President William Ruto’s aide, Farouk Kibet and leaders allied to Kenya Kwanza during funds drive in aid of women groups at Chebos Primary School grounds in Malava, on May 30, 2025. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard] Someone high down here – not up there, is taking me for an irredeemable fool. Because you can’t be high up there and treat fellow countrymen like garbage. Like thoughtless cows. Like riff-raff. History records that at independence in 1963, the balance in the National Treasury was modest. Jomo Kenyatta aptly explained this to the nation thus: “But you must know that Kenyatta alone cannot give…
Author: By Kutete Matimbai
President William Ruto’s aide, Farouk Kibet and leaders allied to Kenya Kwanza during funds drive in aid of women groups at Chebos Primary School grounds in Malava, on May 30, 2025. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard] Someone high down here – not up there, is taking me for an irredeemable fool. Because you can’t be high up there and treat fellow countrymen like garbage. Like thoughtless cows. Like riff-raff. History records that at independence in 1963, the balance in the National Treasury was modest. Jomo Kenyatta aptly explained this to the nation thus: “But you must know that Kenyatta alone cannot give…
Protesters carry caskets along Kisii Kisumu highway while chanting the Wantam slogan during Saba Saba protests. [Sammy Omingo, Standard] Today, every Kenyan knows about Saba Saba, whether they like it or not. But unbeknownst to most Kenyans, the cause of Saba Saba can be traced to one quiet afternoon at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi. The year was 1982. The month was June. The date was the ninth. The Kanu Governing Council had on May 26, 1982, met and given strict instructions to the then Attorney-General (AG) to draft a Bill to amend the country’s constitution to make Kenya a “de…
Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen. Methinks Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen is a clever student of history and a smarter lawyer. Comparative jurisprudence must be his forte. How else would anyone explain Mr Murkomen’s recent strange public and highly publicised address to senior officers of the National Police Service (NPS) and Kenyans in general? The Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) loudly, eloquently, coherently, with a straight face and without shame, ordered police to shoot anyone who dared approach a police station. I immediately confirmed that the CS is indeed a clever student of history, but twisted. What Murkomen did that day was to “read…
ODM leader Raila Odinga. [File, Standard] I think Raila Amollo Odinga could be the most misunderstood person in Kenya. We have judged him using the wrong scales. More like beating up a left-handed child to use “the normal right hand”. We erroneously pigeon-holed Raila Odinga in the reformists corner, kept him there and put a lid on it. We believed that that’s where he belonged. The “normal” place for him. The place he “obviously” belonged. Once he was there, we refused to see that he was actually in the wrong place. That Raila was naturally left-handed and we were forcing…