parameters of compensation, defining the victims and fixing the quantum of compensation starts. Theirs is a hard task, not made easier by an environment of skepticism on anything with a government tag. It must have been agonising for LSK President Faith Odhiambo and human rights defenders like Amnesty International’s Irungu Houghton to reject a…
Kenya’s 2010 Constitution marked its 15th birthday this week, complete with a presidential proclamation that recognised the 27th of August as Katiba Day. It is easy to pour scorn on the declaration, especially as it does not deliver a holiday, but focusing on the Constitution for one special day is critical for reminding us what the Katiba means. In 2010, when the Constitution was promulgated, there was hope in the air. By 2013 when we held the first elections under the new law and established the devolved system, Kenyans had great expectations that their lives would finally have meaning. Fifteen years…
President William Ruto joins thousands of Kenyans at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, for Harambee Stars’ match in the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) against Zambia.[PSCU] It was George W Bush who, in a moment of terrorism induced fury, defined interstate relations in binary terms; you were either for America or against it. This binary approach, which defines most of public discourse, may be politically correct, but totally unrealistic in the convoluted world of public administration and politics. Nowhere has this been more obvious than some of recent goings on. On August 7, the President announced formation of a task force to…
Kigali and its environs are exceptionally clean and well maintained. [Courtesy] I have read numerous books and listened to several documentaries on the Rwanda genocide. I have visited the Kigali genocide memorial a couple of times. But the depravity of the human being hits one afresh when you visit the Nyamata Genocide Memorial, about an hour’s drive from Kigali. Before I talk about Nyamata a few truths about the new Rwanda. Kigali and its environs are exceptionally clean and well-maintained. Speed limits are effective, monitored through a network of cameras that alert you as soon as you exceed the…
Celebrations over the progressive decision by the High Court in the Road Maintenance Levy Fund case were brought to a crashing halt by the Court of Appeal last week. Though what was issued was an interim order, staying the decision of the High Court for one year, the court’s decision raises concerns for those desiring a more empowered devolved system. Since 2013 when devolution commenced, the National government has used all possible weapons to claw back towards a more centralised system of allocating and managing resources. It is reflected firstly in the continual reduction of equitable revenue allocated to county…
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Erastus Edung Ethekon, together with IEBC Commissioners, during a media briefing at PrideInn Paradise – Shanzu in Mombasa County on July 19, 2025, where he gave an update on the Commission’s priority areas. [Robert Menza/Standard] I am an avid supporter of Article 104 right, which enables citizens to recall their Member of Parliament. It is the unabridged version of exercising sovereignty provided in Article 1 of our Constitution. Indeed, I prefer that process to the Kangaroo route by which directly elected representatives are impeached by a handful of representatives completely devoid of any views from…
Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor. [File, Standard] One of the most consequential and progressive decisions by the Supreme Court in relation to the criminal justice sector is what is famously known as the Muruatetu case. In this case decided in 2017, involving Francis Karioko Muruatetu V the Republic, the court considered at length the constitutionality of mandatory sentences. These are situations where the law provides that once one is found guilty of a specific offence, the court has to impose a specified sentence. The most famous of these offences in robbery with violence under Section 296 of the penal code. The mandatory…
An anti-riot police vehicle drives past the aftermath of protests in Kitengela during during Saba Saba protest in Kitengela on July 7th 2025. [Collins Oduor, Standard] It has been five days since July 7, the 35th anniversary of Saba Saba Day. I have since had the opportunity to reflect on the lessons from that day, and I pray that the lessons will be of value as we jointly seek to build a greater nation. The first lesson is that we must never stop commemorating the critical junctures that have defined the Kenya we know, however uncomfortable those commemorations may be. Were it not…
