Uganda opposition leader and National Unity Platform (NUP) Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine. [AFP] In 1711, in England, there emerged a mob made up of youthful White men of high social status whose behavioural repertoire ranged from dusktime binge drinking to roughing up womenfolk and older, mostly male guards with impunity. Styling themselves The Mohocks, the group’s members derived their misguided sense of entitlement to social incivility, and criminal behaviour, from the equally misguided self-flattery that they could easily, and always, get away with the misexercise of wealth-given power. Many centuries later, the Mohocks-ilk self-flattery and moral…
Author: By Mulang'o Baraza
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni addressing the media after casting his vote at a polling station during the presidential elections in Kirihura in western Uganda, February 18, 2016. [Boniface Okendo, Standard] History just repeated itself in the presidential elections of January 15, 2026, in Uganda. Everything from a build-up dominated by the arrest and harassment of opposition figures and, sometimes, rights defenders to a polling-and-tallying process cloaked in the murk of an internet blackout lived up to expectations. And the incumbent, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, 81, of the National Resistance Movement party in power since 1986, and gunning for a controversial, ‘peculiarly…
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni addressing the media after casting his vote at a polling station during the presidential elections in Kirihura in western Uganda, February 18, 2016. [Boniface Okendo, Standard] History just repeated itself in the presidential elections of January 15, 2026, in Uganda. Everything from a build-up dominated by the arrest and harassment of opposition figures and, sometimes, rights defenders to a polling-and-tallying process cloaked in the murk of an internet blackout lived up to expectations. And the incumbent, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, 81, of the National Resistance Movement party in power since 1986, and gunning for a controversial, ‘peculiarly…
A demonstrator holds a banner during a march in Caracas on January 13, 2026, to demand the release of deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. [AFP] If the Russian and Israeli invasions of—and military actions in—Ukraine and Gaza, respectively, partly accounted for the not-so-good quotient of global peace in the last five years, the military-led seizure and rendition by the United States of Nicolás Maduro, bus driver-turned-politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, together with his wife and son a few days ago left no doubt as to the newest, nuclear-potent threat to both global sovereignty…
A demonstrator holds a banner during a march in Caracas on January 13, 2026, to demand the release of deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. [AFP] If the Russian and Israeli invasions of—and military actions in—Ukraine and Gaza, respectively, partly accounted for the not-so-good quotient of global peace in the last five years, the military-led seizure and rendition by the United States of Nicolás Maduro, bus driver-turned-politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, together with his wife and son a few days ago left no doubt as to the newest, nuclear-potent threat to both global sovereignty…
Butere Girls perform a play written by Cleophas Malalah during the Western Region edition of the annual Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival last week. [File, Courtesy] On Friday, March 21, 2025, at the Goethe-Institut Nairobi, a team of thespians led the audience in a public reading of Parliament of Owls, a play by my friend Adipo Sidang’. Exactly a week later, in the company of Sidang’ and rapper Juliani at the University of Nairobi’s Taifa Hall, I sat through a two-hour lecture titled We Are Not Mentally Ill: Deconstructing the Mad Genius Trope in Literature, by former serviceman, literature and law…
Butere Girls perform a play written by Cleophas Malalah during the Western Region edition of the annual Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival last week. [File, Courtesy] On Friday, March 21, 2025, at the Goethe-Institut Nairobi, a team of thespians led the audience in a public reading of Parliament of Owls, a play by my friend Adipo Sidang’. Exactly a week later, in the company of Sidang’ and rapper Juliani at the University of Nairobi’s Taifa Hall, I sat through a two-hour lecture titled We Are Not Mentally Ill: Deconstructing the Mad Genius Trope in Literature, by former serviceman, literature and law…
On Friday, June 20, 2025, we gathered at the University of Nairobi’s main campus where, at the iconic Taifa Hall, the family of the late writer and scholar Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the university’s Literature Department under Professor Miriam Musonye, and East African Educational Publishers co-organised a day-long celebration of the life and work of the man of letters, who had died in the United States in late May aged 87. .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)); } .paywall-container { position: relative;…
