The Judiciary is imperfect, but imperfection does not justify indiscriminate populist vilification. [File, Standard] “The life of the law has not been logic, it has been experience.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. The Kenyan judiciary occupies a paradoxical position. It is at once a pillar of democracy and a frequent target of public distrust. Like any institution, it bears undeniable societal flaws as corruption scandals, both perceived and real, inefficiencies, persistent backlogs of cases, and occasional decisions that raise questions about impartiality. These shortcomings are real, serious, and demand reform. A trend has emerged in recent years, the weaponisation of…
Author: By Ndong Evance
Companies should avoid mixing operational funds, shareholder contributions, and loans in a way that makes it difficult to trace their origins. [File, Standard] In Kenya, one of the most common disputes between businesses and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is whether money deposited into a company’s bank account should automatically be treated as taxable income. A recent ruling by the Tax Appeals Tribunal in the case of Kirin Pipes Limited versus KRA Commissioner Intelligence Strategic Operations Investigations and Enforcement offers valuable lessons for every business owner. The decision makes it clear that unless businesses can prove otherwise, KRA is entitled…
When Parliament attempts to step into the pulpit, democracy itself is imperilled. The Computer Misuse and Cybercrime (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is not about safeguarding Kenyans from extremism, it is a calculated attempt to muzzle the church, stifle conscience, and arrogate to the State the divine authority over faith. Cloaked in the rhetoric of “public order” and “safety,” this Bill is a Trojan horse, designed to dictate sermons and silence pastors. At its heart lies a dangerous phrase: “extreme religious and cultic practices.” It sounds noble, after all, who would want cults? But the term is vague, undefined, and weaponised. It…
Former President Mwai Kibaki signs the new constitution into law at a public function witnessed by the nation at Uhuru Park, Nairobi. [Courtesy/PPS] When Kenyans overwhelmingly endorsed the 2010 Constitution, one word carried the hopes of millions, it was devolution. For long neglected regions, it promised roads where dust once ruled, clinics where mothers had despaired, and schools closer to forgotten villages. In many respects, devolution has delivered. Health facilities have mushroomed in rural landscapes, bursaries have reached students who might never have stepped into class, and local leaders have gained platforms once monopolised by the elite. However, devolution has…
Matrimonial property disputes are now common before courts. [Courtesy] There is nothing more intoxicating than love. It blinds, it binds, and it drives men and women alike into solemn vows of eternal devotion. But when the glitter of romance fades and the harsh light of reality sets in, what is left is often litigation, bitter, protracted, and bruising. Matrimonial property disputes, those battles fought over villas, apartments, bank accounts and household chattels, are now the staple diet of our courts. Ironically, part of the solution has always been hidden in plain sight, a prenuptial agreement. A recent decision by Justice…
Supreme Court Judges during the hearing of the presidential election. [File, Standard] When Kenyans voted overwhelmingly for the current Constitution, they embraced more than just a new legal order. They ushered in a bold experiment in decentralised governance that placed the county governments at the heart of service delivery and citizen participation. The success of this experiment was never going to be automatic. It depended on the commitment of all arms of government to protect the delicate balance between the national and county spheres. Over the past 12 years, one institution has stood out in this duty; the Supreme Court…
Full disciplinary process is mandatory before termination of employment. [Courtesy] Have you ever paused to consider what happens when an employee confesses to theft or serious misconduct at work? Must the employer still summon a disciplinary panel, read charges aloud, and pretend to deliberate guilt that has already been accepted? The Employment and Labour Relations Court recently addressed this very issue, drawing a bold line on what fair hearing truly means in such circumstances. At the heart of the matter lies the doctrine of procedural fairness, long held as the cornerstone of employment discipline. Section 41 of the Employment Act…
IEBC Chairperson Erastus Edung Ethekon during swearing-in at the Supreme Court in Nairobi, on July 11, 2025. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard] In a recent communique, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) asserted that it cannot facilitate the recall of Members of Parliament (MPs) under Article 104 of the Constitution due to the lack of enabling legislation. Citing a 2017 High Court decision that nullified some sections of the Elections Act on grounds of discrimination, the IEBC pleads legislative paralysis as its excuse for inaction. This position, while technically accurate in a narrow statutory sense, is dangerously misleading and legally regressive…
In the rhythm of democracy, the pulse of right to protest beats loudest when the voices of the many challenge the might of the few. Yet, in Kenya, that rhythm is being stifled, not only through overt bans or censorship but also by the silent hand of the courts, particularly within the subordinate courts. In recent months, the criminal justice system has exposed its underbelly; a pattern where bail terms for arrested protesters and those charged with petty offences border on punitive excess, guised as judicial discretion. While the Constitution makes clear that bail is a right not a privilege,…
Gen-z youths in Kitengela protest to mark one year since their colleagues were killed as they protested Finance Bill 2024. [ Jenipher Wachie, Standard] The Public Order (Amendment) Bill 2025, proposed by Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, purports to refine the regulation of public demonstrations in Kenya. However, beneath its bureaucratic language lies a serious threat to the democratic freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, particularly Article 37, which guarantees every person the right to peaceably and unarmed, assemble, demonstrate, picket, and present petitions to public authorities. /* Container styling */ .fade-out-overlay { position: absolute; top: -80px; left: 0; width: 100%;…
