Jaramogi, Raila and the parallel centres of power

A tussle in interpreting the giant coalition between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga marks another chapter in a 44 year old dispute between the Odinga dynasty and Kenya’s post-colonial ruling class.

Raila Odinga
Following independence from Britain in 1964, Raila’s father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga parted ways with President Jomo Kenyatta due to [...]

A developing police state?

Men sprayed with machine gun fire. Police with sub-machine guns patrolling the streets on horseback. Checkpoints on every major highway. Armed escort for inter-city buses.
These are characteristics of a country either under occupation or a state of emergency. It could also imply a fearsome dictatorship. But these are the characteristics of today’s Kenya. But inspite [...]

Prison warders mutiny sign of trouble

The mutiny by Kenya’s prison warders entered its 5th day today, epitomizing a nation lurching from one crisis to another.
Though less confrontational than they had been last week, Kenya’s prison guards harbor deep bitterness against the state over numerous failed promises in the provision of adequate housing, payment of allowances and generally better terms of [...]

Kenya Prison warders on strike

Prison warders threatened to release inmates today in a second day of strikes demanding risk allowances from the government.
The prison warders strike which began on Thursday in a few prisons now appears to have spread countrywide. In addition to the payment of risk allowances, prison warders are demanding the resignation of Prisons Commissioner Gilbert Omondi [...]

Goldenberg ghost haunting Kenya Government

18 years after it began, the Goldenberg scandal continues to torment Kenya’s government as its web of deceit ensures that more leaders fall prey to the stench of easy money.

Kamlesh Pattni addressing the press.
Earlier this month, the man seen as the face of Goldenberg – Mr Kamlesh Pattni – gave up the five-star Grand Regency [...]

Raila, Kibaki defy Kalenjin politicians

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga began today a series of tours in the Rift Valley aimed at reconciling warring communities after violence in January left thousands dead.
Kibaki and Raila made the trip in with Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka inspite of protests by Kalenjin politicians that their people were not ready to welcome [...]

Kenya’s security intelligence in media blitz

Faced with criticism on its role in the post-elections violence and the resurgent Mungiki, Kenya’s intelligence networks are on a PR campaign to shore up public confidence.
The National Security Intelligence Services (NSIS), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the Provincial Administration and the country’s military intelligence have recently come under strong criticism for failing to predict [...]

Conflict in giant cabinet over refugees

Cracks emerged in Kenya’s giant cabinet yesterday as politicians wrangled over the prospects of return for hundreds of thousands of Kenyans displaced by electoral violence.
Members of Parliament from the Rift Valley elected on the ODM party of Prime Minister Raila Odinga rejected calls for a speedy return of displaced persons to their homes. The Prime [...]

Power cuts add to Kenya’s woes

Erratic power supplies in Kenya will curtail economic growth, battering a population struggling through a political crisis and rising inflation fueled by high oil prices.
Power cuts are becoming a daily routine in Nairobi and the rest of the country. Businesses are incurring losses due to many hours of lost productivity. Those opting to supplement power [...]

Trees down the drain

A tree sprouts out of a long-neglected drainage channel along a major highway in Nairobi. Blockage of most drainage channels in the Kenyan capital causes heavy flooding during the rainy seasons. It has also contributed to an upsurge of malaria in the city as mosquitos breed in pools of stagnant water. An increase of rats [...]