Latest opinions stories from across Kenya.
For 15 years, Kalonzo Musyoka’s political bargain at the national table was simple: deliver Ukambani as a bloc, and demand a top seat in return. That bargain helped deliver him the Vice Presidency, two runs as Raila Odinga’s running mate,…
This week I moderate a panel at the National Credit Market Convention in Naivasha. The topic is AI in credit scoring. The room will hold banks, SACCOs, digital lenders, a rating agency and a credit bureau. Here is the fact the room has to…
Data is supposed to settle arguments. It tells us what is happening, how serious a problem is, who is affected and, importantly, what governments should do about it. But what happens when data itself becomes part of the problem? One of the…
Lwala Kadawa Comprehensive School in Kisumu County came alive today with laughter, learning and renewed hope, as the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya, Mama Rachel Ruto, joined the Principal Secretary for the State Department for…
Africa is now home to more than 1.5 billion people, and by 2050, one in every four people in the world is projected to be African, according to the United Nations (UN). This demographic transformation presents both a pressing challenge and…
The continuing flight of Burundian citizens from their country, and their transformation, in the towns and cities of various Eas African countries into hawkers, day labourers, and long-term refugees is not a natural or voluntary migration…
Dengue, malaria, cholera, tuberculosis, hypertension and diabetes present different health challenges, but they share one important reality: their impact can be reduced through prevention, early detection and timely action. These diseases…
For almost two decades, Ukambani has largely followed one political formula: remain loyal to one political leader, stay in opposition, and hope that loyalty will eventually be rewarded with development. But after years of following that…
At the National Land Commission Research Conference, I delivered a simple message: Kenya’s land is finite, but our capacity to understand it, innovate around it and use it more productively is not. As Kenya takes the trajectory beyond…
Scientists and the Kenya Meteorological Department have issued an urgent forecast that the El Nino phenomenon is set to return between September, 2026 and January, 2027. Coming off the back of early 2026 rains that tragically claimed over…
I recall a time when the face of tobacco addiction in Kenya was unmistakable. It belonged to an adult, often a man, with a cigarette dangling from weathered fingers. The harm was visible, the villain well-known. Today, the face of…
At Mawego Technical Training Institute in Homa Bay County, the question posed on a quiet Wednesday morning cut straight to the heart of the matter: what does it actually take to keep a child safe? The First Lady Rachel Ruto, First Lady of…
In July 2024, 2,226 farmers in Kenya’s Embu and Tharaka Nithi regions were paid for trees they had planted and kept alive. The money arrived by mobile phone and came to Ksh12,237,467 (USD$94,135). Divided among them, that is about KES…
Let’s be honest. We’ve all seen them: the billboards that seem to follow you home, the social media posts that make a Friday night cocktail look like the only route to happiness, and the influencer reels where a “refreshing” drink is…
The world of work is changing at a pace that is forcing both young people and employers to rethink what it means to be ready for a career. Across East Africa, artificial intelligence, automation and wider digital transformation are…
I have been following Kenya’s healthcare journey for years, and I must say, the challenges we face today are not just statistics on a page they are stories of mothers losing children to preventable diseases, of families bankrupted by…
On August 15, India celebrated its 80th Independence Day, marking eight decades since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. The anniversary is significant beyond national remembrance. It invites reflection on how a vast, diverse…
There is a particular kind of panic that comes from standing in the shower, soap slipping between your fingers, gripping tighter and tighter as it becomes more determined to escape. The harder you squeeze, the faster it shoots out of your…
There’s an old myth from my beloved Dad who is currently in 70’s that ageing means slowing down, giving up, and quietly fading into the background. Somebody forgot to tell that to the generation of 50-to-90-year-olds rewriting the rulebook…
Kenya’s digital economy is entering a new phase, one that moves beyond connectivity and innovation into the commercialisation of digital creativity. The recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) witnessed by Cabinet Secretary for…
Burnout has quietly become one of the biggest threats to workplace productivity. It is showing up in boardrooms, hospitals, classrooms and small businesses alike. Yet for too long, mental health was treated as a private struggle rather…
Africa is routinely described as the world’s richest continent a treasury of gold, cobalt, oil, and arable land waiting to be unlocked. It is a comforting narrative, but an incomplete one. The greatest form of dependence a people can…
There is a particular kind of anxiety that grips a farming household when the rains delay. It shows in the way a mother recalculates the maize in the store, in the way a father walks his field at dusk searching the sky for clouds that…
On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, Kenya has an opportunity to reinforce prevention, improve protection for survivors, and ensure that those responsible for trafficking are held accountable. Sex trafficking is the recruitment,…