Communications Authority of Kenya Director General David Mugonyi during the 7th East African Communications Organisation regional e-waste awareness conference on sustainable e-waste management in Africa, in Nairobi, on March 24, 2025. [Boniface Okendo, Standard] “To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all.” — Elie Wiesel. No, Mr David Mugonyi. No, Communications Authority (CA) of Kenya. This Constitution is not yours to bend. The recent directive by CA to suspend live media coverage of the Gen Z protests is an affront to Article 34 of the Constitution. It is a violation not just of media freedom but of…
Hundreds of Gen Z protesters march along Thika Superhighway to Nairobi CBD, on June 25, 2025. [Gitau Wanyoike, Standard] On Wednesday, across the breadth and width of Kenya, a new generation raised its voice. Not in violence, not in chaos, but in a disciplined assertion of their inalienable right to be heard. The streets became the true chambers of public opinion. They carried placards, chants, poetry, and tears. They carried truth. And what did the State do? It met them with water cannons, tear gas, and bullets. Police, yet again, acted not as a service but as a force. One…
Kenya has long lived in a path where the polity does whatever pleases them once ingrained in power, they act whimsically with reckless abandon because to them the law is only an instrument meant to govern a certain stratified class—the poor and the helpless. Fortunately, Kenyans enacted a Constitution that knows no class, age, race, tribe, rank or whatever stratification one may contemplate in the open list of Article 27. Part of that very necessary panacea to the dark past where politics had no hygiene is the constitutional fumigation the people desired on Chapter Six of the Constitution (Leadership and…
Protestors during Occupy Kisumu protest against finance bill 2024/25 that took part from Kondele Roundabout to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga sports ground in Kisumu City. [Michael Mute, Standard] Last year, Kenya was rocked by fierce protests over the Finance Bill 2024, culminating in the dramatic storming of Parliament on June 25, 2024, where several lives were lost. The President, responding to the overwhelming public outcry, sent a memorandum back to Parliament proposing the deletion of all clauses in the Finance Bill. But lost in the chaos and heated debate is a critical constitutional point—whether Kenya is legally bound to pass a…
EACC and police officers raid the home of Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya in Milimani, Kitale, on May 20, 2025. [Osinde Obare, Standard] “The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis, US Supreme Court When justice bows to politics, prosecution becomes persecution cloaked in the robes of law. In the theatre of justice, where truth should be sovereign and law the lone master, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has become a tragic actor, failing its constitutional script with unnerving frequency. To…
President William Ruto signing bills in to at State House, Nairobi. [PCS] The Head of Public Service vide a communique dated April 28, 2025, informed the general public that the President exercised his power of mercy provided for under Article 133 of the Constitution, also referred to as the pardon powers. Specifically, the President let off 31 prisoners serving life sentences on conditional release, one foreign national of the East African partner state, remission and release to 25 individuals allowing for their discharge upon the remission of the unexpired portion of their custodial sentences, all petty offenders sentenced to six…
Kenyan citizens protest against Finance Bill 2024 along Nairobi streets. [Jonah Onyango, Standard] “We, the people of Kenya—EXERCISING our sovereign and inalienable right to determine the form of governance of our country and having participated fully in the making of this Constitution…”— Preamble, Constitution of Kenya (2010) This powerful line, nestled at the heart of our Constitution, is not just an ornamental phrase echoing lofty ideals. It is a solemn declaration, a creed anchoring the people’s sovereignty as the fountainhead from which all State power flows. It is a reminder that the pulse of governance must throb in rhythm with…
Former Deputy President William Ruto (centre) flanked by the Environment CS Keriako Tobiko (left) Forest Management Task Force Chairperson Marion Wakinya Kamau (right) and the Task force members when Ruto launched the task force at his offices in Karen, Nairobi in 2018. [Elvis Ogina. Standard] In Kenya, there is a curious pattern that resurfaces each time the nation confronts a crisis—be it a scandal, a systemic failure, or a public outcry. It is the formation of task forces, commissions of inquiry, ad hoc panels, and other similar bureaucratic detours. This political reflex, now deeply entrenched in the nation’s administrative psyche.…
In the hallowed halls of justice, Justice Christine Baari of the Employment and Labour Relations Court recently penned a stern reminder—a tale drawn not from fantasy but from a real and sobering clash between duty and conduct. A case unfolded: Cooperative Bank versus a former Operations Manager, whose career ended not with thunder, but with whispers and gestures that crossed sacred boundaries. Dismissed in 2015, the manager sought shelter in court, claiming injustice. Yet, what the court unearthed was a deeper truth. Two unsettling moments had occurred: One, a touch to the neck and waist, a pat on the…
Young African American mother and teenage daughter using laptop and phone together. [Courtesy/GettyImages] In an age defined by digital footprints and instant sharing, schools have emerged as both centres of learning and nodes in a vast web of data collection and dissemination. Yet, even as they champion technological integration, many schools in Kenya remain oblivious—or willfully ignorant—of the law when it comes to the data privacy of their most vulnerable stakeholders: Children. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has made its stance unmistakably clear. In recent years, it fined a prominent school, Roma School in Nairobi, for the…