Muslims perform the Eid al-Adha morning prayer around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca, on the first day of the holiday marking the end of the hajj pilgrimage, on June 16, 2024. [AFP] Officialdom in Kenya has been celebrating planned relocation of three United Nation (UN) organisations – UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women – to Nairobi by 2026. This will have Nairobi join New York, Geneva and Vienna as the only cities hosting multiple UN agencies. However, few people have paused to consider whether Nairobi will truly aspire to be a…
Author: By Ken Opalo
Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning John Mbadi before The Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations to deliberate on the commercial bank accounts operated by county governments contrary to the law at Bunge Towers, Parliament, Nairobi. July 17th,2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] If we cannot figure out how to give all Kenyan children a quality education, we should perhaps consider winding up as a going concern. This week Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi announced that the government can no longer afford to fund free primary education. The announcement came with the usual casual approach of an administration whose officials habitually…
Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji appears at the Kahawa law courts. [wilberforce Okwiri,Standard] It is true that during recent protests, there were individuals whose primary motivation was to break the law. Most of them were credibly rumoured to have been sponsored by politicians. Others were “privateers” out to dabble in criminality. It is also true that the government must prosecute those who break the law. However, such action must be viewed to be fair and proportionate. Unfortunately, the government has so far shown a willingness to prosecute the “privateers” but not the sponsored goons. Furthermore, in many cases, the government has abandoned proportionality. Many…
One of the tragedies of our current political situation is that it is a major distraction from the urgent need to improve the material conditions of Kenyans. All indicators show that we have stagnated as a society. For example, after substantial improvements since around 2000, the trend in life expectancy has essentially remained flat over the last decade. As a result, life expectancy in a peer country like Tanzania is now almost 5 years longer than in Kenya (62 vs 66.8). Real incomes (that is, earnings controlling for inflation) are lower today than in 2005. In 1981, the average Kenyan…
Protestors along Waiyaki Way during Justice For Albert Ojwang Protests on June 17, 2025. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard] What does it take to build a coherent nation? As we near the first anniversary of the June 25, 2024 protests, it is worth reflecting on this question. In the aftermath of the protests, there was a brief window in which it seemed like we would turn the corner as a country. President William Ruto and his administration looked shaken and surprised by the general public anger. Politicians quaked in their boots. The public was unwilling to entertain empty promises and poor performance that had…
Cars burn in Nairobi CBD on June 12, 2025 as protestors engage police in a running battle while demonstrating over the killing of Albert Ojwang’. [Boniface Okendo The murder of Albert Ojwang’ in police custody is a reminder of the many things wrong with Kenya’s ruling elites. There is basic lack of humanity. Who tortures a young father to death, and then proceeds to cook up half-baked lies about the act? /* Container styling */ .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));…
Cars burn in Nairobi CBD on June 12, 2025 as protestors engage police in a running battle while demonstrating over the killing of Albert Ojwang’. [Boniface Okendo The murder of Albert Ojwang’ in police custody is a reminder of the many things wrong with Kenya’s ruling elites. There is basic lack of humanity. Who tortures a young father to death, and then proceeds to cook up half-baked lies about the act? /* Container styling */ .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));…
President William Ruto addresses residents on the second day of his tour of Narok County, May 7, 2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard] Kenya has about 105,000 police officers against an adult population of 34 million. That translates to about one police officer per 324 people. Kenya also has a history of very patchy state capacity. Our coercive capacity is very limited – we surveil a lot less than most strong states do, for instance. The government often has to resort to insane levels of violence just to prove that it can (which is itself evidence of the state’s weakness). Our infrastructural capacity is…
University students from left to right Masten Ogweno (Kenyatta University),Zadock Okoth Nyakwaka (UON),Michael Odungo (University of Eldoret and Adrian Oluoch (Chuka University)address the press outside University of Nairobi towers on Sunday,November 10,2024 on the ongoing public university lecturers. [Collins Kweyu,Standrad] It certainly does not feel like the most pressing issue in the country, but the entrenched culture of mediocrity in the management of our public university is a national catastrophe. From the basics of personnel management (you should follow set procedures in hiring people), to more serious undertakings (universities need resources for research and faculty, among other things), we are…
University of Nairobi (UoN) Towers. [File, Standard] It certainly does not feel like the most pressing issue in the country, but the entrenched culture of mediocrity in the management of our public university is a national catastrophe. From the basics of personnel management (you should follow set procedures in hiring people), to more serious undertakings (universities need resources for research and faculty, among other things), we are simply winging it. We have reduced our universities to outfits that issue fake degrees to the connected, while churning out graduates lacking in proper training and socialization. The decline of our universities is reflected…
Kenya national bureau of statistics outgoing chairman Stephen Wainaina(Left)hand over report to the incoming chairman Dr.Daniel Amanja(Right)on 18th March 2025 at Real Towers in Nairobi. [Edward Kiplimo,Standard] The latest economic survey released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has some sobering figures. In 2024 economic growth declined from 5.7 per cent in 2023 to 4.7 percent last year. The one percentage point decline is often associated with election years, perhaps a reflection of the heightened political tension in the country. Indeed, if you did not know our electoral calendar you would assume that the President spends all his time atop cars at rallies because…
President William Ruto addressing residents after the launch of the Sogoo-Melelo-Ololung’a Road in Narok County, May 7, 2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard] The latest economic survey released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has some sobering figures. In 2024, economic growth declined from 5.7 per cent in 2023 to 4.7 per cent last year. The one percentage point decline is often associated with election years, perhaps a reflection of the heightened political tension in the country. Indeed, if you did not know our electoral calendar you would assume that the President spends all his time atop cars at rallies because we are in…
Governor James Orengo during a prayer ceremony at Power of Jesus around the world church in Kisumu on 11 February 2025. [Michael Mute, Standard] Governor James Orengo of Siaya is right to criticise those he calls unthinking praise-singers of President William Ruto’s government. Our politics would be far better if more leaders had a sense of self-respect and were not so prone to herd mentality. In recent months, we’ve seen numerous politicians display what former President Mwai Kibaki once described as becoming “suddenly very clever”, but only after the fact. For instance, the former deputy president now poses as a champion of…
Butere girls students joined by other students in protest in solidarity at Melvin Jones in Nakuru during the 63rd edition of the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival on April 10,2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard] It is deeply ironic that at a time when Kenyans are contracting and dying of cholera, the government found itself embroiled in a controversy regarding the cancellation of a mostly benign school play. There is reason to believe that the play was cancelled solely because of the identity of the playwright, former Senator Cleophas Malala – a former official of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) who…
Tents erected at Homa Bay County Referral Hospital to handle cholera patients on January 9, 2023. [File, Standard] Reports of multiple cases of cholera across the country are troubling. Several people have died. Yet the government does not seem capable of rising to the occasion on the matter. It has become widely accepted that the beginning of the rainy season brings with it cholera – as if we are living in an 18th century time capsule. It should be a source of national shame that, in this day and age, our people still contract and die of cholera. Here, we…