Why Africa Is Not A Country And Other Short Stories

On the annoying conflation of the continent as a whole with specific countries within it.

Kenyans Have Abdicated Their Social Contract With Each Other

We must seek alternative leadership that understands that when the social contract in a society is broken, the society itself breaks down.

The Complex Search for Suspected Rwandan Genocidaires 

Tracking these individuals has taken decades and has been arduous work.

Then They Came for Dr. Margaret Nyakang’o…

Is Dr. Nyakang’o the latest victim of political justice? 2023 has been quite a year for Dr. Margaret Nyakang’o, Kenya’s Controller of Budget. After two explosive revelations of her strong suspicions of illegal dealings at the heart of government, she now faces criminal charges herself as the first senior scalp of Renson Ingonga, the new Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). At the moment, there is no way of judging the veracity of the claims against Dr. Nyakang’o, but history makes me smell a rat. 

Why Charging for ID Cards Is A Bad Idea

Getting a National ID, the universal Kenyan rite of passage, has just been tapped as a money-earner by the Kenya Kwanza government. According to a (revoked after public outcry) error-filled Gazette Notice signed by Prof. Kithure Kindiki, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, the State Department for Immigration and Citizenship Services intended to charge Kenyans who have turned 18, KSh 1,000 for a national identity (ID) card (now reversed downwards to KSh 300).  

Kawira Mwangaza Is Paying for the Sin of Being a Woman

Growing up in a deeply patriarchal society does something to you. You come to expect violence, either the explicit physical kind that leaves women dead, or the more subtle emotional and psychological kind that takes a lifetime to undo. 

Ghost Payrolls and Budgeted Corruption: Are We Listening to Dr Nyakang’o?

Last week, Kenya’s Controller of Budget Dr Margaret Nyakang’o, revealed on national TV that her official salary has been inflated (by up to three times) in the books kept by the National Treasury. According to Dr Nyakang’o, a triple provision of her actual salary has been programmed into the IFMIS payment portal, which state of affairs makes it possible to draw the funds at will.

Lessons from Public Participation in Nairobi County: Digital Isn’t Always Better 

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 requires the government – whether national or county – to facilitate and engage in public participation whenever making laws. However, the form such civic undertakings take depends on who is doing it, and why. For instance, when a sitting president wants to amend the Constitution through a “popular initiative” – as witnessed during the Building Bridges Initiative – no resources are spared and the whole affair more often than not  culminates in an extravagant, closely-choreographed meeting at a packed Bomas of Kenya auditorium with hashtags flying and live TV coverage. 

We Are Who We Are. Not Lazy. Not Unmotivated. Not Unintelligent.

Life these days seems to run on relentless pressure for self-improvement. The general message is that we need to do more. This is how you can be more productive at work. Here are some tips to get the most out of your work out. Are you sure that your self-care is working? Optimise your meals. Optimise your sleep. Optimise your friendships. Buy the latest eye cream, but only if you will also buy this serum because one doesn’t work without the other. Invest your money, but no, not like that. This fund is better, those people are cons. Pop multivitamins now that you’re 30, or your body and brain will turn into mush as you watch …

The Tall Order That Is Wanjigi’s and Omtatah’s Call for Declaration of Odious Debt 

Wanjigi and Omtatah accept that short term Treasury Bills are authorised under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), but argue that Treasury Bonds as presently issued violate the Constitution and s.15(2(c) of the PFMA which  states that “over the medium term, the national government’s borrowings shall be used only for the purpose of financing development expenditure and not for recurrent expenditure”. It is a matter of fiscal responsibility, they say, that the government should borrow only for investment and not for consumption.