ODM leader Raila Odinga and Prof Makau Mutua. [File, Standard] The Oxford Advanced Dictionary describes a turncoat as “a person who deserts one party or cause in order to join an opposing one”. In plain language, a turncoat is, in fact, a traitor. Simple. Let’s zero in on two notoriously shameless turncoats. Days ago, at the KICC, Judiciary Chief Registrar Winfridah Mokaya made some 18 men and women solemnly swear to work very hard at compensating victims of State-enabled lawlessness and murder. The team’s lead expert was Makau Mutua, SUNY Distinguished Professor at Buffalo School Law in America. /* Container styling…
Author: By Kutete Matimbai
Family members of the late hawker Boniface Kariuki, who was shot by police during protests in Nairobi, demand justice during a media briefing in Nairobi, on June 21, 2025. [David Gichuru, Standard] The President of the Republic of Kenya is one serious individual. A man full of compassion, unparalleled generosity, of utmost good faith and oozing in patriotism. Recently, he acknowledged that since 2017, Kenyans have suffered greatly while others have died needlessly during public protests at the hands of police. Their only offence? Being alive and in Kenya at that time. I guess after sleepless nights and soul-searching, the President…
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga during a past ODM event. [File, Standard] When celebrated Indian author Bhabani Bhattacharya wrote his book, ‘So Many Hungers!’ in 1947, he had no inkling that the Great Famine of Bengal would be a figurative mirror of so many hungers in a political outfit in Kenya some 78 years later. The style, delivery and lessons in this book are profound. Every Kenyan with a sense of patriotism should see the parallels between the India of 78 years ago and Kenya today. So Many Hungers! is written against the background of the 1942-1943 man-made famine in…
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga during a past ODM event. [File, Standard] When celebrated Indian author Bhabani Bhattacharya wrote his book, ‘So Many Hungers!’ in 1947, he had no inkling that the Great Famine of Bengal would be a figurative mirror of so many hungers in a political outfit in Kenya some 78 years later. The style, delivery and lessons in this book are profound. Every Kenyan with a sense of patriotism should see the parallels between the India of 78 years ago and Kenya today. So Many Hungers! is written against the background of the 1942-1943 man-made famine in…
Former Chief Justice David Maraga addresses mourners during the requiem mass of the late Dr Phoebe Asiyo at Maxwell Adventist Church in Nairobi, on August 6, 2025. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard] I sat in former Chief Justice David Maraga’s meeting a couple of weeks ago. Well, the man is nobody’s orator. He’s not charismatic. You can say he is rather plain. Even uninspiring. Too ordinary, you could say. A simple Omogusi man. His message is equally uncomplicated. But he’s a guy on a mission. One would say a mission too big for him, much less so anyone else: To Reset. To…
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…
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…