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…
Author: By Mulang'o Baraza
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…