A protester reacts in front of burning cars as clashes erupt between demonstrators and police during a protest over the death of Kenyan blogger Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody, as the government presents the 2025-2026 budget statement in downtown Nairobi on June 12, 2025. [AFP] Every so often an event stirs the conscience of a country differently from similar occurrences. This week’s death of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang is such an occurrence. As some politicians have argued, with shocking insensitiveness, he is not the first to die in police custody. Yet in previous occasions, there was not the level of fury…
Former DP Rigathi Gachagua during the Mwai Kibaki 2nd Memorial Luncheon at Nairobi Serena Hotel. April 11, 2025. [David Gichuru, Standard] The last few days have been quite momentous for former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. This was the week he launched his DCP party, a fairly routine affair. The previous Thursday, the Court of Appeal had thrown him a bone in his impeachment case. The court found that the empanelment of the bench that allowed the nomination, appointment and swearing in of Professor Kithure Kindiki had been unlawful and unprocedural. That set a flurry of activities with pundits, in the usual Kenyan style,…
Habemus Papam. Robert Francis Prevost, who chose the name Leo XIV, is the first American to be appointed to this high office. Which is surprising at a time America is not the world’s favourite country! We wish him well. Closer home, we have an IEBC chair and another surprise; it is Erastus Edung Ethekon, an affable, well-read and fairly accomplished lawyer from Turkana County. Relative to Charles Nyachae and Anne Amadi, the names that occupied public discourse, he is largely unknown. But whether you know or don’t know Ethekon, you only need to travel to Turkana and you will leave…
Pope Francis kisses a baby as he arrives at the “Artemio Franchi” municipal stadium to celebrate a mass. November 10, 2015 in Florence. [AFP] While I am not a Catholic, I have found myself mourning the death of the “People’s Pontiff”, who was buried last week, not in the prestigious St Peters Basilica where most Popes are buried, but outside the Vatican, at the Papal Basilica of St Mary Major, which last witnessed a Papal internment in the 17th century. Born Jose Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, Pope Francis was a man of many gifts but also controversial in many respects. While…
Machakos Cathedral faithfuls along Machakos – Kangundo road during Good Friday/Easter in Machakos on April 18, 2025. [John Muia, Standard] It is Easter, the season when those who believe in the biblical Jesus reflect on his suffering, death, and triumphant resurrection. The “reason for the season” is clear to those who believe: it is the power of forgiveness, the power of a man who paid a debt He did not owe, so that He could rescue those who owed a debt they could not pay. My reflections this Easter weekend however are not so much on the man Jesus but…
Machakos Cathedral faithful along Machakos – Kangundo road during Good Friday/Easter in Machakos on April 18, 2025. [John Muia] Standard It is Easter, the season when those who believe in the biblical Jesus reflect on his suffering, death, and triumphant resurrection. The “reason for the season” is clear to those who believe, it is the power of forgiveness, the power of a man who paid a debt He did not owe, so that He could rescue those who owed a debt they could not pay. My reflections this Easter weekend however are not so much on the man Jesus but on…
Tharaka Nithi Governor,Muthomi Njuki,Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga and Kirinyaga Governor Ann Waiguru during a media briefing in Nairobi on 21st March 2025. [David Gichuru, Standard] In 2012, prior to the first elections under the new Constitution, I had the privilege, then as a public servant, to visit a significant number of counties to undertake public education on the Constitution and impending elections. In all the places we went, including far-flung places like Kehancha, Taveta and Moyale, whose access at that time was through treacherous untarmacked roads, there was one common denominator, an overwhelming excitement for devolution. Kenyans understood that devolution…
President William Ruto addresses residents after inspection of the Mau Mau Road Lot 1A and Lot 1B in Lari, Kiambu County, on April 5, 2025. [PCS] Kenyan politics is such transient business that writing on it is best avoided. I have been in this land long enough, watched the rough and tumble of politics, that I now live by the Mandago principle, keep politics in the lungs. But this week’s visit to Mt Kenya by President Ruto is one of those political events where silence can end up being too loud. Prior to the visit, most pundits, including many who…