On Friday, June 20, 2025, we gathered at the University of Nairobi’s main campus where, at the iconic Taifa Hall, the family of the late writer and scholar Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the university’s Literature Department under Professor Miriam Musonye, and East African Educational Publishers co-organised a day-long celebration of the life and work of the man of letters, who had died in the United States in late May aged 87. Bold Reporting Takes Time, Courage and Investment. Stand With Us. Support Bold Journalism Unlimited access to all premium content Uninterrupted ad-free browsing experience Mobile-optimized reading experience Weekly Newsletters MPesa, Airtel…
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan takes the oath of office during her inauguration in Dodoma, on November 3, 2025. [Courtesy] Paul Biya, 92, president of Cameroon since 1982, recently secured a controversial eighth term in office. Already the world’s oldest ruler, Biya will be 100 by the end of this new term. In Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, 83, who has been in power since 2010, is also pushing to extend his rule with a contentious fourth term. In East Africa, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan—who, as vice-president, succeeded John Magufuli after his death in 2021—was recently sworn in for a…
Displaced Palestinians move with their belongings southwards on a road in the Nuseirat refugee camp area in the central Gaza Strip on September 23, 2025. [AFP] The Israeli government, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recently embarked on a controversial plan for the military takeover—and indefinite, full control—of the Palestinian territory of Gaza, administered by the militant group, Hamas, since 2007. What began as retaliation shortly after Hamas operatives attacked Israel on October 7, 2023—killing an estimated 1,400 people—soon spawned what could possibly be the worst humanitarian crisis of this decade. Gaza has, at some point, been described as the world’s…
US President Donald Trump during an event with Apple CEO Tim Cook in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 6, 2025. [AFP] On August 6 and 9, 1945, at the height of World War II, the United States dropped nuclear atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively—two Japanese cities—killing between 150,000 and 246,000 people, and devastating lives beyond wartime confrontation. The event marked the end of World War II (1939-1945), with the Japanese government’s signing of an instrument of surrender on September 2, 1945. Yet the world seems to not have learnt any lessons…
ODM leader Raila Odinga during a past event. [File, Standard] In the clearest indication of his political allegiance yet, former Prime Minister and Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga has made a promise to William Ruto and his allies in the Kenya Kwanza regime that leaves no doubt as to what he has in store for the country: Until 2027, it’s business-as-usual. He is—and will be—in government to make Dr Ruto and himself comfortable, and those calling for accountability in street protests should join the statues of Dedan Kimathi and Tom Mboya in silence as Kenya will be busy dialoguing…
Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o. [Courtesy] Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Kenya’s most famous man of letters, is dead. In the coming days, weeks, months and even years, literary discourse in Kenya and around the world will be dominated by the question of how much he contributed to art and impacted the collective lot of humankind. That he was a hero of artistic activism is an understatement. He won numerous awards and was at the forefront of our country’s artistic representation globally. He co-sponsored the de-Anglicisation of the Literature Department at University of Nairobi, and sought to point us in the direction of…
Moi University is facing a financial crisis that is threatening service delivery. [File, Standard] One major difference between the Greek and Roman empires was the fact that, while the latter was reputed for prizing chivalry, valour and the expansionist flaunting of military might, the former sought to be a global scholarship hub. Ancient Greek mythology still inspires contemporary moral didactics. And it’s not uncommon for teachers, college professors, artists and even leaders today to quote excerpts from the texts, speeches and debates of Greece’s imperial era. However, the Greeks’ domination of global scholarship wouldn’t have been possible—and strung out—had it…
A woman with a professional video camera and headphone. (Courtesy/iStock) On the night of April 23, 2025, I joined Innocent Onyango Adenyo, a friend and fellow playwright, at the Goethe Institut, Nairobi, for the screening of the documentary film ‘The Empty Grave’ (2024), co-directed by Cece Mlay, one of Tanzania’s fastest-rising filmmakers. The film is about two communities’ quest for the repatriation of their leaders’ remains—taken custody of by the colonisers at the height of the Maji Maji Rebellion against the German colonial rule in Tanzania between 1905 and 1907—from German museums. Set partly in Songea and Meru, in the…