Bloated Kenyan Delegation at COP27 Reflected the Country’s Misplaced Priorities

In a previous incarnation, when I was a globe-trotting United Nations official, I was constantly amazed at how big the Kenyan delegation was at international conferences. At a conference on cities held in Beijing, for instance, I was shocked to see ministers and top officials from Kenya whose docket had absolutely nothing to do with […]

Kenya’s Explosive Mix of Corruption, Debt and Rising Expectations

When the Goldenberg scandal was exposed in the early 1990s, Kenyans thought they had seen the last of grand corruption on that scale. That scam involved none other than the Central Bank of Kenya and cost the country the equivalent of 10 percent of its GDP – money that was lost through a shady export […]

Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

“Writing is also an act of witness, of naming the demons. The ritual of exorcism starts with the negative entity naming itself.”

Somalia’s Famines Not A Product Of Food Scarcity

Almost every year, the United Nations and humanitarian agencies declare a ‘famine’ in Somalia. This year is no different. The UN has warned that prolonged drought threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands of Somalis who may face starvation if they are not supplied with food and water. The UN and other humanitarian agencies have […]

Violation of Women’s Rights Goes Beyond Iran

The call by activists to throw Iran out of the upcoming World Cup finals in Qatar due to its refusal to allow female fans to access football stadiums has been welcomed by popular sports commentators and political analysts who have painted the Islamic Republic of Iran as a misogynistic, tyrannical state that oppresses women and […]

Kenyans Have No Right To Claim Rishi Sunak

Much has been made of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Kenyan roots, with some comparing Sunak’s rise to the top leadership in Britain to that of Barack Obama, who became president of the United States in 2009. But apart from the fact that both politicians’ fathers were born in Kenya, there isn’t much credit Kenya […]